some tools i aquired

[adidat]

picked up this box of tools the other weekend in london, i wont waste time showing you the Norris iron mitres or the Stanley no.1's as we have all seen those before :lol: .

anyway these are the best bits of the 'haul'

some lead worker's tools i think the first two and the last one are lignum and the third from the left is box, they have nice cane handles, and one has a salamens sticker on sadly there all pretty split but that the problem with lignum/tool abuse

not 1 but 3!!! adjustable mouth coffin smothers. various makers.

a nice mathieson coffin and a curved base smoother.

an interesting owners mark on the curved one

now something i have been after for sometime is a solid boxwood plane so when i received this picture from the seller

it stood out form the others and without looking at the other pic's i said "yes i will have them"

here she is in all her glory, a high angle toothing plane

the blade with the toothing cut

a close up of the very interesting mark on the blade, dates or info anyone?

an early stanley knuckle plane and a millers fall block plane

two didy screwdrivers i was over the moon with these two as one is Preston and i LOVE Preston stuff and the other is a Stanley hurwood, i alread have one of these but a much larger version

my hurwood its great got a button on the top so you can give it a whack!

Stanley hurwood marking on the little one

and the EP mark on the other

a nice war department chopper i think the handle has been replaced at some point with mdf #-o

markers mark

what i think to be an early grease gun, the top is sprung loaded :duno:

my favourite find, a fantastic scratch awl with a turned brass handle

and some other odds and sods

so i picked up this lot and more for £30 i was pleased with that, any dates and info much appreciated

enjoy

adidat

 

[Blister]

Very nice haul

some decent items , but as you say " scratch awl with a turned brass handle " this for me also is the nicest :wink:

 

[Richard T]

Some very nice bits. Especially the toothing plane; don't know the make but while that stamp looks like Don Quixote, "Garantz" appears to be a French name. A few results to be found Googling with Somborn Agier Fondu, (all in French) but nothing like that iron I'm afraid.

That "mdf" handle is leather isn't it? :? I've got a one of them - good mini froe.

 

[jimi43]

Great deal Chris...the two screwdrivers are my favourites...the Sweetheart and the Edward Preston marks are sought after on FleaBay...for good reason.

And you have a few "Perfect Handle" ones as well....they are very popular (there is a thread around here somewhere) and they are superb for whacking whilst still retaining their scales...which can help remove stubborn screws...just a little tap generally frees up rust etc. I like re-scaling them...I have quite a few but the dinky ones are the most popular..

The box and lignum may be past their use as mallets but they make excellent stock sources...even for small items such as bandsaw guides.

Of course...the brass awl is spectacular!

Well done mate indeed! =D>

Jimi

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Phew - not bad for thirty quid!

The WD 'chopper' is (I think) a glazier's hacking knife, used by tapping on the back with a hammer to remove old, hardened putty when replacing window glass. The scales should be leather.

On the toothing plane blade, I wonder if 'Acier Fondu' is French for 'Cast Steel', and 'Garanti' for 'Warranted'?

The mallets were (are) used by several trades - sheetmetal workers, coppersmiths and silversmiths, leadworkers.

I rather like two Archimedes drills in the bottom picture. Not all that common, I think.

 

[AndyT]

Excellent haul - you're certainly not pushing prices up are you!

That Somborn mark looks intriguing. I only know two places to check on continental makers. Wolfgang Jordan's brilliant and thorough Old Tool Museum has nothing like it on the page covering trade marks.
The Belgian Old Tool Museum has a good searchable database of names and marks, and does have this pageon a long-established maker called Somborn. But it says their marks are "le rhinocéros, le cheval et la grenade" - no soldier there. Any way, it's clearly a lifetime's length of warranted cast steel.

The mini-froe knife is, I believe, a glazier's hacking knife, for chipping out old putty from window frames, made tough enough to be hit on the back of the blade with a hammer - but I'm assuming it's about 9" overall, not firewood chopper sized.

[Edit - I see Cheshire Chappie said the same while I was typing - we must both be right!]

 

[adidat]

thanks for the replies. richard i think you are right about the leather its very thick and grubby so wasn't to sure in the first place, im gonna wip them off and stick on some scales at some point.

big thanks andy for your research, someone out there will now i hope [-o< [-o<

nice handle there jim im getting to that point where i have far to many PP drivers.

getting ready for the offing tomorrow morning, im excited! :mrgreen: (hammer)

adidat

 

[blurk99]

i'd be surprised if a makers mark would be either a rhinocerous, horse or pomegranate.... how about a translation error and it's actually a 'grenadier' rather than 'grenade'

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/71 ... 2half.png/

just a a thought

jim

 

[adidat]

i had this thought but i dismissed it, the two soldiers bare a very close likeness

thanks

adidat

 

[Alf]

While I wouldn't put it beyond a manufacturer to use a pomegranate as a maker's mark, I think Jim may well be on the money there.

Some nice stuff there, adidat. I'm fond of the Hurwoods myself; my Old Man has some, and I was 11 or 12 before I realised that there were such things as chisels, such was his eagerness for using those poor abused screwdrivers for giving everything a whack. Actually, I wonder if I might have another shot at rescuing them from his tender mercies. If there's anything to rescue at all, that'll be testament enough to their resilience. :lol:

 

[AndyT]

Looking again at that toothing plane, I'm wondering if there is any good reason for the extraordinary length of the iron. It does look as if it would be a nuisance in use, and would have been unnecessary extra cost. But on a positive note, if you wanted to use it at 45 degrees in one of your many new smoothers, you would have plenty of length to play with.

 

[jimi43]

Ok...the iron has been bugging me since yesterday...so far I think that we agree...

1) Language FRENCH
2) GARANTI - GUARANTEED OR WARRANTED
3) ACIER FONDU - CAST (or literally "molten") STEEL
4) Maker - SOMBORN

Only the mark remains...probably a grenadier or Don Quixote or one of the three musketeers...or some French dandy with knobbly knees standing on the corner of the Place de la Concorde smoking a cheroot.... :mrgreen:

What I'm implying is that it has about as much connection with the manufacturer as a kangaroo has with Sorby or a three shamrocks with Marples and unless we get the equivalent French font of knowledge as our English brethren here...we are probably pisse contre le vent. :wink:

Jim

 

[AndyT]

I agree - Garanti Acier Fondu is definitely Warranted Cast Steel.
I checked the definitions in a proper French dictionary, but it does seem likely that the error is in the source document quoted on the Belgian site, and Grenade should be Grenadier - the words are the same in French and English.

There is a book which could help, possibly the one cited in the museum entry. If anyone has a copy they could own up here among consenting adults and see if it has the same error.

Price is €85.00 Details here.

I think Chris's tools are better value!

 

[adidat]

the plot thickens, all interesting stuff

adidat

 

[Benchwayze]

adidat...

I know what the 'War Department Chopper' is. We used them in the RN. The handle will be original, (Probably tufnol) but I am blowed if I can recall what we used them for. I'd say a 'rigging-knife', but I still have mine and it isn't so heavy and has a rosewood handle. I will have to rack the old memory for this.

http://www.sheffieldknives.co.uk/acatal ... nives.html
Watch this space!

 

[AndyT]

More trademark trivia.

Here's the Somborn rhino

I found it on a French forum which seems very similar to this one - it even has a section dedicated to old tool trademarks - but I can find nothing there about a Somborn grenadier.

But notice that this is English warranted cast steel - Sheffield ruled the world!

 

[Alf]

There is a book which could help, possibly the one cited in the museum entry. If anyone has a copy they could own up here among consenting adults and see if it has the same error.

Price is €85.00 Details here.

Ooo, that looks interesting. Not sure my French'd be up to the strain though. Who am I kidding? I know my French wouldn't be up to it.

What I'm implying is that it has about as much connection with the manufacturer as a kangaroo has with Sorby or a three shamrocks with Marples and unless we get the equivalent French font of knowledge as our English brethren here...we are probably pisse contre le vent. :wink:

Ah, well, maybe not the best examples, given that Sorby's works were the Kangaroo Works, and Marples the Hibernian Works... But otherwise, oui, we do seem destined to be suffering bladder control issues in a gale.

 

[thick_mike]

Knife definitely looks like the glazier's "de-puttying" knife I inherited from my granddad. If it has been used a bit you will see the back peined (?) over where it has been whacked with a hammer. I always thought it had leather sides to help prevent it cracking glass if put down carelessly.

 

[Benchwayze]

There you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Split ... _knife.jpg

The WD 'knife' is probably a Hacking Knife, and as Richard pointed out, a mini-froe. I should imagine the Shipwrights used them in the RN. Maybe for splitting timbers for shoring during 'damage control'.

Which means I still can't recall what we really used them for!

De-glazing stands a chance too Mike. I just cannot dredge up from me memory what they were used for when I last saw one!

HTH

 

[AndyT]

There is a book which could help, possibly the one cited in the museum entry. If anyone has a copy they could own up here among consenting adults and see if it has the same error.

Price is €85.00 Details here.

Ooo, that looks interesting. Not sure my French'd be up to the strain though. Who am I kidding? I know my French wouldn't be up to it.

Yebbut... as the publishers kindly point out, in the "English Corner" of their website, "Some books do not need translation. They are illustrated , so they can be used by any foreign customer."

... and think how handy it would be for answering questions from us cheapskates!

[Btw - I followed your nudge and bought the reprint of the 1901 Woodworker - interesting to see the same subjects coming round again and again!]