car boot sale & mystery spokeshave

[sparkymarky]

whilst rummaging through a box of junk at my local car boot sale i came across a spokeshave, it has macrome stamped on the cap. after some goggling all i can fine on macrome is that they hardened drill bits back in the 50s.
at a cost of a fiver with 4 f-clamps thrown in i took it home and cleaned it up a little, this is the result;-

is this brand any good?

 

[Racers]

Hi,

It looks like a record/stanley clone so it all depends ho how good the blade is.

If you can get a good edge on it and flaten the bed of the shave so the blade sits nice and flat it should work wellish.

Look out for the old wooden ones if you want better performance from a car-boot shave (unless you hit on some Prestons)

Pete

 

[Tony Spear]

The hand grips look a bit rough and uncomfortable to use!

 

[matthewwh]

And there was me thinking they were rather ingenious built in rasps.

 

[sparkymarky]

thanks pete, after searching for the stanley / record spokeshaves it does look rather similar so must of been a small production run of tools before macrome went into obscurity. i have sharpened the blade up to 6000 grit on a waterstone and it cuts a treat, so a good useable tool as the outcome.

i have also a smaller stanley & a small wooden spokeshave but find the macrone far by the easiest to use, i might have to sharpen the handles Matthew to make it a even better deal with a built in rasp strangely enough though it isn't that uncomfortable to use.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

I would urge you to persevere with the wooden spokeshave, once mastered they are are much better. Get it sharp and replace the mouth if necessary and it will be the first one you reach for.


Pete

 

[Alf]

The book on spokeshaves by Thomas Lamond doesn't have anything on the Macrome bar the fact of its existence, and as it's an incredibly detailed and well-researched book, if he came up empty-handed then we're probably all out of luck. But if it works and you're happy, what more do we need to know?

 

[AndyT]

Grace's Guide is often a good source of info on forgotten manufacturers, but in this case all it shows is that Macrome were a Birmingham / Worcestershire manufacturer of cutting tools between at least 1937 and 1945

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Macrome

 

[rob1713]

Heres what the complete tool looks like

I bought it in a job lot contained within 2 old carpenters toolboxes.
The body and chipbreaker are made of Brass/bronze, I hav'nt done much to it except sharpen the blade and it seems to work fine.

 

[jimi43]

Perhaps you should start a collection....

CLICKY DE CLICK

:mrgreen:

Jim