I blame Alf, but how did I do ?

[DaveL]

All this talk about hand tools and the mention of "woodies", well I have never used or owned one, until now. I bid on 7 :shock: on ebay and won them . So here they are, quite a mixed bunch all having seen better days, but then that goes for me as well

I can not see any makers name on the planes, I think some were owned by a J.PHILLIPS as that name is stamped into the end grain on 4 of them.

the other name I have is A.W.CAWLER.
I am 1 iron missing which is slightly annoying as it was not mentioned in the aution details. Some of the irons have some marks on them.

I think one is a SORBY, one a WARD and one a REANEY WOOD. The shoulder plane, well that what I think it is, looks quite good but the bottom has a piece of metal fixed to it. The iron looks to be almost sharp enough to use.

The little one on the right in the picture appears to be a modern one as it is stamped FOREIGN on both the wood and the iron.
The older smoother has had a piece on metal fitted to the front of the sole, looks odd could be a repair to damage inflicted :?:

and two of the jacks have had wooden inserted fitted in the sole

So how did I do? Are any of these worth investing time and effort in to make them useable? Or I am the proud owner of £20 of odd shaped firewood?
(I think the jacks would made good push sticks.) :twisted:

 

[Midnight]

Geeze Alf...... NOW look whatchya gone an done....

:wink:

looks like a nice haul Dave

 

[Alf]

S'not my fault...

Dave,

Looks good, but hard to tell from the pictures. They all look pretty well used (especially the jack in the middle! The others appear to be worn at the toe where the left hand rests as well) but also well cared for. I'm fairly sure the metal sole on the skew rebate would have been done by the owner, but the plate on the front of the smoother could be factory fitted. They were certainly offered like that, and also with the whole sole plated. Both have been done to eliminate wear, which is a particular pain with the more "precision" planes like smoothers. The patching on the jack has been well done, and is the classic way to remedy the problem of opening mouths on wooden planes. Every time you re-flatten the sole (which is comparatively often with woodies) the mouth opens up a little bit, eventually it's just too big, and a patch is called for. Mike Dunbar explains how it's done in "Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Tools", one of the galoot bibles. I'm guessing that the possible Sorby iron is the one top right? Looks like it might be the Mr Punch mark of I Sorby, rather than the Kangaroo of Robert Sorby. Ward will be Ward & Payne. Both those marks were used for years, long after the companies had been merged, sold or whathaveyou so they're very frustrating when it comes to dating anything. Reany Wood is a new one on me; I'd love to see a close up of that one. Not sure about the "Foreign" one, although from the pic it appears that the blade is at quite a high angle? My rule of thumb is to assume that anything marked Foreign is probably post-war but other than that... Finally J Phillips is probably the owner as you suggested, although there was J(ohn) Phillips, a tool dealer in East London. His dates are 1887-1893 so it would seem unlikely, but on the other hand those planes look awfully well used.

Nice haul, Dave. Especially for the money :wink: All they need now is a little BLO wiped on 'em and the blades cleaned & sharpened and you're good to go. Have fun.

Cheers, Alf

 

[DaveL]

Alf,

Thanks for the comments, I have spent a little time working on one of the jacks, I have a lots to learn :!: There must be some magic words that you mutter when trying to adjust the blade for the depth of cut :roll: Anyway a few more pictures:

Yes I have made shavings with it OK so now I am hooked, just don't push Alf, I am already on that slope. On looking more closely at this plane I found this on the end:

Maker or in my mind supplier I would think.
The Sorby is indeed an I Sorby with Mr Punch:

The iron marking you had not heard of Alf has cleaned up a bit more:

while the chip breaker fitted to it revealed this when steel wool was applied:

I now understand why the biggest of the jacks in not as high (deep) as the others, it has obviously been flattened a number of times and if the iron is the original it has done lots of work, its been sharpened so much there is less than 1/2" of steel between the cutting edge and the slot for the chip breaker fitting.

 

[Alf]

Dave,

Shavings! Cool. Gravity will take care of you now :wink: The adjusting bit just takes a little practice; it'll suddenly click. Or so they tell me anyway... :?

John J Harley is listed in British Planemakers, and here's what it says:

27 Old Haymarket, Liverpool 1875-1922
"Established 1869". Also at 35 & 37 Haymarket and Albion Place in 1908. Trading as Ltd. Co. by 1891. The business continued as Campbell & Mabbs (only until sometime after 1926 it seems). Although usually described as a planemaker and edge-tool maker, in reality the business was that of a tool dealer (excellent deduction, Watson. Er, Dave) and they probably made only a small proportion of the tools they sold. Listed as common.

So not rare, but got some age to it.

Hah! So it was Mr Punch! Yesss! (Yes, I did mime licking my finger and chalking one up to me ) Still none the wiser on what appears to be "Reaney & Wood". Unfortunately the crown doesn't help as every other iron maker and his wife seemed to use one Interesting to see it though, ta muchly. Now Fenton & Marsden I do know about. Again from British Planemakers:

245 Rockingham Street 1838 (definitely, but probably after that date too)
51 Bridge Street Works 1845 - 1849
Edge and joiners' tool manufacturers and merchants. By 1849 the name had changed to Marsden Bros. & Silverwood but seems to have continued to also trade under the old name for some years. The planes are listed as uncommon, but I'm not sure about the irons/cap irons.

Funny, when I first typed up my reply I mentioned about the height of that jack, but couldn't be bothered to do it again after the 'puter swallowed it You've diagnosed the reason spot on. On the iron you should be able to tell if there's any steel left by looking for the join where the laminated tool steel meets the soft steel of the rest of the blade. You may find there's even less life left in the blade than you feared I'm afraid. Still, sounds like that particular plane may have earned an honourable retirement.

Thanks for that, Dave. I do enjoy a bit of tool-related detective work

Cheers, Alf

 

[DaveL]

Alf,
Thanks very much for the info. I wish now I had a complete plane by Fenton & Marsden, but even a cap iron that could be best part of 150 years old is very nice to own. I wonder how many hands those tools have passed though and how much timber was shaped by them?
Magic stuff, thanks again