Latest vintage tool haul

[carpenteire2009]

Here is some of my latest boot sale tool haul:

Hand drill by "York", Czechoslovakia (the vice manufacturers)- I've never seen one like this before. (just needs a little clean)

1" bit by Bailey, Bristol (serious sharpening required).

Nice sprung internal dividers by Fuluse, Sheffield (a little rusty and stiff to begin with but cleaned up very well- incredible craftsmanship in this lovely instrument, I think)

Ratchet screwdriver by Leyris, Sheffield (handle and body chrome finish were in bad shape but blade is very good and cleaned up well, a good user).

Stanley No. 65 chamfer plane, unfortunately missing its adjustable fences but still a user for me and I might fabricate some simple fences myself).

Nice tin snips by Lewis Barnascone, Sheffield- rivet needs a little peening and some filing of the cutting edges required.

Knuckle joint block plane by J Siegley, rusty and needs a good clean, but nice fine mouth and (thin) blade has plenty of life yet.

Also included were a couple of Rawlplug plug jumpers (anyone found a contemporary use for these obsolete tools), a pad saw and gents saw which is probably beyond repair.

Total cost was €12, a good buy I think but many hours of cleaning were required ( and some to go) to bring these back from the brink.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Nice sprung internal dividers by Fuluse, Sheffield (a little rusty and stiff to begin with but cleaned up very well- incredible craftsmanship in this lovely instrument, I think)

Anyone know anthing about Fuluse ? I have a few firmer chisels of this brand, which seem to have become the ones I reach for most often. Hold a very nice edge. I couldn't discover much about them though.

 

[AndyT]

Rawlplug tools! I remember helping my dad make holes with those. Very slow and messy. (For the benefit of younger readers - it was a hardened steel punch, one end about 5mm diameter, the rest thicker like a cold chisel. You hit it with a hammer to 'drill' a hole in a wall. You had to twist it round every time or else it got stuck. ) Electric drills and masonry bits are far easier!

As for a use, maybe you could regrind the tip to use as a small turning tool?

 

[GazPal]

Rawl pluggers/star points/drilling chisels are a handy tool to have in their own right, but can be converted for a number of uses such as carving tools and gravers.

 

[mjcann]

Rawlplug tool!!! brings back memories, all day on a pair of steps, fixing light fittings to concrete, job for the apprentice, the spark always had something much more important to do.

 

[GazPal]

Rawlplug tool!!! brings back memories, all day on a pair of steps, fixing light fittings to concrete, job for the apprentice, the spark always had something much more important to do.

I still have a few hammer rash scars from my experiences hand drilling for fixings and think most of us former (Pre cordless drill) apprentices had a spell or three using them on site.

 

[RogerP]

Years ago I remember a fitter nipped himself very badly with the rear end of that type of tin snip. He went through the whole stock at his workplace and ground all the ends back!

 

[dickm]

Excellent point, Roger P. There must be a reason (?) for those recurved handles, but they are a menace. Ask the end of my ring finger..........
The offending handle got the treatment as soon as the finger healed.

 

[carpenteire2009]

Ha! Great to hear the old memories of the the Rawlplug tool and tin snips! I only asked my own father about the Rawlplug tool today, drilling holes in concrete was a real chore back in the day! I gave the tin snips a quick sharpen with a file and tightened up the rivet and it cuts like a dream.

 

[GazPal]

Years ago I remember a fitter nipped himself very badly with the rear end of that type of tin snip. He went through the whole stock at his workplace and ground all the ends back!

The worst thing about tin snips is they bite at both ends. I once asked my cousin - a white smith - why their handles are shaped the way they are and he said it's because you can use them to grip and straighten out slight dog ears in thin sheet metal while you work. :-k Seems to make sense, although I still avoid tin snips like the plague and only use them if absolutely necessary because they always seem to want to bite me. :lol:

I still have a small selection of rawl pluggers (Kept in a tobacco tin in my joinery box), plus a couple of star pointed chisels hiding somewhere among my - still packed away - kit. Pluggers are great if you need to quickly plant a plug in a mortar joint or common brick/blockwork, but definitely not for the faint hearted if drilling concrete or flint walling (Anything harder than papier mache really).

 

[Sparky415]

I’ve not used my Rawlplug jumper for years but they are still handy for fixing in to Thermalite blocks ….I wonder where I put mine

 

[dickm]

Those Rawlplug jumpers (and star drills, come to that) were a total pain if you had old, soft mortar; either the mortar crumbled away round the point, or if you tried to drill into the brick, the hammering just pushed it into any space behind AND loosened the mortar at the same time. Or the hammering cracked the brick right through. No idea how the curtain rails in our first house (a leaky terrace in Lower Caversham) stayed up

At least drilling into concrete with one was just hard work...............

 

[Keith 66]

Many years ago i was using some tin snips like those while cutting some sheet lead up for a model boat keel, they were old & blunt & i caught the end of my old chap between the handles. Made my eyes water i can tell you. Fortunately no lasting damage was done.