Old Tool Box Treasure?

[Anonymous]

I inherited some old tools today and I have to admit to being a bit ignorant of old tools but I am very happy with some of the little gems I have dug out of the chest.

Some advice please.

The chisels are a bit rough, mainly British made, wood handles, names like (forgive me if I get them wrong but the forges are a bit faint)
I&M **rgy Cast steel.
Brades & Co. Cast Steel
I. Sorby Cast Steel
Ward
Isaac Crea***

Any one recognise and fill in the *. What I would like to know is, are they worth restoring and should I sharpen them or leave them as is?

There are also 3 lovely spoke shave planes, wooden handled, names
W.MA**** Sheffield
Marples Sheffield

And a lovely Marples Scribe with a dual pin, Some old wood planes and much much more. Still looking.

Ah just found a couple of what look to be small Hand Pumped drills. The have a little chuck at the end and a spiral column with a wooden grip on the spiral. Old Drills ?

Sorry to sound so ignorant.

 

[sawdustalley]

sure Jester will be VERY EXCITED !

 

[DaveL]

Hi Stevezm,

The drills with the spiral column usually had a small chuck that was a four sided grip, the drills where square shanked. They where small flat drills used for holes to insert fret saw blades through, I know them as fret drills. I have one but it is missing the outer collar of the chuck, it belonged to my granddad.

Sounds like you have some useful stuff, many of the old chisels are made of very high grade tool steel, for the whole length of the blade. This allows them to be resharpend again and again and they still hold their edge.

Enjoy what you have been given, by the way, you suck! (A good gloat)

Regards,

Davel

 

[Anonymous]

Steve,

At a guess the unidentified chisels are by:
I & H Sorby (There are more Sorby blade makers than you can possibly believe)
Isaac Greaves

The spokeshave is also almost certainly a William Marples.

Not sure what the "scribe" is, but could it be a mortice gauge?

The drills are called "Archimedian", "Reciprocating", "Spiral Ratchet" or "Yankee" drills and we're very common. Axminster still sell one which they call an Archimedes Fret Drill.

No reason in the world not to get them into working order and use them; none are particularly rare or collectable.

Cheers, Jester

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feed back All.

Davel. yep! thats the one I have a broken one also but a larger second one thats in excellent nick.

Yes, Jester it is a Mortice Scribe Thanks, It's very nice with the brass inlay. The drill is a Archimedes style, it has a patent 1883 embosed on the lower handle brass guide but I doubt this indicates it's age, although the chap that owned all the tools would be 108 if he were alive.

I have turned up some more Chissels and Gouges and the handles are really wrecked. I don't know if it is worth re making the handles, I probably will

A Couple of Wooden, Middleton York Rebate Planes No. 6

An small solid Stanley Bull Nose Plane (new Britain, Cann, USA)

And a Hand Saw with Warranted Superior on one of the clench screws but no other markings, nice saw!

One of the old drills is a Yankee No1555 (New Britain, Cann, USA) big old thing with a belly/shoulder rest.

Needless to say I have a bin full of scrap also.

One thing I realy like is the tool chest itself, which is about w36" d18" h15" - nice dovetail corners, no buscuits in those days so the panels are joined with little brass plates and it has compartments and a raised partitioned tray. All hardwood and very dirty but I have decided to restore it to it's full glory and then I going to make a second one for some of my other tools.

Steve
Happy as the proverbial
and there's stuff I haven't touched yet!

 

[Charley]

Steve,

Theres a bit on replacing handles on Jester's website - http://www.geocities.com/jester27uk/handles.html

 

[DAZB]

Bad news I'm afraid , it's all useless old tat however I'll take it off your hands if your stuck with it. !!!! Well done on your good luck .How about some pictures.

 

[Anonymous]

Where should I post the Pictures?

 

[Charley]

If you got some free space with your ISP you can upload them there, if not send them to me ([email protected]) and I'll put them up.

 

[Anonymous]

I am getting more joy out of renovating the old tool box this past day or so, than the tools.

I am replacing two of the base panels, cutting them all by hand. They are a simple softwood construction with a 1/4 inch lap unlike the sides and top which are hardwood. I don't want to over restore the box as it has seen some use and abuse and I want to keep that, so I have distressed the two boards just a little to blend in.

I have finished the lid section and started to apply a beeswax, sad to say it looks so nice that SWMNBO would like the box in the house as furniture. Although it’s staying right here full of tools to be mistreated as it was intended.

Imagine my delight (and tell me this is common if you must) when I was rubbing the Brass hinges with 0000 wool and as the grime gave way the hinges had a small Gent Saw embossed into the surface. Anyone come across this before? Does it give the box a brand name? I have posted a pic to the site, I think.
[/img]

 

[Anonymous]

DAZB

I have found a place to post my Pics that you can have a look at.

http://groups.msn.com/WoodworkingUK/stevestoolbox.msnw

I will test post some here and post some more over the next day or so as I get the Tool box up to scratch.

Is it really worth all this,,,,, Yes I guess so

 

[Anonymous]

Sheesh, who's the joker "managing" that group? Not only is there no traffic, but he's swiped all his links from the #cough#UKWoodworking group#cough# (and the descriptions, word for word). If you want a place to put pictures, try Canon Hyperphoto which is free and easy to use. No affiliation, yadda, yadda :wink:

Cheers, Jester
P.S. Sorry for coughing twice in one day, Charley

 

[DAZB]

I do hope you are not going to cheat and use modern nails for the base panels.The original nails may have been handmade. You are going to have a go at making your own ........aren't you ???

 

[Anonymous]

Ho! Ho! DAZB

Actually You know you have a point. I have made nails for some other projects. I think I might use them here but I am not sure this box pre-dates machined nails :?

Did anyone take a look at the Hinges? do you recognise them, not that it's that important but I am curious.

Jester, Thanks but they are posted there now and it's free and easy to use. I hope I haven't offended UK Workshop but I did leave a link back here.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Hi steve,
what I done to post pics on this and other forums is to create a community on MSN just for keeping your pics.

http://groups.msn.com/create

Dont open a account with ninemsn as only you and invited guests
(by e mail) can view your pictures.

I have never tried the Cannon site as Jester has suggested, one site I was with, cant think off the name, was free until three months later they wanted £20 a year Huh!

 

[Charley]

Ho! Ho! DAZB

Actually You know you have a point. I have made nails for some other projects. I think I might use them here but I am not sure this box pre-dates machined nails :?

Did anyone take a look at the Hinges? do you recognise them, not that it's that important but I am curious.

Jester, Thanks but they are posted there now and it's free and easy to use. I hope I haven't offended UK Workshop but I did leave a link back here.

Nope I don't mind

Although It's nice to see that the owner of that group likes UKW & UKWoodworking so much