The Warrington Chest. Patternmakers Tool Chest and Tools 1888.
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workshopted
Established Member
I clicked on that link during the talk and if I remember it said to allow up to 15 days - but now clicking on the same link it says unavailable.
dannyr
Established Member
I struck lucky and have just bought a fine tool chest in Sheffield for £160. I really don't need another, but I couldn't pass this by.
Sadly no provenance but will try again on that score -initials on the front O W the only thing to go by so far. I see no O Warrington on the family tree in Ted et al's book, that would be too much luck.
Had to remove lid to get it home and into my small cellar workshop - it's big, 25"x 25" x 40", and heavy.
Only clues so far are that hinge screws are the blunt end type common before about 1850 and the veneers are thick.
Some pix to follow. The tills are something else.
Sadly no provenance but will try again on that score -initials on the front O W the only thing to go by so far. I see no O Warrington on the family tree in Ted et al's book, that would be too much luck.
Had to remove lid to get it home and into my small cellar workshop - it's big, 25"x 25" x 40", and heavy.
Only clues so far are that hinge screws are the blunt end type common before about 1850 and the veneers are thick.
Some pix to follow. The tills are something else.
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workshopted
Established Member
Hi, Danny, I can't wait to see those pics.
dannyr
Established Member
Here's the outside of the chest without lid, already in cellar workshop -sorry lighting is not so good.
It was a horribly wet dark day and I took it straight down while I still had the energy - just about at the limit of my strength to do that.
It is very much the same brown/maroon colour as Ted's, and extremely well made of wide board softwood, a thick frame base below the tng floor.. No damage, just honest wear n tear, one bottom corner has a little worm.
Note the pattern of the deep wells, which have room for a large set of planes.
Sadly, no, not a tool or object came with the chest, but luckily there seem to be no missing parts, except for the key - the lock was brocken.
Photos of the lid and tills (in better light) to follow.
It was a horribly wet dark day and I took it straight down while I still had the energy - just about at the limit of my strength to do that.
It is very much the same brown/maroon colour as Ted's, and extremely well made of wide board softwood, a thick frame base below the tng floor.. No damage, just honest wear n tear, one bottom corner has a little worm.
Note the pattern of the deep wells, which have room for a large set of planes.
Sadly, no, not a tool or object came with the chest, but luckily there seem to be no missing parts, except for the key - the lock was brocken.
Photos of the lid and tills (in better light) to follow.
dannyr
Established Member
Here's the lid, the till for squares etc and the till for saws.
The tills are made from oak sides and a fairly thick light colour tropical wood, mostly dovetails and mitres throughout, and dovetail breadboarding even where it doesn't show like that saw till with room for 6 backsaws and 3 or more long handsaws -never seen one like that..
the rule is set at two feet throughout
that's the back of the saw till and the squares till which is the only non veneered till, but is not visible sitting in its narrow slot at the edge.
The tills are made from oak sides and a fairly thick light colour tropical wood, mostly dovetails and mitres throughout, and dovetail breadboarding even where it doesn't show like that saw till with room for 6 backsaws and 3 or more long handsaws -never seen one like that..
the rule is set at two feet throughout
that's the back of the saw till and the squares till which is the only non veneered till, but is not visible sitting in its narrow slot at the edge.
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dannyr
Established Member
and here are the other tills, all fit well, no sliding problems despite wear on one or two runners to show that this was much used
one other comment - all hinges brass, all screws steel (except for the pulls), no nails/pins except for one reinforced till base, no mods except for removing dividers in one drawer.
as you see, the veneer has blistered a bit but not come off significantly except for the rear edge of the top till - pretty good i think
Phew,
one other comment - all hinges brass, all screws steel (except for the pulls), no nails/pins except for one reinforced till base, no mods except for removing dividers in one drawer.
as you see, the veneer has blistered a bit but not come off significantly except for the rear edge of the top till - pretty good i think
Phew,
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workshopted
Established Member
Hi, Danny, I'm going through a period of illness at the moment that robs me of the energy to type very much - suffice it to say that I just love your new tool chest, my friend. My apologies for the briefness of my comment.
dannyr
Established Member
From me - get better and I'm sure others would second that.
toolsntat
Yep, I collect tools and tat
Winezzzs
Established Member
Best wishes Ted I hope you make a speedy recovery.
Devmeister
Established Member
I ordered this book several months ago and it is lovely. What is interesting is that the chest follows the cabinet makers or joiners chest of drawers. As a part time pattern maker, it’s quite interesting to get a read on the tools and ultimately the techniques used prior to the industrial revolution. For me, I had always expected pattern makers to follow a more machinist style chest until I saw this one.
What is lacking in the current media market is a full in depth examination of the pattern maker trade complete with lots of colorful photos and historical antidotes. I think I may try my hand at just such a project.
I know of no trade who has its tennecles into as many aspects of our culture across as many continents as pattern making. From the guns of Lord Nelson to the steam engines of Watt to the miracles of Rolls Royce to the colorful legal issues between Oliver and Wadkin which were decided not by a judge but rather the fate of the Titanic.
The pattern maker was one of the highly skilled unsung heros of the modern machine revolution. A skill set spanning the woodworking world and the metalworking world. Extremely precise woodworking encompassing both machine work and hand work.
in the years I have worked with wood, I have learned to detest the commercial woodworking trades serving the modern fitment and cabinet industry with their melamine boxes and to admire the skills of our modern tool and die craftsmen. One look at the work of Shane Skelton or Carl Holtey says it all.
Stanley thru his buyout of the Bailey patent put a whole new spin on the hand plane. But was it to little to late? As much as I love my Lie Nielsen planes and my original Bed Rock planes, they are no match for an early Norris plane. The feel of the cut and the sound of the cut are quite different. But I would not attempt to do an entire project with only a Norris plane. I am quite comfortable using both appropriately.
And you cannot forget the use of side escapement planes such as the hollow and round series. They are very much alive in 2022 with their wood bodies.
A new channel on YouTube called Dan Clarke The Pattern Guy is extremely basic and does not cover the field adequately. More is needed.
Pattern making often involves curved round non rectangular objects. For a long time, I cherished my nickelsen patternmakers rasp and a small collection of Italian rifflers I got from wood craft. Then I discovered a small company in France. Liogier! They make an entire assortment of hand stitched rasps. I have never seen a finer set of wood files.
A YouTube channel out of Croatia called Epic Workshop built a tooling cabinet for their collection of Liogier rasps.Unbelievable! You guys need to check it out! It’s every bit on par with the Worrington chest.
One tool that has eluded me has been a LN 5.5 jack or Bedrock 605.5 pre war jack. LN has been having serious inventory issues over the last two years. They recently managed to get one batch of 5.5 planes out. I was lucky to snag one the morning of release. By lunch time they were gone!
One thing pattern makers spend a lot of time on is draft. Imparting those critical sand release angles.
In going over old Stanley information on the cast iron #52 shooting board, I discovered something new that has been buried by time. The #51 plane has an adjuster that can be used to shoot draft angle. Are you kidding me! The ability to impart draft on small parts is a god send. Sure you can use a disc sander and even a pattern makers jointer like the Oliver #12, but this approach is novel.
Unfortunately the 51 and 52 are extremely hard to find. The closest plane would be the LN 51 but LN has a temporary hold on production and it may be a long time before they resume.
And there are no 52 boards to be had. Bill Carter has one as does Derrick in Australia.
So the time had come to do something about this. I have decided to reproduce the Stanley 52. As of now, I have began the initial pattern makers drawings. These will go thru several iterations as specific dimensions get worked out. It will also be the first build series I will post on YouTube.
The current plan is make ten of these boards. I will keep serial number 1 and 2 thru 10 will be sold to cover the cost of the project.
What is lacking in the current media market is a full in depth examination of the pattern maker trade complete with lots of colorful photos and historical antidotes. I think I may try my hand at just such a project.
I know of no trade who has its tennecles into as many aspects of our culture across as many continents as pattern making. From the guns of Lord Nelson to the steam engines of Watt to the miracles of Rolls Royce to the colorful legal issues between Oliver and Wadkin which were decided not by a judge but rather the fate of the Titanic.
The pattern maker was one of the highly skilled unsung heros of the modern machine revolution. A skill set spanning the woodworking world and the metalworking world. Extremely precise woodworking encompassing both machine work and hand work.
in the years I have worked with wood, I have learned to detest the commercial woodworking trades serving the modern fitment and cabinet industry with their melamine boxes and to admire the skills of our modern tool and die craftsmen. One look at the work of Shane Skelton or Carl Holtey says it all.
Stanley thru his buyout of the Bailey patent put a whole new spin on the hand plane. But was it to little to late? As much as I love my Lie Nielsen planes and my original Bed Rock planes, they are no match for an early Norris plane. The feel of the cut and the sound of the cut are quite different. But I would not attempt to do an entire project with only a Norris plane. I am quite comfortable using both appropriately.
And you cannot forget the use of side escapement planes such as the hollow and round series. They are very much alive in 2022 with their wood bodies.
A new channel on YouTube called Dan Clarke The Pattern Guy is extremely basic and does not cover the field adequately. More is needed.
Pattern making often involves curved round non rectangular objects. For a long time, I cherished my nickelsen patternmakers rasp and a small collection of Italian rifflers I got from wood craft. Then I discovered a small company in France. Liogier! They make an entire assortment of hand stitched rasps. I have never seen a finer set of wood files.
A YouTube channel out of Croatia called Epic Workshop built a tooling cabinet for their collection of Liogier rasps.Unbelievable! You guys need to check it out! It’s every bit on par with the Worrington chest.
One tool that has eluded me has been a LN 5.5 jack or Bedrock 605.5 pre war jack. LN has been having serious inventory issues over the last two years. They recently managed to get one batch of 5.5 planes out. I was lucky to snag one the morning of release. By lunch time they were gone!
One thing pattern makers spend a lot of time on is draft. Imparting those critical sand release angles.
In going over old Stanley information on the cast iron #52 shooting board, I discovered something new that has been buried by time. The #51 plane has an adjuster that can be used to shoot draft angle. Are you kidding me! The ability to impart draft on small parts is a god send. Sure you can use a disc sander and even a pattern makers jointer like the Oliver #12, but this approach is novel.
Unfortunately the 51 and 52 are extremely hard to find. The closest plane would be the LN 51 but LN has a temporary hold on production and it may be a long time before they resume.
And there are no 52 boards to be had. Bill Carter has one as does Derrick in Australia.
So the time had come to do something about this. I have decided to reproduce the Stanley 52. As of now, I have began the initial pattern makers drawings. These will go thru several iterations as specific dimensions get worked out. It will also be the first build series I will post on YouTube.
The current plan is make ten of these boards. I will keep serial number 1 and 2 thru 10 will be sold to cover the cost of the project.
clogs
just can't decide
Devmeister.....
thanks for the above posting......I have tried a couple of times to look at the 52 out of interest.....but it may be there but all jumbled up with other planes....as I know not what it looks like....
A photo would help me and I guess others.....
I wish you luck with your project of making new planes but my rough n ready carpentry would not need such I plane I guess.....
To add further, apart from the photos of a 52 a few details n photo's of your progress would be a great addition to the forum...
My pattern making skill are quite basic...I get cast obsolete car parts for the 1910-20's cars I repair....I will add that I have a fully equiped metal machine shop so everything is done in house apart from the casting...and plan to have a go at that soon.....
Good luck....
thanks for the above posting......I have tried a couple of times to look at the 52 out of interest.....but it may be there but all jumbled up with other planes....as I know not what it looks like....
A photo would help me and I guess others.....
I wish you luck with your project of making new planes but my rough n ready carpentry would not need such I plane I guess.....
To add further, apart from the photos of a 52 a few details n photo's of your progress would be a great addition to the forum...
My pattern making skill are quite basic...I get cast obsolete car parts for the 1910-20's cars I repair....I will add that I have a fully equiped metal machine shop so everything is done in house apart from the casting...and plan to have a go at that soon.....
Good luck....
Devmeister
Established Member
The following photos show the 52 board. The 52 was sold as a combo including the 51 plane.
Doing cast aluminum is one thing. Being able to cast iron is a totally different animal. Clarke Esterling of windy hills foundary does iron on YouTube. The issues are 1). How to get up to the 2800 degrees F you need to pour iron, and 2). Managing the metalurgy of iron. Are you doing grey iron or ductile iron? How do you manage your porosity in iron?
The 52 is regarded as one of the ultimate shooting boards. I first got introduced to it by Jim Kingshot. Jim Kingshot also made a version of the 51 years before LN. He made a pattern and had it cast. He is the first to simply attach a Bailey frog to the plane body which is what LN did.
I also make cabinets and furniture. So the concept of shooting is nothing new. In listening to Kingshot and Carter, it is painfully clear that I need a 52 style board. I could make one and I could adapt Veritas hardware in making one. But I don’t want to.
Doing cast aluminum is one thing. Being able to cast iron is a totally different animal. Clarke Esterling of windy hills foundary does iron on YouTube. The issues are 1). How to get up to the 2800 degrees F you need to pour iron, and 2). Managing the metalurgy of iron. Are you doing grey iron or ductile iron? How do you manage your porosity in iron?
The 52 is regarded as one of the ultimate shooting boards. I first got introduced to it by Jim Kingshot. Jim Kingshot also made a version of the 51 years before LN. He made a pattern and had it cast. He is the first to simply attach a Bailey frog to the plane body which is what LN did.
I also make cabinets and furniture. So the concept of shooting is nothing new. In listening to Kingshot and Carter, it is painfully clear that I need a 52 style board. I could make one and I could adapt Veritas hardware in making one. But I don’t want to.
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workshopted
Established Member
Many thanks.
Richard C-D
Established Member
I only read the Warrington Chest book recently and have not been on this forum long so hope this maybe of interest. My great grandfather set up as an iron founder in Ancoats, one of the roughest parts of Manchester, around 1890. The factory was demolished in the mid 1960s and my father, who was then running the business, moved to another factory in Walkden, Greater Manchester. I went to the Ancoats factory a few times when it was closed for holidays and remember clearly the store of patterns. Some were quite small , probably parts for machines, but some were huge wheels and gears. I think these were for lifts and brick making machines. The factory was a relic of past times, being very dirty with broken windows and piles of scrap metal all over the place. I got to operate the overhead crane, which was fun.
My father did woodworking as a hobby, making fitted cupboards and cabinets for the house. He must have bought some of the pattern makers tools home when the Walkden premises had to close in the late 1970s. He had a set of Varvill and Son hollows and rounds, paring gouges, turning chisels, pattern makers vice and a Stanley 51,52 shooting plane ( as mentioned my Devmeister) . There wasn't a chest, only one of the sliding trays. He had a wall mounted cupboard in the garage that he kept some tools in. Some years ago I had to clear the garage and when I took down the cupboard I discovered the back had been made from the sign that had been outside the factory up to 1900. As a way of using this I made a tool chest, with the sign becoming the front board.
I don't have the Stanley 51 /52 as I traded it with a dealer around 35 years ago. My father never used it as it was buried under a pile of wood. I didn't know back then how rare it was but got quite a lot of tools that were more useful.
My father did woodworking as a hobby, making fitted cupboards and cabinets for the house. He must have bought some of the pattern makers tools home when the Walkden premises had to close in the late 1970s. He had a set of Varvill and Son hollows and rounds, paring gouges, turning chisels, pattern makers vice and a Stanley 51,52 shooting plane ( as mentioned my Devmeister) . There wasn't a chest, only one of the sliding trays. He had a wall mounted cupboard in the garage that he kept some tools in. Some years ago I had to clear the garage and when I took down the cupboard I discovered the back had been made from the sign that had been outside the factory up to 1900. As a way of using this I made a tool chest, with the sign becoming the front board.
I don't have the Stanley 51 /52 as I traded it with a dealer around 35 years ago. My father never used it as it was buried under a pile of wood. I didn't know back then how rare it was but got quite a lot of tools that were more useful.
Winezzzs
Established Member
Thats a beautiful chest and being your fathers priceless
clogs
just can't decide
Devmeister
would bronze not be easyer to cast.....?
certainly look better when polished / machined....
would bronze not be easyer to cast.....?
certainly look better when polished / machined....
dannyr
Established Member
What a great use of the sign, and a wonderful chest you now have - show us more - is the original sliding tray part of it?
D
dannyr
Established Member
It's a while since I visited Portsmouth, but the tool chest resource that should be explored is the collection of chests there in the naval museum area - I believe that in the days of the wooden ships and even later, there were so many workers in wood that there was a large store building just for their tool chests.
Is my memory correct - can one still see these?
Is my memory correct - can one still see these?
