My first gloat...and a few questions

[Roy Lindberry]

My birthday is coming up, and since I've recently gotten into the whole Neanderthal scene, this year my parents decided to start looking to the relatives for some tools for my birthday. Here's what they found that once belonged to my grandpa and great grandpa:



Stanley #6
Wards Master #4
Stanley #2 - dated to late 1800's (sorry, Brian)
Dunlap Block plane
Spokeshave (unknown make)
Winsted Edge Tool Company #8 drawknife
Disston Crosscut saw (broken handle, but straight as an arrow)



And the Piece d' Resistance: A complete Stanley 45 in the box.

The #2 is in great shape with only some grime and a little surface rust, while the #6, #4, and block plane have some substantial pitting that will take a while to lap out. The drawknife appears to be in good shape, requiring just a little work "unsticking" the wingnuts, removing grime, refinishing the handles, and honing the blade. None of the planes are cracked or broken, and the wood is all in good structural condition, but needs refinishing.

The 45 is in great shape, needing only some honing of the irons.

So those are the tools that I've just added to my shop. Now for my questions. Hopefully the pictures are good enough, if not, I will post more detailed ones.

1. Can anybody ID the spokeshave? I can't find any brand or numbers on it, but the pattern on the adjustable mouth mechanism I haven't seen before (but then again, I am relatively new to all this). Also, it appears it is missing the adjuster screw, but is it missing anything else?

2. The Disston has an interesting end that I'm not familiar with. Is that a standard saw tip? And on the top edge, there is a little groove with a point...what is that for? Is it decoration? Or is there a purpose for it?

3. The Ward's Master looks and feels like a Stanley Bailey. Is it a cheap knock off, or did they make a decent plane?

4. Is a dunlap block worth the time and effort it would take to clean up substantial pitting?
Thanks guys, you're input is extremely valuable to me.

[brian c miller]

No pictures = didn't happen :)

You may have more luck uploading some images to help ID.

[Bill Houghton]

Nice to have tools that were in the family, and this is, generally, a pretty decent selection of tools. You've got the basic useful sizes of planes, and a spokeshave is always nice to have. Don't get too excited about the 45 yet - you'll find it a great tool, but you need to be a little more experienced before it will be a comfortable tool to use.

You should seek out a few chisels - these are underrated tools, way more useful than you'll realize at first.

I'm not sure who made the Wards Master planes - and it's possible that more than one company did. I have a Wards Master No. 4, and it's a great plane; stays sharp far, far longer than it seems like it should.

Clean them up (simplest, unless there's extensive rust, is mineral spirits and steel wool, or an SOS pad in warm water followed immediately by WD-40), wax the operating surfaces including the soles, sharpen the irons, and try them out.

General comments for a new kid:

1. Sharpening is, in my opinion, 90% of tool tuning, and will compensate for all kinds of imperfections in the tool and your technique.

2. Reading is good. "Planecraft" (Hampton and Clifford, not the later awful remake), $14 from Woodcraft and about half that from the online used booksellers like half.com, is one of the best. Also see what your local library has to offer. A lot of people take classes, and this is no doubt good; I just learned by reading and practicing.

3. Asking questions here is good, too, but do your homework first (see #2): you can get more out of your questions that way.

[Harlan Barnhart]

I wouldn't get too excited about lapping out pitting on plane soles. Just think of it as another version of a corrugated sole. It won't hurt the performance.

[Roy Lindberry]

No pictures = didn't happen :)

You may have more luck uploading some images to help ID.


Photos attached....don't know what happened the first time.

[Jim Koepke]

To answer your question about the saw, it looks like it was shortened. The little thing sticking up is the legendary nib.

Legend has it that it is there to... No one really seems to know.

About all the planes need is some cleaning to remove any rust from the bottom. A lot of my planes have some pits on the bottom and still work fine. Rust will leave streaks on wood, so you want to eliminate that.

Looks like you have a good start on the tools you will want to make things.

jim

[Bill Houghton]

The spokeshave looks like someone else's version of the Stanley 53 adjustable-sole spokeshave. There should be a knurled-headed screw in the threaded hole at the top front of it - above the screw that holds the iron in place. With this, if all the other parts are there, you can adjust the mouth opening against spring tension - that is, there should be springs pushing the mouth as open as it can be.

Test different size/pitch machine screws in that hole to see if a standard size fits. If not, you'll need to experiment a little. If you do find a standard size that fits, e-mail me (arbuch @ sonic. net) - I can suggest a way to make a knurled-headed screw for it.

Several of the Big Names in furnituremaking swear by the No. 53 shave, so this is a score. Also, if the cutting iron is too pitted to use, you may be able to use a replacement iron for a 53 - you'd have to measure it, of course. I can't recall who makes replacement irons for these; seems to me someone does.

The ornate casting of the mouth part is really pretty; a nice extra touch.

[James Taglienti]

hi roy

i have that same spokeshave, unmarked, in similar condition. I don't know who made it. after stanley made it for a while, a few other firms copied it, and sold it through different hardware stores. they work alright. someone once told me that it was EC Stearns who copied it "the most."

oh,
and that is an awesome group of tools. that #2 wouldn't happen to be corrugated, would it>?

[Jeremy Dorn]

On the topic of your Wards Master plane, its not a cheap knockoff, they were actually made by Stanley and rebranded with the Wards Master or Wards Lakeside logos for sales in Montgomery Wards stores.

My first quality hand plane was a Wards Master #5 made in the early 1950's, and it still sits in a place of honor on my bench, even as my collection includes grows and includes many #5's of various vintages.

Take a look at the frog, if its got milled out recesses in it it'll date to post WW2, similiar to how you'd date a Stanley plane.

[Roy Lindberry]

hi roy

i have that same spokeshave, unmarked, in similar condition. I don't know who made it. after stanley made it for a while, a few other firms copied it, and sold it through different hardware stores. they work alright. someone once told me that it was EC Stearns who copied it "the most."

Cool. It's not really that important to me who made it, but I am curious. It is a beautiful tool, so I hope it performs well once I get the blade sharpened and find a screw to adjust the mouth.


oh,
and that is an awesome group of tools. that #2 wouldn't happen to be corrugated, would it>?

No, the sole is flat.

[Deane Allinson]

The saw seems to be a #12 spring steel (if the handle fits the saw). Well worth restoring. Correct about the toe being cut down a couple of inches.
Deane