Jose Kilpatrick
08-18-2008, 11:10 AM
I browse ebay often for old pieces of wood working history, not for mere collection purposes, but I really enjoy working with older tools that have a history of use. Partly for ethereal reasons, partly because I'm just quirky I suppose.
I came across this wooden plane on ebay and the description was limited. The seller claimed it was from an estate sale and some of the tools within the sale were said to be from the late 1800's. There was no distinguishing marks on the piece that indicated any kind of date, but there was some letters carved in the side as seen below.
The bidding was quite high for an 'un-useable' tool as it was described, I ended up winning it for $45. Maybe overpriced, maybe not, I just knew I wanted it when I came across it.
The overall condition was not too bad. I was able to remove the wedge and the blade without any damage. There was not pitting on the metal, just lots of rust. I should be able to clean up the blade and sharpen it.
The wedge that holds the blade in will have to be replaced, though it's in one piece, I don't forsee it taking a blow to wedge the blade in.
The bottom is completely smooth, flat and square with no twists and the handle should repair nicely.
There was also a marking on the metal shown below as well. I can't make heads or tails of it.
The handle was loose and was braced with square nails, but there was some wood damage where the handle was fitted into the mortise, so I removed it and cut off the damage wood and glued it up to another piece so I can repair it to fit back into the mortise.
An interesting thing about the front part of the plane is that there seems to be a worn and deteriorated depression on the nose where I would assume it was formed from years of hand pressure. It's not there by way of tooling for sure.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2774095289_3e045b5023.jpg?v=0
Below are the square nails removed from their bracing job near the handle area. I'm not sure what kind of age square nails would be indicative of.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2774946684_60fd730827.jpg?v=0
Here's the marking on the metal piece.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2774953648_6d92d176ef.jpg?v=0
Can anyone lend me any knowledge to this tool?
I came across this wooden plane on ebay and the description was limited. The seller claimed it was from an estate sale and some of the tools within the sale were said to be from the late 1800's. There was no distinguishing marks on the piece that indicated any kind of date, but there was some letters carved in the side as seen below.
The bidding was quite high for an 'un-useable' tool as it was described, I ended up winning it for $45. Maybe overpriced, maybe not, I just knew I wanted it when I came across it.
The overall condition was not too bad. I was able to remove the wedge and the blade without any damage. There was not pitting on the metal, just lots of rust. I should be able to clean up the blade and sharpen it.
The wedge that holds the blade in will have to be replaced, though it's in one piece, I don't forsee it taking a blow to wedge the blade in.
The bottom is completely smooth, flat and square with no twists and the handle should repair nicely.
There was also a marking on the metal shown below as well. I can't make heads or tails of it.
The handle was loose and was braced with square nails, but there was some wood damage where the handle was fitted into the mortise, so I removed it and cut off the damage wood and glued it up to another piece so I can repair it to fit back into the mortise.
An interesting thing about the front part of the plane is that there seems to be a worn and deteriorated depression on the nose where I would assume it was formed from years of hand pressure. It's not there by way of tooling for sure.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2774095289_3e045b5023.jpg?v=0
Below are the square nails removed from their bracing job near the handle area. I'm not sure what kind of age square nails would be indicative of.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2774946684_60fd730827.jpg?v=0
Here's the marking on the metal piece.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2774953648_6d92d176ef.jpg?v=0
Can anyone lend me any knowledge to this tool?