Starting a hand tool collection with pictures....

Josh Wolff

Member
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40
Well, I am just starting to put together a group of hand tools for building furniture and/or whatever I have to build so my wife will keep letting me buy tools. I thought I would start a thread to document my trials and tribulations. Also since, going forward, I hope many of you will be helping me decide where and how to spend my money perhaps you will be interested as well. At the very least you can chime in to tell me when I'm being a bone-head. :)

So here are the first few things I bought before I signed up here:
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An older Disston saw with a broken horn. I haven't typed it yet, but I believe it is fairly common. I need to really buckle down and figure out that medallion.
A Stanley bench plane that I also have not dated or typed.
An egg beater drill and a couple of auger bits - that, at the time, I didn't realize didn't fit the drill.

I bought this batch of tools because at the time I thought the thing to do was search the countryside for old tools that could be rehabilitated. I found this batch all at the same antique store and paid $40.00 for the lot. I hope practice/learn some restoration techniques on the saw and the plane; I don't know if any of this stuff will end up in my tool chest yet or not.

This was the first little bit of woodworking stuff I ran across "in the wild" and I probably would have bought it if it looked like it had been fed through a meat grinder just because I was so excited to find something. :)

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This is a moving fillister plane I found at a different antique store. I paid $20.00 for it before I even knew what it was cuz I thought it was pretty. It is missing a cutter and I think some woodworkers' grand-kids thought it would be a good practice board for Paw-paws bit and brace. I don't know enough to know if this plane can be put back to work or not, but right now my wife is using it for decoration.

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At this point I had decided that paying slightly more for exactly what I wanted might work out better for me than prospecting. This is a 12" Stanley ratcheting brace and a set of 13 Irwin auger bits in the box with the manual. I was excited to get one with the manual so I could read it. I got both of these items on ebay. The brace was $35 all in and the auger bits were $75. I like both of these items and they are going in the tool chest. I think I will get a brace with a smaller radius at some point. Once I got those couple of auger bits I couldn't rest until I scratched this off my list.

Feel free to tell me if you think I overpaid. :)


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This is a Rabone 2' four-fold rule that I bought from Mr. Patrick Leach for $61.00 all in. This rule came unused, still with the red band around it. When I tried to remove the band (as I intend to actually use this tool) I found that it had deteriorated with age into a melty-sticky mess and was adhered to the rule with some type of adhesive. I need a little advice as to how to get it cleaned up without damaging it if you don't mind.

At this point I had been informed that many times it is better to buy items from respected vendors in the community as opposed to purchasing on ebay and that makes some sense to me. I like to know the person I'm dealing with knows what they are talking about and has a reputation for honesty and square-dealing. I don't mind paying a premium to benefit from others' knowledge and experience when appropriate.

I had just received Mr. Leach's June tool list and I thought this rule was awful pretty, it was on my list, and it happened to fit the money I had in my pocket at the time. I love this rule, but to be honest, from here on out I intend to focus on which tools will get me building (or at least practicing) the quickest. I obviously could have gotten by for a good long while without a wooden rule - especially since I already have several quality tape measures that would do just fine in the interim.

Next up, planes, saws, chisels - roughly in that order I think.

Well, that's about it for now. I have a couple more items coming soon, but I will wait to add them until I have them in hand.


Any and all thoughts, suggestions, comments, insults(I prefer creative insults :)) are welcome and desired.



Oh, and if anyone is curious I've been reading/have read several woodworking books:

The Anarchist's Toolchest - by Christopher Schwarz - At this time I intend to build one of these chests and fill it with the tools in the book. We will see if I stick to that over the long term. I also got my starter list of reliable tool sources from this book. I really like this book.

The New Traditional Woodworker - by Jim Tolpin

The Technique of Furniture Making - by Earnest Joyce; fourth edition - revised by Alan Peters

The Complete Dovetail - by Ian Kirby

The Complete Guide to Sharpening - by Leonard Lee
 
I should warn you that this is dangerous and addictive behaviour. I started out with one plane, and now I have more than 40. I sorted through the metal planes yesterday, and decided which ones I would certainly use, and which I could sell off, but, I just can't bring myself to part with them. :( :rolleyes:
 
YMMV, but what has been my experience, is I have found tools, more complete, for less, at garage sales, then antique stores. When I started gaining interest in planes, I told my mom (garagesaleaholic), and received a call from a sale. They had a Stanley number 5, Sargent #4 and Stanley #7 (I didn't type them) for $25 for the set. I've had less luck on woodworking tools at estate sales, but more luck on automotive tools. (seems friend/woodworkers, know about the estate, before the sale).
Sorry for your addiction. I've been trying to feed mine, with little to no time in the shop the last couple of years.
 
I think you did real well on the plane and things. Don't get caught up on dating and typing your tools. That leads to collecting ( the dark side) and not using. Build stuff and get it out of the shop and your wife will find more money than you need. Just buying tools to have them leads to a point of contention.
 
A couple new additions:

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A Stanley no. 18 sliding bevel ($27.50) and
a Stanley no.8 jointer plane ($116.00)
both from ebay

The no. 8 needs tuned up and sharpened.
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a Stanley no. 4 and no. 5
both restored, tuned up, sharpened and ready to go
from a fellow tool junkie
($152.00)


Oh, and an update... the smoothing plane I got in the lot from the antique store is a .no 3, so if/when I learn to put it in good working order it will not be a duplicate of my shiny new no. 4 as I had previously thought. I wanted to get a "seal of approval" on a couple of these bench planes so I would have a benchmark to measure against.
 
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