OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

137644 Joshua Clark <jclark@h...> 2004‑10‑10 Interesting Flea Market Finds
Hello Galoots!

I spent a well-needed morning away from work at the flea market today. 
Ran into fellow Galoot Chris Winter and spent several hours enjoying 
the beautiful fall weather, and picking up a few tools along the way. I 
found a couple of interesting things..

First is a marking gauge.. Nothing extra special, but I can't identify 
its maker. I'm hoping someone can. It's rosewood with brass fitting. 
The distinguishing feature is the small inlaid brass circles that act 
as wear plates. Does anyone know if a particular maker used this 
feature?  Pictures here:

http://www.hyperkitten.com/pics/tools/tmp/marking_gauge1.jpg
http://www.hyperkitten.com/pics/tools/tmp/marking_gauge2.jpg

Next up, a set of planes, well, a set of four identical small coffin 
smoothers.. The dealer I bought these from said they came from the 
estate of a well-known 19th Connecticut businessman.  The four planes 
are identical in every aspect- same length, bedding angle (50 degrees), 
blade maker (Moulson), blade usage (almost used up), and owner's mark. 
The only differentiating feature is that they are stamped  2, 3, 4,  
and 5.  They were made by W Hoffman, a New York maker working from 
1856-87.  I though it was peculiar to find four identical planes.. any 
ideas why one would want four of the same plane? Pictures here:

http://www.hyperkitten.com/pics/tools/tmp/quadruplets.jpg

-Josh in CT-


137645 JTWad@a... 2004‑10‑10 Re: Interesting Flea Market Finds
Josh in CT asked,

<<  I though it was peculiar to find four identical planes.. any 
 ideas why one would want four of the same plane? >>

Schools sometimes had multiples of a given tool distinguished by numbers so 
they could be signed out to individual students.  Some shops, too, although a 
coffin smoother is a pretty common tool and should have been in the personal 
toolbox of anyone hired by a woodworking shop.

Just a thought,

John Wadsworth, in Delhi, NY


137681 Jim Crammond <jicaarr@y...> 2004‑10‑11 Re: Interesting Flea Market Finds
Josh,

No one(where are you hiding Ralph?) has responded to
your query about your newly acquired marking gage, so
I'll offer my opinion.

Like yours,none of these gages I've seen have been
marked.  Milt Batchelder(sp?), the guy who wrote the
marking gage book has had the same experience.  His
theory is that they where made by Chapin-Stephens and
its forerunners.  There are similar gages shown in the
Chapin Stephens catalog that has been reprinted.

These are just about my favorite gages.  The oval head
just feels good in my hand and the quality of
materials and the workmanship is excellent.  They come
in rosewood, boxwood, apple and beech, both plated and
unplated.  You'll have to keep an eye out for others
of this style to see which configuration you like the
best.

Jim Crammond

--- Joshua Clark  wrote:

> Hello Galoots!
> First is a marking gauge.. Nothing extra special,
> but I can't identify 
> its maker. I'm hoping someone can. It's rosewood
> with brass fitting. 
> The distinguishing feature is the small inlaid brass
> circles that act 
> as wear plates. Does anyone know if a particular
> maker used this 
> feature?  Pictures here:

		
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137705 Ralph Brendler <ralph@b...> 2004‑10‑13 Re: Interesting Flea Market Finds
Jim Crammond wrote:

> No one(where are you hiding Ralph?) has responded to
> your query about your newly acquired marking gage, so
> I'll offer my opinion.

I'm still here, just mightily busy.  Between work, the CATS/MWTCA meet 
coming up in Chicago on 11/27, and my other big project (more to 
follow), I've been pretty booked.

The "big project" is that we just heard from Doug Cox, the national 
meeting director for the MWTCA, that Chicago has been awarded the 2005 
MWTCA fall national!  This is a *huge* accomplishment for Slav and the 
rest of the CATS guys, and we are all pretty excited about it.

Slav did most of the leg work setting it all up, but I get to take all 
the glory (yeah, right) as the official meeting host.  I'll obviously be 
relying a lot on the CATS guys for help, so it's not going to be so bad. 
  We've only got a year to get ready for this, so the wheels are already 
in motion.

As I've been telling folks (using my best Blues Brothers Chicago 
accent)-- "We're on a mission from gahd..."

So, Galoots-- mark your calendars for next October!  The MWTCA fall 
national will be at the Pheasant Run Resort (which is both hoity *and* 
toity) in St. Charles, IL (about 40 miles west of Chicago). We are 
expecting a near-record turnout, and I hope to see a lot of galoots there.

Anyway, back the the question at hand-- Josh Clark's interesting marking 
gage:

> His
> theory is that they where made by Chapin-Stephens and
> its forerunners.  There are similar gages shown in the
> Chapin Stephens catalog that has been reprinted.

Yeah, these oval-headed gages with the brass buttons are almost 
certainly C-S, but I have never seen one marked with the name.  They 
look just like the old catalog cuts, though, right down to the unusual 
graduations.

C-S made these in a wide variety of woods, both with and without head 
and arm plating.  There are also cutting gages in this pattern, but they 
are harder to find.

As users they are quite nice (gotta love oval heads), but they are 
missing one important feature-- a brass shoe to protect the arm from the 
thumbscrew.  A lot of these you find will have the back of the arm all 
pock-marked from overzealous tightening of the screw.  Once this happens 
their usefulness diminishes drastically, since the screw wants to go in 
the existing divots instead of where you want it to...
-- 
Ralph Brendler, Chicago, IL - OTLM, ENB, FOYBIPO
"Science works even if you don't believe in it..." - Penn Jillette


137779 Joshua Clark <jclark@h...> 2004‑10‑15 Re: Interesting Flea Market Finds
Many thanks to Jim, Sandy, and Ralph for giving me some great 
information on C-S marking gauges. As Ralph noted, this gauge doesn't 
have a brass shoe.

Have a great weekend everyone, happy rust hunting.

-Josh in CT-

On Oct 13, 2004, at 10:19 AM, Ralph Brendler wrote:
>
>
> Anyway, back the the question at hand-- Josh Clark's interesting 
> marking gage:
>
>> His
>> theory is that they where made by Chapin-Stephens and
>> its forerunners.  There are similar gages shown in the
>> Chapin Stephens catalog that has been reprinted.
>
> Yeah, these oval-headed gages with the brass buttons are almost 
> certainly C-S, but I have never seen one marked with the name.  They 
> look just like the old catalog cuts, though, right down to the unusual 
> graduations.
>



Recent Bios FAQ