Maybe not in the league of the gloats of yore, but in my continuing
sporadic quest to build up a user set of wooden-bodied planes for use in
reenactment of the 1840s I recently snagged a small coffin smoother (7
1/2" long, iron 2 1/8 wide). On the toe I can *just* make out "Ohio . .
. and a number 3 below that. On the upper portion of the iron is stamped
A.C. BARTLETTS' in an arc, with warranted and cast steel in two lines
below. It was in pitiful condition when I found it in a small shop that
specializes in old tools in Lafayette, Oregon. It was complete and
intact, but very dirty and rusty, with a noticeable shallow groove worn
diagonally in the sole. After applying TLC, including jointing the
channeled sole on a finely set Stanley #8 jointer mounted upside down,
derusting the cap iron and blade and getting the latter quite sharp, I
think I now have the wooden smoother of my dreams (short of spending
$339 for the closest Old Street Tool equivalent). I'm not familiar with
A.C. Bartlett combined with Ohio, but a desultory search in the Archives
suggests that it is not related to the Ohio Tool that bought out Auburn
Tool and so forth. Does anyone have any more info on this company,
particularly a possible range of dates of manufacture? TIA, Tom Holloway
Oh, ya, the possible gloat part: $10 'murican money.

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