Quoting Tom Holloway :

> 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.
> =09It 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). 09I'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? 09TIA,
> =09=09Tom Holloway
> Oh, ya, the possible gloat part: $10 'murican money.
>
Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett 1899 compact catalogue no 6 The number 3
with polished lignum vitae start $0.90c - but you probably has to buy
the entire case of 36 to get that price

Neil

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