It seems I have to write a bio so I can ask my question (and gloat
   a bit perhaps too).

   I am a thirty-five year old attorney, until Monday anyway.  I practice
   in   Shelburne  Falls,  Mass.,  which  is  about  ten  miles  west  of
   Greenfield.   Not  surprisingly, there is a lot of Millers Falls stuff
   at tag sales around here.

        My mother was an antique dealer.  So, I spent a large chunk of my
   childhood  at antique shows.  The tools of course, were just about the
   only  thing  I  found  interesting at most of those shows.  When I was
   about  12,  I  even  picked  up a couple of cheep paint covered wooden
   planes,  cleaned  them, and tried to sell them in her booth.  That was
   the end of any attempts to be a tool dealer.

        My,  ah,  accumulation  of  tools  has  its basis in two sources.
   First,  I  have  inherited  some things from my machinist grandfather.
   These  include  a  forties craftsman lathe and b*nd saw, and a starret
   combination  square  with protractor head and center finder, and a few
   other  measuring tools.  Unfortunately, when his stuff was divided up,
   I was quite young, and my cousins made off with most of it.  My second
   source  was  an  old pattern makers toolbox my Dad bought cheap when I
   was  young.  All that is really left of that now is a few saws, a 271,
   marking  gauges,  and  a  couple  other odds and ends.  I am afraid to
   think  what  I  may have lost or destroyed as a kid, using those tools
   for such things as a tree fort in the woods.

        After  college,  I apprenticed for a year at a commercial cabinet
   shop  in  Maine.   We mostly used tailed equipment, but I learned that
   there  was  definitely  times  and places when hand tools were faster.
   There  was  this  one  guy, Torque, who would spend days designing and
   building  a  r**ter  jig  to  avoid  having  to  use  a plane for five
   minutes.   I  also  learned  that  had  a  slight  weakness when I saw
   something  for  sale  that said Starret on it.  When the eighties real
   estate  boom  went  bust,  so  did  my job at the cabinet shop, and my
   access  to  large  p*w*r  tools.  Thus, my steady accumulation of hand
   tools since then.

       I mostly buy tools at tag sales and flea markets.  I am definitely
   a  bottom  feeder.   To spend more than ten dollars on a tool is rare.
   To  spend  thirty  is  extraordinary,  in  fact  I can't remember ever
   spending thirty dollars or more on a hand tool.

        This  hasn't  stopped me from building up a small accumulation of
   good  tools.   Planes  seem  to be something that everyone recognizes.
   Ignoring  block  planes,  I  have a Stanley 5C, a chromed 4 with three
   patent  dates, a 3 (that needs a lever cap),  12 (that needs a blade),
   a  72, 78, 80, and 271.  I also have Millers Falls numbers 22, 15, and
   14.   Millers  Falls  apparently  used  the  length of a plane for its
   number,  so  those  are  equivalent  to  a 7, 51/2, and a 5. (I think)
   Bottom feeding can be good.

         Replies Author           Date
   56679 Bio     David Sawyer     Wed  10/27/1999
   57203 Bio     James Gemmill    Sun  11/7/1999
   57204 Re: Bio Bill Webber      Sun  11/7/1999
   57205 Re: Bio Jim Erdman       Sun  11/7/1999
   57206 Re: Bio garyallan may    Sun  11/7/1999
   57208 Re: Bio scott grandstaff Sun  11/7/1999
   57209 Re: Bio James Gemmill    Sun  11/7/1999
   57210 Re: Bio TomPrice@a...    Sun  11/7/1999
   57227 Re: Bio Minch            Sun  11/7/1999

Welcome aboard James.  But, please no more weighty quotes!  SWMBO
was looking over my shoulder as I was digesting Mr. Carlyle's
observation when she remarked "well, he got the first part right!"

James Gemmill wrote:

> Fellow Neanderthals, I would like to introduce myself to this august
> body of tool using animals.
>
 Snip

> Regards,
> James Gemmill
>
> "Man is a tool using animal.  Weak in himself and of small
> stature, he stands on a basis of some half square foot, has to
> straddle out his legs lest the very winds supplant him.  Never-
> theless, he can use tools, can devise tools; with these the
> granite mountain melts into light dust before him, seas are
> his smooth highway, winds and fire his unwearying steeds.
> Nowhere do you find him without tools.  Without tools he is
> nothing, with tools he is all."
>
> Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)
>
> __________________________________________
> NetZero - Defenders of the Free World
> Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at
> http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
>
> --

--- James Gemmill  wrote:

> The only question I have to post to the list is:
> Are five #5 Jack planes
> enough, or should I keep going...

Jim,
Welcome to Old Tools.  I don't think that "enough" is
used by neanderthals in relation to quantity of tools.
You never have "enough", even of the lowly #5.  You
need some smooth bottom, some corrugated, some early,
some late styles, etc., so that you will have first
hand experience no matter who mentions what detail in
regards to any hand woodworking tool.
But 5 of them is a good start.

=====

Jim Erdman  (in Menomonie, WI)
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

--- Jim Erdman  wrote:
>
>
>
> --- James Gemmill  wrote:
>
> > The only question I have to post to the list is:
> > Are five #5 Jack planes
> > enough, or should I keep going...
>
> Jim,
> Welcome to Old Tools.  I don't think that "enough"
> is
> used by neanderthals in relation to quantity of
> tools.
> You never have "enough", even of the lowly #5.  You
> need some smooth bottom, some corrugated, some
> early,
> some late styles, etc., so that you will have first
> hand experience no matter who mentions what detail
> in
> regards to any hand woodworking tool.
> But 5 of them is a good start.
>
> =====
>
> Jim Erdman  (in Menomonie, WI)
> __________________________________________________
> Welcome aboard James...Jim's right, as usual, but
I'm afraid that neither of you are looking at this the
way I do.  Where would those #5s be if you hadn't
taken them in? Have you made plans for their futures?
What will happen to them if (god forbid) something
unexpected should happen to you?  When you can no
longer provide for them, that's when you have too
many. Sincerely;   Honest Gary May, railsplitter and
friend of the people.

=====

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

> But 5 of them is a good start.

Don't forget Bedrocks and some Guage would be nice and don't forget
Ohio, Chaplin  and then V&B..........................   Hey, you guys
over there, grab those grease mops and pave the way, we got the boy
pointed downhill already!
       yours,  Scott

*******************************
   Scott Grandstaff
   Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
   scottg@s...
   http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html

Who's "V&B"?

> Don't forget Bedrocks and some Guage would be nice and don't forget
> Ohio, Chaplin  and then V&B..........................   Hey, you guys
>
>        yours,  Scott

__________________________________________
NetZero - Defenders of the Free World
Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at
http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html

James wrote:

>Who's "V&B"?
>

That would be Vaughn & Bushnell who made an interesting variant of the
Stanley Bedrock design.

They don't call us the Support Group From Hell for nothing. With our
help, you'll soon be zipping head-first down the Slippery Slope with a
rocket stuck up your a.. er, welcome!
****************************
Tom Price (TomPrice@a...)
Will Work For Tools
The Galoot's Progress Old Tools site is at:
http://members.aol.com/tomprice/galootp/galtprog.html

Date:  (Date Unavailable)

Jeff wrote concering a mostly glass box.

Jeff - why not make it all glass.  Glass abrdes beautifully with the blue
sandpaper, and clear silicone will stick it together so it won't come
apart - will even stick it to a wood bottom.

You could abrade a mitre, or polish the edges and do a butt joint.  Run a
piece of high grade masking tape along each joint about 1/32" back from
the actual joint - that would be 4 pieces, 2 inside and 2 outside.  Apply
a generous bead of caulk, squeeze the pieces together in a jig, wet your
little finger, then drag it across each side of the joint - inside and
outside.  Do this a couple of times, but do it quickly before the caulk
skins over.  Pull the tape, and Voila!

Then move on to the next joint.  If you get good at it, you could do 2
joints at a time.  The tape and wipe technique is a caulker's trick and
works against brick, wood, metal, on cars, houses, and boats.  If you get
good at it and are using the right kind of caulk, you don't need the tape
- say a window frame against the  trim - which we all have probably done.

Ed Minch
Done to much o' that

> >Who's "V&B"?
> >
>
> That would be Vaughn & Bushnell who made an interesting
> variant of the
> Stanley Bedrock design.

They also made socketed firmer chisels, to judge from the rust-laden
specimen I pulled out from under some enormous railroad wrenches
at rummage last week.

Handle splintered, lots of meat left, what the h*ck am I going with
a 1 inch firmer?

Guess I'll figure it out.

Kirk Hays
Cedar Mills, Orygun