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8672 | BBohl@g... (Bill Bohl) | 1996‑10‑29 | Thackeray rabbet |
I was at a local shopping mall that was having an antique show the other day and spotted an infill shoulder rabbet plane. The plane had some pitting on the sides, a crudely made replacement wedge, a good-sized nick in the blade, and a coating of lacquer(?) applied over all of the exterior surfaces, but, hey, what do you expect for a plane found in front of J.C. Penny's? The rosewood(?) infill was in very nice shape but I could not make out the marking on the blade. I got the plane for $25 + tax, got it home and removed the lacquer with mineral spirits. Upon cleaning up the blade I found the following inside of an engraved oval: W THACKERAY PLANE MAKER ARMLEY YORKS The plane is 1.25" wide and 7.625" long. Do any of you know any history on this maker? When his planes were produced? Any help would be appreciated. This is my first infill plane so I am kind of excited about finding it. I will make a new wedge and will regrind the blade. thanks, Bill B. |
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8684 | Jeff Grothaus <jgrot@t...> | 1996‑10‑30 | Re: Thackeray rabbet |
At 10:10 PM 10/29/96 EST, you wrote: > > > W THACKERAY > PLANE MAKER > ARMLEY YORKS > >The plane is 1.25" wide and 7.625" long. Do any of you know any history on >this maker? When his planes were produced? Any help would be appreciated. > >This is my first infill plane so I am kind of excited about finding it. I will >make a new wedge and will regrind the blade. > Goodman shows John William Thackeray at various locations in Leeds from (approx) 1893 to 1930. He is described as a metal plane maker. Jeff |
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8691 | tkissam@c... (Todd Kissam) | 1996‑10‑30 | Re: Thackeray rabbet |
At 10:10 PM 10/29/96 -0500, you wrote: > > > >I was at a local shopping mall that was having an antique show the other day >and spotted an infill shoulder rabbet plane. The plane had some pitting on the >sides, a crudely made replacement wedge, a good-sized nick in the blade, and a >coating of lacquer(?) applied over all of the exterior surfaces, but, hey, >what do you expect for a plane found in front of J.C. Penny's? The rosewood(?) >infill was in very nice shape but I could not make out the marking on the >blade. I got the plane for $25 + tax, got it home and removed the lacquer with >mineral spirits. Upon cleaning up the blade I found the following inside of an >engraved oval: > > W THACKERAY > PLANE MAKER > ARMLEY YORKS > >The plane is 1.25" wide and 7.625" long. Do any of you know any history on >this maker? When his planes were produced? Any help would be appreciated. > Bill, Information is pretty scarce in my references. Ken Robert's in his English Woodworking Tools book has a single line indicating that this company got in the metal plane business after 1860. Goodman (British Planemakers) has the following: Thackeray, John William LEEDS Wesley Rd, Armley <1893> 67 Old Row Armley 1907 - 1912 Ivy Works, 51 Old Row, Armley <1930 Metal plane maker (Goodman uses brackets to indicate that he was probably in business for more time in the direction of the bracket, but he could not pin the dates down.) Great price, Todd |
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8727 | Ernie Fisch <ernfisch@i...> | 1996‑10‑30 | Re: Thackeray rabbet |
** Reply to note from BBohl@g... Tue, 29 Oct 1996 22:10:23 -0500 Bill Bohl wrote: > > blade. I got the plane for $25 + tax, got it home and removed the > lacquer with mineral spirits. Upon cleaning up the blade I found the > following inside of an engraved oval: > Just for accuracy sake you can't remove lacquer with mineral spirits. I am not ordinarily so mean spirited as to quibble about stuff like this but it is important to use the right solvents so as not to damage the artifacts. Mineral spirits is not a powerful solvent and there aren't many finishes it will remove. I would also caution agains using lacquer thinner on wood. It seems to penetrate and move some of the "life" from the wood leaving a faded surface. It can be used with great care but I don't like to. It is okay on unpainted metal. ernie The Arizona tool sink, IT #22 |
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8786 | BBohl@g... (Bill Bohl) | 1996‑10‑31 | Re: Thackeray rabbet |
In respone to my post, Ernie wrote: >Just for accuracy sake you can't remove lacquer with mineral spirits. > >I am not ordinarily so mean spirited as to quibble about stuff like this but >it is important to use the right solvents so as not to damage the artifacts. >Mineral spirits is not a powerful solvent and there aren't many finishes it >will remove. > >I would also caution agains using lacquer thinner on wood. It seems to >penetrate and move some of the "life" from the wood leaving a faded surface. >It can be used with great care but I don't like to. It is okay on unpainted >metal. > The dealer I bought the plane from said that the coating could be removed with lacquer thinner. What ever it was, it came off pretty easily with mineral spirits and some light rubbing with a Scotch Brite pad. You are surely right that it could not have been lacquer. I will take your advice and avoid using lacquer thinner. If the mineral spirits had not taken off the coating, what would you have tried next? thanks, Bill B. |
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8800 | "Richard Wilson" <seskfur5@i...> | 1996‑11‑01 | RE: THACKERAY RABBET |
Ernie, on solvent (dis)abuse... > >I would also caution agains using lacquer thinner on wood. It seems to >penetrate and move some of the "life" from the wood leaving a faded surface. > To enlighten the other half of the hemisphere (meaning me) Is lacquer thinner what I would refer to as 'cellulose' thinner? or one of the newer ones? Where cellulose paint is the older car paint, as opposed to newer catalytic hardeners, for which I believe the thinner is much more aggressive? Richard Currently on assignment at SKF Dataservice, Goteborg, Sweden Personal e-mail to 100042.512@c... will follow me around Replies to this mailbox will only be on-line when I am. |
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8841 | Ernie Fisch <ernfisch@i...> | 1996‑11‑01 | RE: THACKERAY RABBET |
** Reply to note from seskfur5@i... Fri, 1 Nov 1996 06:05:56 -0500 Richard asks: > > To enlighten the other half of the hemisphere (meaning me) > > Is lacquer thinner what I would refer to as 'cellulose' thinner? or one of > the newer ones? > Where cellulose paint is the older car paint, as opposed to newer > catalytic hardeners, for which I believe the thinner is much more > aggressive? > Not being familiar with old world terms my answer lacks certainty but that has rarely stopped my. I strongly suspect that lacquer and cellulose thinners are the same. The lacquers it thins are the nitrocellulose lacquers. This is what the hot rodders of the '40s would spray in multiple thin coats. Modern thinners may be more aggressive but this stuff is still nasty. I wear gloves if I am going to get my hands in it to any extent and I don't like to breathe the fumes. Since I live in Arizona where 70 deg is cold I do my paint work outside and can minimize the fume problem. I clean my airbrush (HO railroad modeler) with it but the amount is so small it isn't a problem. ernie The Arizona tool sink, IT #22 |
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8837 | "Michael D. Sullivan" <mds@a...> | 1996‑11‑01 | RE: THACKERAY RABBET |
On Fri, 1 Nov 1996 06:07:32 -0500, Richard Wilson wrote: > To enlighten the other half of the hemisphere (meaning me) > > Is lacquer thinner what I would refer to as 'cellulose' thinner? or one of > the newer ones? > Where cellulose paint is the older car paint, as opposed to newer > catalytic hardeners, for which I believe the thinner is much more > aggressive? Lacquer thinner is the solvent used for nitrocellulose lacquer (cellulose nitrate, or guncotton, is dissolved in the thinner). So, yes, it's probably what is called 'cellulose' thinner in Sweden. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael D. Sullivan, Bethesda, Maryland, USA mds@a... / avogadro@w... / 74160.1134@c... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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9125 | tkissam@c... (Todd Kissam) | 1996‑11‑06 | Re: Thackeray rabbet |
At 10:10 PM 10/29/96 -0500, you wrote: > > > >I was at a local shopping mall that was having an antique show the other day >and spotted an infill shoulder rabbet plane. The plane had some pitting on the >sides, a crudely made replacement wedge, a good-sized nick in the blade, and a >coating of lacquer(?) applied over all of the exterior surfaces, but, hey, >what do you expect for a plane found in front of J.C. Penny's? The rosewood(?) >infill was in very nice shape but I could not make out the marking on the >blade. I got the plane for $25 + tax, got it home and removed the lacquer with >mineral spirits. Upon cleaning up the blade I found the following inside of an >engraved oval: > > W THACKERAY > PLANE MAKER > ARMLEY YORKS > >The plane is 1.25" wide and 7.625" long. Do any of you know any history on >this maker? When his planes were produced? Any help would be appreciated. > =============== stuff I sent before Bill, Information is pretty scarce in my references. Ken Robert's in his English Woodworking Tools book has a single line indicating that this company got in the metal plane business after 1860. Goodman (British Planemakers) has the following: Thackeray, John William LEEDS Wesley Rd, Armley <1893> 67 Old Row Armley 1907 - 1912 Ivy Works, 51 Old Row, Armley <1930 Metal plane maker (Goodman uses brackets to indicate that he was probably in business for more time in the direction of the bracket, but he could not pin the dates down.) =============== end of stuff that I did not want to snip An update. Its really strange how reference karma works. I have in fornt of me the 1975 Arnold & Walker; "The Traditional Tools of the Carpenter and other Craftsmen" sale catalog. Item 190: 18" plane, weighing 10 1/4 lb., made by W. Thackeray of Armley, Yorkshire. Thackeray normally sold the body casting ("planed on sole and sides, square and true. Bored for screws"), the level cap and the rosewood fillings, "with piece for handle" separately, leaving it to the owner to assemble and finish the plane. In the case of the smaller planes he would do the finishing "to order only" but that added more than 200% to the cosr. This plane, with 2 1/2" cutter and pretty rosewood fillings, is in good condition apart from a small repair to the handle. 95 pounds. --- I guess Roy Arnold or his partner had access to an advertisement for Mr. Thackeray. A shame that this info shows up no where else. Just to make ya gasp, the same page has two Norris YB smoothers at 45 and 55 pounds ($2.10 per pound in 1975). Talk about my miss-spent youth :^) Todd |
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