Antique Tools FAQ (as of 11/97) ----------------- 0. Purpose of this FAQ 1. Advantages of Older Tools 2. Is this a collectable or a user's tool? 3. What is this worth? 4. Restoration concerns 5. Who is "Bailey" ? 6. What are the corrugations for? 7. Quality makers (emphasis on iron planes) 8. Makers to avoid 9. What to watch for when buying planes 10. Basic plane types 11. Universal Planes (i.e. 55's) vs. Wooden Moulding Planes 12. Saws (nibs and nuts) 13. Infill ("Norris") style planes 14. Where should I buy old woodworking tools? 15. Internet resources 0. Purpose of this FAQ ====================== This FAQ is designed to address the most frequently asked questions about antique tools on Rec.ww. It also includes some questions that in the opinion of the author should be asked more frequently ;-). It is designed to complement Ken Smith's excellent Handtool.FAQ which has appeared in Rec.ww for some time. Some important questions concerning the use of old tools have already been addressed there: i.e., basic tuning of a hand plane, saw sharpening, etc. Ken also provides an extensive bibliography and guide to tool collecting organizations. I learned most of this stuff here in Rec.ww, so kudos to all the folks who posted this stuff originally. This Faq emphasizes iron planes, since the bulk of traffic concerns them. 1. Advantages of Older Tools ============================ Old tools were made in an era when there were many craftsmen and tradesmen that relied on their tools to earn their living, thus they had to be durable, effective, and ergonomic. These would often be used for hours on end, so the handles had to be comfortable. Older tools are often made of superior materials. The castings are heavier and more carefully machined. (Sometime after the 1950's Stanley abandoned surface grinding the soles of their planes and just belt sanded them. I'm told Record still grinds theirs to .002). The tote, knobs and handles are often of brazilian rosewood, the blades are of quality steel and properly tempered. In addition, the blades (even on Stanley bench planes) are often of laminated construction. A thin piece of steel was laminated to a softer iron back. This had the (perhaps unintentional) effect of enabling the steel to be left harder, since the soft iron would absorb some shock. This same method of construction is still used in the best Japanese tools today. Some observe that all tools made in yesteryear were not superb. The quality of what remains is a result of the survival of the fittest and there is certainly no shortage of poorer quality old tools to be found as well. The standard reference for USING old woodworking hand tools is Michael Dunbar's _Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools_ (ISBN 0-8069-6670-X). 2. Is this a priceless collectible or a user's tool? ===================================================== Collectible tools are collectible because they are rare, so chances are most tools you will find are not going to pay off your mortgage. However, there are plenty of rare things out there. For an overview of what Stanley tools are collectible see Patrick Leach's "Stanley Blood and Gore" archived at the "Electronic Neanderthal" web page (see #14 below for address). In that very useful guide to all Stanley planes ever made, he places an asterisk beside those that are better left to collectors. There are numerous guides to the prices of antique tools. Although these are not precise guides to value, they do make clear the difference between a #45 and a #44 Miller's Patent Plow (which may very well pay off your mortgage). Check any of the published price guides for this sort of information, but take them with a pound or two of salt. Most of the collectible Stanley planes are precisely the ones that are least useful to the user. They are rare because the workers of yesteryear didn't find them practical. An exception to this rule are the earliest types of each tool which are often worth quite a bit. Dating planes is a complex undertaking, but the simplest trait is the lack of a lateral adjustment lever on the standard bench planes. (Do not confuse this with a broken and lost lateral adjustment lever as some--no doubt well intentioned--antique dealers have.) There is a guide to dating Stanley planes by the same Mr. Leach archived at the Electronic Neanderthal as well. Even though a tool is not particularly valuable monetarily, it is still an important legacy of history and should be treated with respect. 3. What is this worth? ====================== A question easier to ask than answer. This varies greatly depending on condition of the tool, and the geographic location. As a ROUGH guideline figure about 60-100% of current retail if it's a plane Stanley still produces and its in good shape. It also depends who you are. For example, a #7 jointer plane sells retail new, for anywhere from $65 to over $110 dollars. Tool dealers ask from $75 to $100 for them. If you live in the right area, you can often find them at flea markets, antique malls and yard sales for below $30, sometimes FAR below that. In general, if you are new to the purchase of old tools, avoid buying things that cost much more than $XX (insert however much you're willing to blow on worthless junk) without acquainting yourself with the going price. Do this by talking to tool dealers (see the handtool faq for a list of folks on the net) or consulting price guides. Local dealers of tools in antique malls often/usually overprice their tools. But then again, they occasionally underprice out of ignorance. 4. Restoration Concerns ======================= Much of what I'm about to say may sound extreme. To some extent it is. However, until one knows enough about old tools to distinguish the dross from the fine stuff, it's best to err on the conservative side. Even though most old tools are not extremely valuable from a financial standpoint, they are part of a finite and dwindling pool of antique artifacts. As such they should be treated with care and respect. Even something as innocuous as the grunge coating a tool (called patina by devotees) can reveal forgotten facts about the trades (e.g., what one did with the second hand when using a ripsaw). These tools have often provided incomes for 2 or more generations of artisans and their families, perhaps before your grandparents were even born. Meditate on this a while before breaking out the Comet. The patina itself gives a lot of the value to the tool. This is especially the case with wooden tools. Avoid stripping at all costs. Simple cleaning is usually ok. Mineral spirits, rags and toothbrushes will accomplish a lot. If you're certain a tool is nothing special, mild abrasives such as automobile rubbing compound can be used. Avoid wire brushes, especially wire wheels! They remove material quickly, obscure detail, and leave a matte finish that initiates can spot a mile away. I have a very nice Mathieson infill smoother whose mouth was damaged by an idiot with a wire wheel. It is functional and a wonderful plane, but it will never be what it was and they don't make em' anymore. Mild rust can be rubbed off with a cloth and mineral spirits. If it is heavy, abrasives can be used. Chemical methods tend to leave an unattractive surface so avoid Naval Jelly and Coke(tm) (same active ingredient!). I have tried soaking a saw in vinegar; this dissolved the rust, but also pitted the steel (I know because it etched the weave of the wicking cloth I was using into the blade). Electrolysis is used in serious conservation circles to remove corrosion. A discussion on this is archived at the Electronic Neanderthal. It's best to try to maintain the original finish on the wooden portions of old tools. This of course can have its fanatical extremes, but it's worth striving for. In general they were either left unfinished (most wooden planes) or shellacked. French polishing is the best way to renew the latter. The simplest and least destructive of refinishing methods is to apply a decent coat of paste wax. The gravest sin is polyurethane. It can make the rarest of planes pariahs. The ultimate rule is avoid irreversible changes. Sometimes the surface of wooden tools has dried out leaving a driftwood-grey appearance. In such cases, a little tung oil (the real thing, not the many pre-mixed melanges) can renew the surface. Although linseed is more historically proper, it will significantly darken beech. Functional modifications should be avoided unless you really know what you are doing. All of this may seem extreme, but until you familiarize yourself with what is valuable and what is junk, there is a chance you will be ruining a wonderful tool. Anyone who has searched for old tools for very long has many stories of wonderful tools "fixed" by people who simply didn't know how to use them properly. I recently saw a wonderful 2" wide complex moulding plane with its mouth whacked open. I guess the original tight mouth did not allow the 1" thick shavings the user was producing to clear the throat. ;-( That said, there are times when an otherwise useless old junker can be transformed into a useful working tool by means of radical surgery--such as turning a handyman class smoother into a scrub, or an old wooden rabbet into a sliding dovetail plane. Most accounts of tuning old planes usually emphasize the importance of flattening the sole. This is a somewhat controversial issue in old tooldom. While a seriously non-planar sole is a problem, most are quite functional. Wooden planes (with which so much of the greatest furniture was made) are never terribly flat. I think it's a genre issue. If you are writing an article or book on restoring and tuning tools, you will want to include everything. Article after article notes sole lapping and it becomes dogma. But not all planes need this treatment. Nevertheless there are times when a sole is so out of whack that it has to be flattened, and there's no harm in that. Note, however, that lapping the sole can enlarge the mouth harming its performance. It will also lesson the plane's appeal to collectors...so don't go lappin any #164's. 5. Who is "Bailey"? The Bailey Patent Design ============================================= The standard pattern of bench plane that we all take for granted was invented by a man named Leonard Bailey. Bailey invented three major parts of this design: the moveable frog (the wedge shaped iron support on which the plane blade rests), the lever cap iron securing system, and the depth adjustment wheel and yoke system. Later the improvement of the lateral adjustment lever was added. The Stanley company saw the potential success of Bailey's design and bought the patents from him. To honor the dude of whom they quickly tired (there were several patent lawsuits between them), they cast and engraved his name all over their planes for some years. This is why many of the Stanley planes have "Bailey" cast into them. The earliest ones also have it engraved in the chip breaker and adjustment wheel as well. 6. What are the corrugations for? ================================= Some say that they are intended to reduce the surface area of the sole and thus friction, but this seems unlikely since friction is a function of force, not surface area. The most common answer is that they are intended to somehow break the suction that forms between two flat planes. This suction increases force and thus friction. Others have said that the corrugations are merely a gimmick. Their only real value comes into play when one is flattening the sole. Then the amount of iron to be removed is reduced--similar to the scalloped backs of Japanese chisels. 7. Quality makers (emphasis on iron planes) =========================================== After the initial patents expired, Stanley made all kinds of improvements to keep their market share. This resulted in the many different "types" of the standard planes that were produced throughout this century. When the patents expired, many competitors began to produce lines of Bailey style bench planes. Among the quality producers of these knock offs are: Sargent, Millers Falls, Winchester, Keen Kutter, Fulton and Craftsman and Record. (Technically some of these are just labels, not producers, but you get the idea.) Sometimes, these are made with higher quality than the original Stanleys. These are sometimes unattractive to collectors, so they can provide very good values to the user. 8. Makers to avoid ================== Some of the clones are junk. Stanley itself made several lines of lesser-quality tools for weekend putzers who didn't need the quality the trades demanded. Among these are their Handyman and Defiance lines of tools. Sears also had a lower quality line called Dunlap. These can be serviceable tools, but if you buy one make sure you get a significant discount off of the price of a top of the line brand. In antique stores these tools are often priced the same as the best tools. These handyman class tools will seldom do for precise applications like smoothing. Traits of these lesser tools include the following. The stirrup shaped yoke that straddles the depth adjustment wheel is often made of stamped and bent sheet steel, instead of the sturdier cast iron. The lateral adjustment lever is sheet metal twisted into two planes, without a wheel on the end where it engages the slot in the blade. The frog is often not supported well. The mating surfaces are not accurately machined. These tools seldom have the frog adjustment screw which allows you to precisely adjust the mouth. Poorly rounded totes are also often a sign of lessor quality. The earliest Stanleys totes are completely radiused, whereas the latter ones merely have their corners rounded over. The best planes were made with knobs and totes of rosewood or cocobolo. Lesser ones used beech or other domestic hardwoods, or later, plastic. However, some of the top of the line planes, like the Stanley scrub planes always had beech. There are many other brands of iron planes that are not related to the Bailey family tree. These are often referred to as "Patent planes." These are the backwaters of plane evolution. These are ideas that, good or bad, never made it into the big time. Sometimes they are the work of inspired geniuses. Other times, they are simply lame attempts to cash in on the success of Bailey's design whilst skirting his patents. Generally, they are much rarer than the Stanleys. In some cases, collectors seek them, in others they ignore them while shelling out major moolah for much more common Stanleys. Some would make fine users, some are too valuable, and others are just junk. 9. What to watch for when buying ================================ The most devastating problem is a crack in one of the castings. This often happens on the sides of the plane, in the area around the mouth. If there is a crack here, chances are the plane will not work well. There are often cracks around the mouth on the bottom of the plane as well. Chips are often seen in front of and behind the mouth. It they are in the front there is a problem, since this will impede the proper function of the plane. Ones behind the mouth, if small and not connected to cracks, can be considered merely cosmetic. Often portions of the side are chipped off. If these are relatively small, they shouldn't be a problem. However, the plane should be appropriately discounted. Cracks in the lever cap can be disastrous. These often occur around the hole for the screw, or by the lever itself. These will allow the cap to flex, preventing proper tensioning. Often the bottom edge of the lever cap is chipped. They were sometimes used as screw drivers for the screw on the iron. A small chip is no disaster, but large ones can cause uneven pressure to be applied to the iron, allowing one side to chatter. Cracks in the tote and knob are common. Totes are often repairable with an adhesive suitable for exotics. Often past owners have botched repair attempts, complicating things because the old adhesive must first be removed. Radial cracks in the knob are tougher to fix, and if severe, can hinder proper tightening of the knob. Pitting from rust is common on the metal parts of old tools. Pitted castings, while ugly, are not really a problem unless severe. On the sole they can prevent the plane from leaving a smooth surface, which is of course the whole point. Examine pitting closely beside and around the mouth. I've seen planes that have been welded long ago, where amidst the seemingly ordinary patina are found gas bubbles in the weld that resemble rust pits. Pitting is more of a problem when it occurs on the rear of the blade. This often happens when water collects in the capillary reservoir formed by the blade and the chip breaker. If it's light, it can be ground off when flattening the blade. Sometimes it is too deep for this to be possible. The blade can still be used for rough work, but it will never leave a smooth surface. Note that an unpitted back is necessary only on a plane that leaves a finished surface. Thus it is most crucial on smoothers and moulding planes. A pitted plough iron is no tragedy. While looking at the blade, check for how much life is left in it. New blades had 2" or so of iron below the notch. Discount the value if less than 1" is left. Familiarize yourself with the function of the various adjustment mechanisms and make sure they are in working order. With proper tension on the lever cap, they should work smoothly without excessive pressure. Disassemble the plane to make sure everything is as it should be, and that all parts are there. Check important working surfaces for wear: the slot in the adjustment wheel, the wheel on the end of the adjustment lever. Check to see that the screw heads are not stripped or abused: this can be a sign of rough handling. Check the sole for flatness. If your at an antique mall, the plate glass of a nearbye display will do the trick. The sole need not be optically flat, but serious warping is a problem. Soles can be hollow, convex or twisted along their length. If you can spot the problem by eye, it's best to pass on the plane. If you plan to use the plane in a shooting board or for shoulder work, make sure the sides are square to the sole. Sight down the soles and fences of wooden planes. Be especially attentive to wooden planes with mouths that cut completely cross the sole, like dados. These are particularly prone to warping out of line. These are the things to look for when buying a user plane. The collector market is a whole different ball game. There, finishes are faked, planes are modified to resemble rarer ones, mixed parts from different types become problems, etc. Hopefully, if you are spending that kind of moulah, this FAQ is not your only guide. 10. Basic plane types ===================== Bench Planes: ------------- I will list these in order of use, the Stanley numbering system lists them in order of size from small to large. Jack Planes: ------------ Jack Planes range in size from about 12" to 15" in length, and their irons vary from 1 3/4" to 2 3/8" wide. These are used for rough shaping of boards. Their mouths are left wide, and chip breakers set back 1/16" or more from the edge of the blade. They are made to remove large quantities of wood quickly. Their blades are often radiused to facilitate this. The #5's are the jack planes in the Stanley series. The #5 is the basic jack. The 5 1/4 is a junior jack made for smaller hands, and for manual training courses. The 5 1/2 is a the bigger version. There is another common bench plane that functions similar to a jack. This is the scrub plane. Scrubs are short, with narrow (1 1/4" - 1 1/2"), sharply radiused blades. They have no chip breakers, very thick blades and wide mouths. They are made to hog off a lot of stock quickly. Stanley's scrubs are the #40 and the #40 1/2. There a lot of European style wooden scrub planes out there. These have no rear tote, but a curved "horn" at the toe, where the knob would be on a Bailey plane. A well tuned jack can, in a pinch, be used for a smoother, or a jointer. They can do an adequate job in each, neither as well as the dedicated plane. Some have suggested a relationship with the saying "Jack of all trades" here. Jointers: --------- Jointers are long planes. They are used to flatten and joint the faces and edges of a board with some accuracy. Their long length lets them ride over valleys and slice off the ridges on a board. They begin in size at 18" and go up to 24" in the Stanley line, other types of jointers go all the way up to 30" or more. The longer the plane, the flatter the resulting surface. The Stanley jointers begin with the #6 at 18" long. It's serviceable, but considered too small for many. It is attractive to those who have a hard time with the bigger jointers. The #7 is Stanley's standard jointer. It is 22" long and has a 2 3/8" blade. The #8 is Stanley's biggest bench plane. It's 24" long with a 2 5/8" blade. Smoothers: ---------- While the jointer leaves an acceptable surface on most woods, finicky woods with difficult grain require a very precisely set plane to be adequately finished. A tightly tuned smoother will shear off a delicate, lacy shaving leaving a surface with great depth and clarity. Such surfaces far surpass the results given by abrasives, or even scrapers. There is a belief, propagated by some major names, that the smoothing plane should be followed by final scraping. I remain clueless as to the wisdom of this. Seems like saying: "after washing the windows, rub the glass with an oily rag." Smoothers are smallish planes. The Stanley #3 is 8" long with a 1 3/4" iron, while the #4 is 9" by 2". Stanley made a #1 (5 1/2" by 1 1/4") and a #2 (7" by 1 5/8"), but these are primarily collector's tools and are priced accordingly. There is also a #4 1/2 that is 10" by 2 3/8". The shorter length of the smoothers allow them to be used on problem spots where the grain may change direction. In such cases, one may have to plane in many different directions on one board to get an adequate finish. The key to the function of a smoother is a very tight mouth. Usually, the frog is set as far forward as possible on a Bailey pattern plane. The best smoothers have mouths of around .007" in width (that's seven thousandths) or less. Try for less than 1/64 of an inch. The chip breaker should also be set very close to the edge of the blade. Again, 1/64" is a good place to start. Remember, you are using this plane last, the board should already be square and very flat. You will be removing from .0015 to .005" (at most) with this plane. The finer the shaving, the less chance of tearout. Block Planes: ------------- Block planes are designed to shear off end grain. Perhaps the etymology is connected to the butcher's block. Block planes have the iron bedded bevel up, and have no chip breakers. Turning the blade bevel up allows the bedding angle to be decreased, without requiring the sharpening angle to become more shallow and thus weakening the edge. Standard block's are bedded at 20 degrees, while low angle blocks are bedded at 12 degrees. The lower cutting angle allows them to shear without "bruising" the end grain. These are very useful tools for trimming and fitting. Many have adjustable mouths which can be closed very tight allowing a delicate shaving to be taken. They can rival the best smoothers. Avoid those that lack adjustable mouths. Mario Rodriguez continues to argue that a stout bed and thick blade are more important than mouth size when shaving end-grain, and he may have a point. But this applies to his pretty Lie-Nielson bronze copy of the old Stanley #103, and the various deluxe infill block planes. It does not hold for the real #103 or 9 1/4 etc. Stanley made A LOT of different block planes. The most common, quality planes are numbers 9 1/2, 60, 65. A lot of the others (but not all) are junk. If you find a #62, rejoice! It's one of the best tools Stanley ever made. This is a jack sized plane with a low angle block mechanism. It has an adjustable mouth. Sell it to a collector and buy Lie-Nelson's primo reproduction, which due to its beefy blade is a better user. There are tons of other types of planes. Many of these were made for working various elements of fine joinery. Many of them have been replaced by that 25k rpm instrument of subtlety, the electric router. I won't go into them here, but know there are dedicated planes of the following types: rabbets, filletsters, ploughs, dados, side rabbets, shoulder planes, skew blocks, edge planes, chisel planes, butt mortise planes, scraper planes and routers. For a good description of many of these, see Dunbar's book. 11. Moulding vs. Universal Planes ================================= Many people are interested in the #55 because ideally they can produce many moulding profiles. Through a combination of different shaped cutters, using multiple passes, these planes can indeed produce a wide range of profiles. They also do plough, filletster, and match work. Owning one (rather expensive) plane saves one the trouble and cost of assembling the whole range of wooden planes it replaces. However, there is a downside. These planes have no mouth (ok, actually they have no wear, they have an infinitely wide mouth). Thus, the tearout reduction provided by the mouth on a dedicated moulding plane is lost. This may not be as disastrous as it seems, since in general, one tries to pick the clearest, straightest grained stock available when sticking mouldings. Still, it is an issue. These planes are also temperamental. "Jack of all trades, master of none," applies here as much as above. Unlike a dedicated moulding plane which has all the registers and stops built into its stock and set forever, these must be set each time a universal plane is used. This can cause inconsistent results. That said, I have read articles where people who do restoration work swear by them. For folks likely to encounter such a wide range of profiles, owning one plane, as opposed to 48 or so does have a distinct advantage. That said (again!), it is important to note that these tools were produced at a time when the repertoire of profiles had become impoverished. They are not universally useful for work in all periods. Dunbar points out that even the proportions of simple profiles, such as quirked beads changed over time. 12. Saws ======== What is the nib on the back for? -------------------------------- One of the most frequently asked of all frequently asked questions. It rivals the everpresent question concerning aftermarket TS fences, it lacks, however, the longevity of threads engendered by that question. Many answers have been suggested: it is used to test the temper of the steel, to start the cut, to remove splinters from the kerf, to hold a string for level, to hold string to tie on a sawblade protector, repressive desublimation, you name it. The answer most agreed upon is that it is a vestige of earlier ornate decoration on European saw backs. According to a 1915 publication of Henry Disston & Sons (who should know something) the nib is purely decorative. How do I remove these funky screws? ----------------------------------- These are split nuts. You can remove them with a special screwdriver. These special tools can only be had by those willing to file a slot of appropriate width into a regular blade screwdriver. A question that perhaps should be asked: "Should I mess with these screws?" ---------------------------------- There are a number of factors to consider when removing the screws from saw handles. 1. The nuts are usually very tightly set into their countersunk holes (which have likely shrunk since they were first drilled) and cemented there by the shellac finish. Often--all too often--removal will cause the wood to chip out around the nuts. This is ugly, a shame, and turns off collectors. Superglue has helped this fool when in that situation. 2. To function properly, the saw blade must be held extremely tight in its handle. Often, due to moisture loss, old handles become loose. In this case tightening the nuts, or if extreme, removing them, and filing 1/16" off the bolt (if it is the newer style cap nut) and reassembling, can help quite a bit. Note however, that it sometimes takes A LOT of torque to properly remount the handle. Otherwise the saw will buzz, not sing, and you will be deprived of the bliss you seek. Sometimes, whilst being torqued on, the wood will give way and the nuts will spin free. If this happens, sometimes you can get relief by clamping the handle in a vice and squeezing it close to the blade before tightening. 13. Infill ("Norris") style planes ================================== These are often called "Norris" planes after their most famous manufacturer Thomas Norris of London. There were many other makers, Norris earned his name by producing a very precise blade adjuster. The basic design of the plane was popularized by Stewart Spiers of Ayr Scotland, who adapted it from earlier designs of mitre planes. Years after Spiers' success, Norris and other makers such as Mathieson and Preston got on the bandwagon. So, Stew probably stews each time someone calls the genre by the name of his copycat competitor. What are they? -------------- They are very precise planes made for precise finishing work. Their construction consists of a shell made of sheets of mild steel dovetailed together. (Cheaper ones were made of cast iron, better ones of dovetailed gunmetal.) This shell is filled with a hardwood such as beech, rosewood or even ebony. They are made for final smoothing of surfaces (thus come as smoothers, panel planes and jointers) and for final precise tweaking of joints (thus mitre and shoulder planes). Ok, there are other kinds like chariot, thumb, and rebate planes too. Why are they good? ------------------ Several aspects of their construction are important. They have a thick (3/16") parallel or "gauged" iron, which does not change size as it's consumed like the tapered irons in wooden planes (this opens the mouth as the iron is sharpened). The iron is firmly bedded on a heavy endgrain wood block along its entire length. This, along with the metal sole gives the combined advantages of wood and metal planes: the iron is firmly bedded and the mouth is not prone to wear. Their mouths are very tight. On a smoother they hover between 7 and 9 thousandths. On a mitre plane, they are even tighter. They have a screw-lever hold down made of a massive block of gunmetal (a type of bronze) that can apply great force across the entire width of the blade. They are usually bedded slightly steeper than the "common" pitch (45 deg) found on the Bailey pattern planes. Most infills measure between 47 and 47.5 degrees. This is more suitable for figured hardwoods. They were designed and built as premium tools. Made to strict tolerances, often the mouth of the plane was custom fit to its blade. The mouth is extremely tight. They are made to take only the finest of shavings. Another advantage they possess is their massiveness. This decreases the likelihood of the plane deflecting when encountering difficult grain or when used on an extremely hard wood. All of these design features combined, yield a plane that does exactly what a plane should: hold the blade firmly at the proper angle and allow it to clearly shear a layer of wood with no tearout. Not only do they excel with highly figured wood, they leave a better surface on ordinary woods as well. This difference is visable to the untrained eye. With a Bailey style smoother, there is always some micro-tearout. The surface, although much better than sanding or scraping, looks somewhat fuzzy. With an infill smoother, the surface of the wood actually shines, you are looking at a perfectly flat plane of wood, where the fibers are neatly sheared and the pores are left open. This results in greater depth when the wood is finished. Note however, that not all infill planes are equal. Later production models can be sloppily made. The key discriminating factor is the tightness of the mouth. A wider mouth makes a poorer plane. Sometimes previous owners have opened narrow mouths with a file. This kills the user value of such a plane. I would avoid any smoother with a mouth much over 9 thou. For mitre and shoulder planes, the mouth should be half that. This is a market where condition should determine price the most. Yet often enough, ugly cast iron Norrises with gaping mouths and shrunken infills go for $500. Blessed are those owners of years past, who, to open their tight mouths, glued little shims of veneer to the top of the bed. This increases the bedding angle slightly, and thus, opens the mouth. Those with similar problems today (for instance when fitting a Hock (tm) blade to a tight old Stanley, should consider this option before breaking out the bastard file. Posterity will reward them by distinguishing from their files by more than the adjective "dumb." Do I need one? -------------- Due to user demand and collector speculation, their cost has been rising for some time. Decent user smoothers without the Norris adjuster are going for $300 or so. Not everyone needs one, but many folks want one. They are used only for the final finishing of a wood surface, as they remove tremendously fine shavings. I think it's best to learn how to push a Bailey pattern smoother to its limits before acquiring one of these, so that one can really appreciate what they do. (Sure that's paternalistic, but I still think its true ;-). Lie-Nelson's #62 clone with its adjustable mouth and beefy blade is supposed to be a fine substitute for less money. There are several places producing infill repros as both finished models and kits. The repros are not cheap, since their production is very labor intensive. The ones I have seen are much diminished (in order to lower production cost) copies of their ancestors that cost as much as the real thing. Those inclined to provide their own labor intensity, will find useful Jim Kingshott's _Making and Modifying Woodworking Tools_ (ISBN 0 946819 32 7), which includes several chapters on making these planes using a variety of methods. Note that Kingshott's book is in desperate need of editing, see Mike Lindgren's reflections on making a plane using Kingshott's plans in the archives at "The Electronic Neanderthal." The book _The Best of FWW: Bench Tools_ has an article about making a an infill panel plane. 14. Where should I buy old woodworking tools? ============================================= It depends. Reputable tool dealers can provide rapid fulfillment of your tool desires. However, they expect to be paid full price for their services. For tools that you need immediately, or are unable to find on your own, they are the way to go. Many of them are listed at the Electronic Neanderthal. Another good source is trades and purchases from fellow users/collectors. The Oldtools list has a flea market on the first monday of each month. Local tool organizations often have swap meets and flea markets as well. It's fun to scour antique malls and regular flea markets for tools, but often such dealers have an inflated idea of the value of their tools. Equally often their quality is below what is acceptable in the specialized old tool trade. The average avaricious antique dealer will simply stick full list price on a near wortless specimine of a pricey model plane. There are many rusted, busted and incomplete #55's out there in display cases with price tags in the $300's. Yard sales, and especially, estate sales are great sources if you are in a place that has enough history for rust and patina to develop. Beware auctions, they are a blast, but often folks bid things well beyond their value. I've been at specialized tool auctions where run of the mill tools go for 1.5x the price that dealers were asking before the show. Estate auctions are often outrageous. I've watched people ecstatically throw $20 bills for their choice of rusty Jorgenson handscrews. Nevertheless, one rumour of a $5 Stanley #1 and you'll have faith for years. 15. Internet Resources ====================== There are now many Webpages devoted to fanciers of things patina'd. Chances are if you are reading this, you know how to use a search engine. Allan Fisher's "Electronic Neanderthal" was among the first. It has links to many others, it can be found at: http:/www.cs.cmu.edu/~alf/en/ Valuable archives and pointers to other net resources can be found there. Among the archives are Ken Smith's Handtool.faq, Patrick Leach's many essays on Stanley tools and Ralph Brendler's essay on the care, feeding and exercise of cabinet scrapers and handsaws. There is a listserv group, the name of which says it all: "Oldtools." The faqs and archives of the group can be found at the Electronic Neanderthal, as well as information about subscribing. Copyright 1997, Vincent J. Miller ================================================================= Vince Miller Dept. of Theology Georgetown University millerv@gunet.georgetown.com