Dang, no pictures were taken so it may seem a dream.
Yesterday while working in the shop, I turned around and my neighbor's sons were standing there. Conner the oldest is about 12. He was holding a box of "carving chisels" a friend of his father had and wanted to get out of his garage.
Conner wants me to teach him about working wood. First step, sharpen some of his chisels. They are an inexpensive "Made in China" set with somewhat soft steel.
He was shown some of my planes and chisels in use and given a quick mentoring in the various ways of sharpening in the short time he and his brother Evan stayed. My ability to remember which is which is due to them being born in alphabetical order.
When asked if their father had any sharpening stones or a grinder, they didn't know. They enjoyed looking at my hand crank grinder and mentioned wanting to buy it. My reply was to point out the broken piece and explain why they would do better to save their money for something in better condition.
When Conner saw how a plane works, he was very excited and said he wants to get some of those. Then he asked why there were so many in my shop. There was some 'splainin' to do.
This morning while sitting in my robe enjoying some coffee and the News programs Candy, my late sleeping wife detests, there was a soft knock on the door.
It was Evan on the porch and Conner by the gate under an umbrella. They were also carrying an odd looking plane, and some other things and asked if they should come back. I said, give me a minute to get dressed.
They had a small hand crank grinder. It was noisy but well improved just by a few drops of oil. It even had a decent tool rest.
So the plane was an odd ball. Had to look it up by the patent number on its lever cap. It is a #3 size Shelton plane with the lateral and depth adjuster built into the lever cap.
The blade is terribly pitted and the sole has some deep pock marks of rust. He said it came from his "dad's father.
He was shown how to lap it on my "lapping bench." We had to change the abrasive paper. I went and worked the blade. After checking a few things and some work we noticed Evan was no longer with us. Soon, he was back with Ryan, the boy's father. He said it was time to go. They had an appointment in town with their tax accountant.
So the plane still needs a bit of work, but it did make a few shavings and Conner expressed his excitement at that.
Looks like I may have an apprentice…
jtk