Inherited a small bounty of old tools.

[Alex Burkhardt]

Hi All,

This is partly a tool gloat, as i'm excited to add to my collection, but i'm also looking for a little advise ...

A family member was cleaning out a rather sizable, and very full garage in preparation for a big move, and i was invited down to pick through the tools that had been salvaged from fathers and grandparents past. Lots of neat old wooden work boxes full of plumbers tools, nic nacs, and of course a host of woodworking tools. Aside from several modern tools of the plug-in persuasion, I came home with:

-- A pair of "Chapin" moulding planes, one of which is a combination tongue and groove plane.
-- A Stanley #78 that i think is a fairly early iteration. No lateral adjuster, early style handle with vines. All parts present. Missing at least half of the japanning, however.
-- A Stanley #3 that also looks moderately old. Patent dates on the casting, early lever cap. There's a small piece taken out of the front of the casting, and a hairline crack at the corner of the mouth.
-- What looks like a #18 or #19 Knuckle-joint block plane. Missing the lateral adjuster, which i believe should be there. All of the nickel plating is gone as well.
-- A Stanley #75 bull nose plane that looks quite useful, even in its current state
-- An 8" Stanley #18 Sliding Bevel
-- A few transitional wood body Stanley planes. Smooth, maybe? and Jack? not too familiar, but i couldn't leave them behind ...
-- And several other odds and ends, including brace and a nice, full boxed set of Russel-Jennings auger bits.

As for the questions -- I fully intend to refurbish all of the Stanley gear, if for no other reason than heritage and nostalgia. That said, is the crack beside the mouth on the #3 going to prevent it from being a good user? Also, i'd like to know if it's possible to re-plate the knuckle-joint lever cap on that block plane? or if there are any other suggestions for how to refresh? Lastly -- i think at this point, the 78 is far from a looker, and i need to repaint. Any thoughts on attempting to redo the japanning? anyone have experience bringing the 78 back to life?

Thanks, all!

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[Nick Stokes]

Dont worry about redoing the nickel... Just clean it and put some oil/wax or whatever on it, and use the heck out of it.

The crack in the #3 could be a problem depending on where it is. But most likely, you can use it as is for a long time before anything bad happened.

[Jim Koepke]

The #78 never had a lateral adjuster to my knowledge. The handle with vines puts it before 1910. The blade adjustment lever came along circa 1925.

Check Patrick Leach's Blood & Gore > http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html < for more information about the block planes and when they acquired lateral adjusters.

The #75 is one of those planes a lot of people do not care to bother trying to use.

The #3 looks to be a type 9, 1902-1907. The lever cap looks to be a later type. If you elect to purchase a new base for the #3 be aware there are some differences between early and later type 9 castings. They are not interchangeable. One good point to a later type 9 is base castings from type 10 and later will work with a later type 9 frog. You just will not have the frog adjusting ability.

The brace looks to be an 8" swing. The real deal on the find is the boxed set of what look to be pre-Stanley Russell Jennings auger bits.

Great find and have fun using them all.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi Alex,

+1 on what Jim said about the bits, those are a real find in my view.

Stew

[Brian Holcombe]

Nice find on the russell jennings bits, get a good auger file and keep after them. They cut hardwoods very well.

[Dave Anderson NH]

You're going to love the Russell Jennings bits Alex. Even if you got only the bit set you made a really great haul. Everything you received will clean up nicely with a bit of work.

[Christopher Charles]

Nice score! I have the same auger bit set and as has been noted, they're great. And come in a cool box

[Josh Nelson]

Not to sound like an echo here but very nice on those bits. Those things are so very nice.

[Alex Burkhardt]

Didn't think the bits would get so much love! Unfortunately it's not a full set, as I discovered I'm missing the no 4 and 5, but I'm hoping I can one day piece the full set back together. Guess I need to learn to sharpen them now. LN conveniently sells the appropriate file -- may as well throw a couple hand planes into the cart, you know, to make shipping worthwhile!

[steven c newman]

Picked a #4 and a #5 this morning..
bits and chisel.jpg
They might be what you are looking for? Shafts are stamped as Irwin US of A

[Ray Selinger]

I'm old enough that brace and bits were common carpentry tools and were used. Being a poor apprentice I bought them piece meal. First the two sizes for snap-ties, then one at a time. So my incomplete set is a mixture of Stanley and Irwin. I've since bought handfuls of bits hoping to complete, say a set of Russel Jennings.It hasn't happened yet. From the mishmash I've found,I don't think I was the only poor apprentice who bought bits one at a time. I did find a boxed set, but they were only coarse Irwins.