Bargains or Tat?

[DannyEssex]

Went to the only boot sale still going around here last weekend and got a few tools to get me started.

I thought I would go the second hand route just to get started before I splash out, (especially with xmas coming fast)

I'm quite pleased with what I got, but wanted to know what you guys think of it all?

I got a couple of saws. They were quite rusty so I cleaned them up a little. I will have a go at sharpening them up next, They look quite old?

A few chisels.

I know they all look quite old, I just hope I can clean them up and sharpen them and they will be ok. I only paid £50 for it all so not to bad, I think lol

 

[AndyT]

Hi Danny

The top saw in the first picture is an Eclipse saw sold as being suitable for cutting wood, metal, plastic or even concrete blocks. In my experience they were not much good for any of those jobs. It will be too hard to sharpen and is not a treasure. The other three saws look nothing special but will be fine to learn sharpening and might work ok.

The chisels will probably sharpen up just fine. Smooth out the bashed ends and treat them better than that!

Next two pics all useful ordinary stuff.

The drill stand might only suit quite old drills (1970s) with a notch in the nose to fit.

The brace and bits look good; modern braces like that generally have a chuck that will take tapered end and round bits equally well.

I think the scroll saw is a basic DIY shed model but the expert scrollers will tell you more before they tell you to upgrade it!

 

[MIGNAL]

I don't think you can grumble at £50. The tenon saw is from the era when they started to put less effort into making nicely shaped handles but that doesn't mean to say that it is a poor user saw. Hard to tell but the teeth look like they have been over set, distorting the plate near the gullet line. File down and reshape/set the teeth. The next one looks like it has a nice handle. Might make a nice tool box type saw, it does seem as though it's missing part of it's original length.

 

[doctor Bob]

Well I'll be controversial and say it looks like a pile of tat which will need hours of hard work spending on it to achieve mediocrity.
It all depends on how you value your spare time.

If it was me starting out I'd rather spend a bit more and get down to making.

 

[JustBen]

I can tell you the scroll saw is very similar to mine although yours has a couple of extras that mine doesn't.

It's not the best saw in the world but i manage to make it work and have done some fairly technical stuff with it.
If it doesn't have it already, I would buy the axminster pinless blade holder upgrade.
It's only a few quid but means you can use pinless blades.
The pinned blades are pretty ****** and practically useless for detailed work.

The rest of the stuff I know very little about in terms of value/usability.

I am liking the enthusiasm though. Keep it up.



Cumquats?!?! What the hell......

 

[JimF.]

Well I'll be controversial and say it looks like a pile of tat which will need hours of hard work spending on it to achieve mediocrity.
It all depends on how you value your spare time.

If it was me starting out I'd rather spend a bit more and get down to making.

Personally I found having bits of tat to practice on was a liberating experience as it meant I didn't have to worry about messing up.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[Cheshirechappie]

From the top - Andy's dealt with the Eclipse saw, so I won't bother. The backsaw has the potential to be a useful tool provided the blade is straight. The third saw seems to have lost about 3" of it's toe end, but the handle looks like the really comfortable mid to late 19th century examples. Even if you don't reuse the saw, keep the handle as a template should you get into the habit of replacing grotty handles on otherwise decent saws, which many of us do. Those older handles are significantly better in use than more modern machine-made ones.

The second pic is a potentially good panel saw, if the blade is straight. It'll need cleaning and work to straighten and sort out the teeth, but that's not impossible - there is a very good 2-hour video on Youtube called 'Sharpening Western Saws' which may be worth a watch.

The chisels look good - the top one is fairl recent (post WW2), the second late 19th century, and the botton two are first half of the 20th century judging by the shoulder shapes. Have a look at the stamping on the blades - if it says 'Cast Steel' they'll be top-quality chisels. Given a bit of tlc to the handles and a sharpen, they're good for long service.

The square-headed mallet is a woodworking tool - bit of a clean is all it'll need. The rounded mallet is a sheet-metal worker's tool, used for bashing out dished items against a dolly or sandbag. The combination square and mortice gauge are potentially very useful, the spirit levels and mitre box may be useful. The two sharpening stones (give them a good scrub in sink with hot water and soap, let them dry thoroughly) should be used with thin oil (baby oil or 3-in-1 are good), and if you're lucky you've got a coarse one and a fine one. Use the coarse to do the bulk of the sharpening, and refine the edge with the fine one.

You've hit lucky with the brace and bits. The brace looks in good, clean condition, and getting a bit roll is a real find. You'll find uses for almost all the bits eventually, even if you don't yet know what some of them are for! You'll also find (in time) that any sizes you find you need but haven't got can be sourced through Ebay or the specialist dealers quite cheaply. If you get a small hand-drill and a set of small drills 1/16" to 1/4" (1.5mm to 6mm), or a small cordless drill, for screw pilot holes and the like, you've covered hole-drilling quite comprehensively.

I'll leave the machines to others - not my field!

For £50, that's definitely a bargain!

 

[tobytools]

Good bit of kit there,
I like the scrool saw.
Once cleaned/restored should all be good stuff. Good mallet
Also that honing guide is superb, it's what I use. Not because I have to it's just simple and effective and get more use than my flash mk2,

When getting cheap chisels just have a double check how flat they are if they are bent then no good, some may argue but your better of buying a new chisel than spending 5hours flattening and sharpening, ashley iles do some very nice chisels and at a good price I brought 3 and have never looked back.

You didn't get a plane tho
Now fixing them up and using is the best bit, be warned it's a slippery slope.

Let me know how you get on white the saw sharpening, I have a few I want to do but keep putting it off.

A guy from classic hand tools went to the collage I go a did a saw sharpening demo and took a load of tools to sell ect but I was working so missed it, I hear it was a good day

All the best
TT

 

[Tony Spear]

File down and reshape/set the teeth.
quote]

Come on Mignal - Danny has said that he's a complete beginner!

Are you suggesting that he has to set out learning how to refurbish and sharpen saws before actually doing any woodwork?

My advice?

1: Keep the panel and backsaws to practice sharpening on and buy a mid priced backsaw and a reasonably priced "hard point general purpose saw" to get started cutting wood!
2: Buy a decent basic plane - forget all the stuff you may have read about "Smoothers", Jointers, Jacks etc. and for a first plane look for a decent refurbished Stanley or Record No.4 (or alternatively, on the basis you'll be using it forever) buy a Quansheng from Matthew!
3: Dont assume that the Combination Square is accurate - I've seen them vary by miles!
4: Those drill stands are hopeless with anything bigger than the very small drills that they can cope with, probably due to the weight (I believe you require one with a 43mm. "collar" (or is that 38mm?). Modern cordless drills don't even have the collar at all!)

With that and what got you've already got you should be well equipped to start making stuff, even if it's only bird-boxes for your neighours!

The critical point is to make things!!!!

 

[mseries]

4: Those drill stands are hopeless with anything bigger than the very small drills that they can cope with, probably due to the weight (I believe you require one with a 43mm. "collar" (or is that 38mm?). Modern cordless drills don't even have the collar at all!)

The stand pictured is for an old B&D which doesn't have a collar but two indents at the chuck end of the body and one on the back. You'll not be able to fit a modern 43mm collared drill in there. I am not disagreeing that they are hopeless, I have never used one.

 

[baldpate]

I think you've done very well for £50. There's very little there that isn't useful (or can't be made useful). If the scrollsaw is functional, then that alone is worth a chunk of your £50 - it would be good enough for a dedicated scroll-sawist , but I've been surprised how often I've used my own cheap one for odd jobs.

 

[SteveF]

Stanley No4 Planes are 2 a penny
you should get one easily

if you cant find one let me know


Steve

 

[MIGNAL]

Oh I missed the bit where he stated that he was a complete beginner. Actually Tony Spear, where does he state that he's a beginner. Matters not. In that case he can buy a saw file and practice on it. Plenty of experienced woodworkers who have never set file to tooth. What's he going to lose? £6 or so on a saw file but he gains the experience of sharpening saws. Look like it's got plenty of metal to go at. It may just be worth sending it to be sharpened professionally, but given that it appears to need tooth reshaping and setting it's a toss of the coin. Having said that it's probably got potential. A couple of decades ago I bought a Pax and a Roberts & Lee with handles no better than that. They weren't cheap either, which is why I eventually reshaped the handles. I've done quite a few refurbs on such saws. Once sharpened and set they cut just as good as any.

 

[DannyEssex]

Thanks all for your tips and advice, its much appreciated. I forgot to post up the pictures of the two planes included,

One is a Record no 4 and the other just says made in Germany and is a no 3. I think its a scrub plane as the blade is curved?

The Record is tatty like the rest but was hoping i could clean this up?

I think I will get myself some new tools after xmas but as Tony says, I just want to get woodworking.

I need a bench so I think that will be my first project :shock: :lol:

Thanks again guys =D>

 

[tobytools]

A door on two work mates

And a curved iron is cambered

TT

 

[DannyEssex]

Thanks Toby

I forgot to add the pics lol