British Invasion....!

[D_W]

upload pics

(explanation later this evening, wife is cutting this session short...)

 

[D_W]

I have been on a spree the last 3 or 4 weeks. There is a little more than this (a couple of planes that haven't arrived yet, including a sorby #7 sized plane, a try plane, a couple of gouges and a couple of coffin smoothers).

Brexit has been a boon for us in the states as the pound weakens, and it seems to coincide with more sellers selling things through the global shipping program (which is no good for light stuff, but it's actually economical for the bigger stuff).

The panel plane with an adjuster in the background is shown just for comparison to the plane plane in the front (the one in the back is one that I made from a shepherd kit). The one in the foreground was all of 150 pounds. I like it better than the shepherd kit for various reasons, though I executed that kit as well as could be done with it, the kit itself had some quality problems.

pleasant surprises from these buys:
* the records all have laminated irons. I love the irons, they are superb and do not chipout like some of the modern irons I've gotten lately
* the infill (which appears to have some hardware store parts in it, like the lever cap - the kind of mail order stuff that probably never existed over here) was almost flat, and took very little to get it there (it doesn't take much out of flat for gummy mild steel to seem like a lot of work). It adjusts wonderfully. I'd never thought of how you'd reduce depth but a quick loosen of the lever cap screw a little and it is soon cutting a whisper shavings. It is easier to adjust than the norris type adjuster in the spiers kit (with a small hammer suited for it for advancing depth). To effectively have an infill that good for $180 is a treat. I bought this plane because it was relatively inexpensive and I could tell by the orientation of the handle that it would have an excellent feel.
* the gray slate, no clue what it is, but it's really excellent on razors. The first shave is great, it is the equal of the y/g escher I had a couple of years ago
* The norris shoulder was about the same price as a premium shoulder plane is here (they're cheaper over here than there), but worlds beyond anything modern in personality
* The proceeds from my LV plow plane pretty much covered a 44c, 50c and a marples M50. All of those with full kits of irons, the marples with nifty little packages with ephemera on them, and two of the three with their original manuals / literature.
* The moving fillisters are something "I sort of collect" as Todd Hughes used to say. I will dispense one here and there to someone in the states when they say they want one. I keep about half a dozen on hand because I'm going to make a couple of them.

The surprises, though
* every one of the records was out of flat such that the mouth is higher than the toe and the heel (the infill was, too). I never thought about it, but I wonder what causes that. it's the least desirable out of flat that I can think of. It takes about 5 minutes to correct on my lap, though (3 1/2 feet of float glass with PSA 80 grit paper. Material cost is about a dollar, and the paper is great for removing light pits from irons).
* the marples plane isn't made very well - it's a bit sloppy, and on top of that, it's been ridden hard, it looks like. It's functionally fine, but the details are sloppy. I suspect that some of the others that I can see for sale are better made, mine just looks like a friday afternoon special.
* the marples coffin smoother I thought was neat for the equivalent of about 30 bucks. The mouth is tight, it is completely unused (never been sharpened, no marks on it anywhere), and the style and tightness of the mouth for a plane that new I thought was interesting. It doesn't, however, do anything other than clog with the cap iron set close. I can fix that pretty easily. I like the pattern/profile, so it gives me something to copy when I get the urge to make some coffin smoothers in the future.

I have the urge for about a dozen specific carving tools that I haven't come across yet, but I haven't got interest in giving woodcraft $50 each for those tools in pfeil when the english tools seem to be half to two thirds as much right now.

 

[D_W]

More of the hone. This was sold as a gray slate hone, but I do believe it's novaculte.

Can anyone confirm that? Never seen anything like it, but if I see another one, I'll get it. This one is reserved for razors at this point and will not see rough work. It is hard and smooth, but not aggressive like a new translucent arkansas can be.








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The look of flakiness is magnified several times by the camera. Those flaky spots are more 2d than 3d (where 3d is more like an inclusion in a translucent arkansas stone or like the cracks in a turkey stone) - they are so shallow in this stone as to look more like a stain of white.

Since the Idwal stones seem to have a thousand different looks, I'm guessing this is just one of those looks.

 

[custard]

I looked seriously at that Sorby No 7 on Ebay.

I have a Sorby No 6 and like it very much, in particular because it has less backlash on the depth of cut adjustment than a LN No 7 that I also have. That's relevant to the way I work in that when edge jointing boards I'll generally be using waney edged boards that have been ripped to width on the bandsaw and then may or may not have had the edges passed over the surface planer. In either case the edges will still need cleaning up with a bench plane before gluing. It speeds things along if I can start with a fairly coarse cut to remove the machine marks before progressively moving to a finer cut to hit finished dimensions and ensure the edge is true apart from a tiny amount of spring. The Sorby is pretty good at making these depth of cut adjustments on the fly and holds the lateral adjustment rock steady throughout.

Sample of one I know, but as it's the one I happen to have then it's still welcome news! Incidentally I had some success reducing backlash on another plane with one of these,

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Gun ... Lever.html

Be interested to learn how you get on with your Sorby No 7.

 

[essexalan]

Nice looking haul DW. Best test for slate is with a copper coin which scratches slate quite easily, not so Novaculite. Looks like an LI to me the inclusions often look crystalline in nature but I am not an expert. Looking at some old catalogs the Lllyn Idwals and Grecian Hones are sometimes listed separately so are perhaps different quality stones from the same quarry and some of the old timers seem to call just about anything a Turkey stone.

 

[NickN]

I had noticed more recently quite a few vintage woodworking tools on Ebay going for far more than a few months ago, and had put it down to the pre-Christmas surge, but completely overlooked the far more likely explanation, foreign money going a lot further for each pound. Bit of a double whammy as domestic auctions (at least with sellers who ship abroad) are going higher, and my favourite saws are now getting prohibitively expensive to buy and import from the USA... ah well, these things go up and down, in the meantime, you lot over the pond may as well 'fill yer boots'!

And yes I had been looking at that Sorby too, didn't go for a bad price considering, really, but beyond my budget. Be interested to hear how it handles once you get it.

 

[D_W]

Nice looking haul DW. Best test for slate is with a copper coin which scratches slate quite easily, not so Novaculite. Looks like an LI to me the inclusions often look crystalline in nature but I am not an expert. Looking at some old catalogs the Lllyn Idwals and Grecian Hones are sometimes listed separately so are perhaps different quality stones from the same quarry and some of the old timers seem to call just about anything a Turkey stone.

Good idea on the copper test, thanks for the suggestion. I could probably scratch the back of it with a gouge and get a good idea, too. I'll hunt down a "real" penny here (old ones were copper and new zinc) and scratch at the stone tonight.

 

[D_W]

I had noticed more recently quite a few vintage woodworking tools on Ebay going for far more than a few months ago, and had put it down to the pre-Christmas surge, but completely overlooked the far more likely explanation, foreign money going a lot further for each pound. Bit of a double whammy as domestic auctions (at least with sellers who ship abroad) are going higher, and my favourite saws are now getting prohibitively expensive to buy and import from the USA... ah well, these things go up and down, in the meantime, you lot over the pond may as well 'fill yer boots'!

And yes I had been looking at that Sorby too, didn't go for a bad price considering, really, but beyond my budget. Be interested to hear how it handles once you get it.

The pound is low enough now that the dealers online are looking attractive, too. Shame that some of them don't ship to the states.

Strangely enough, the things I've been dumping off on ebay (little bits of remaining lie nielsen stuff and sharpening stones) have been going overseas as part of the GSP.

I've got no knowledge of Sorby stuff, but keep only one metal jointer and wanted something different. Some of them look a lot like the marples metal planes, with style cues that look a little record-ish. Who made them?

 

[D_W]

I looked seriously at that Sorby No 7 on Ebay.

I have a Sorby No 6 and like it very much, in particular because it has less backlash on the depth of cut adjustment than a LN No 7 that I also have. That's relevant to the way I work in that when edge jointing boards I'll generally be using waney edged boards that have been ripped to width on the bandsaw and then may or may not have had the edges passed over the surface planer. In either case the edges will still need cleaning up with a bench plane before gluing. It speeds things along if I can start with a fairly coarse cut to remove the machine marks before progressively moving to a finer cut to hit finished dimensions and ensure the edge is true apart from a tiny amount of spring. The Sorby is pretty good at making these depth of cut adjustments on the fly and holds the lateral adjustment rock steady throughout.

Sample of one I know, but as it's the one I happen to have then it's still welcome news! Incidentally I had some success reducing backlash on another plane with one of these,

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Gun ... Lever.html

Be interested to learn how you get on with your Sorby No 7.

I'm sure if it's not broken and if the cap and iron are in decent shape, it'll be a good plane. Just as are about all of the metal planes are that have good frog designs that extend all the way to the castings.

I have never seen a sorby plane on the ground here anywhere, nor Marples metal planes for that matter (though I have one now). I figured in opening the wallet on that jointer, I might've been encroaching on something some folks might want in the UK, but I don't see a sales history of them except for one that sold for 70 pounds or so two years ago (it looks like it might have had some non-original parts).

At any rate, I use the house made planes most of the time, but it's nice to have one metal jointer around with an adjuster as a luxury. Something a little different without being new is a bonus, too.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I've got no knowledge of Sorby stuff, but keep only one metal jointer and wanted something different. Some of them look a lot like the marples metal planes, with style cues that look a little record-ish. Who made them?

William Marples - they owned the I Sorby trademark from some time in the second half of the 19th century, I think. At one time between WW1 and WW2, tools otherwise identical could be had branded either Marples or Sorby. I think the Sorby trademark was dropped during WW2.

NB - Don't confuse I Sorby with I & H Sorby (another 19th century trademark ultimately owned by Marples), or with Robert Sorby, who remained independent and separate until late in the 20th century. I think they're now owned by Spear and Jackson, but still trade as a separate company.

The Sorby family was something of a Sheffield dynasty. The first Master Cutler of Sheffield was a Robert Sorby (not the same one) in the early 1600s. Another Sorby was one of the fathers of modern metallurgy, and the first to develop metallurgical micrography. The metallurgical state 'Sorbite' is named after him.

Edit to add - a bit of light reading, which if nothing else illustrates the complex and intertwined nature of companies, families and trademarks in Sheffield - http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/media/wys ... ooklet.pdf

 

[swagman]

Shipping to Australia is still woefully high from the U.K. From the USA its even worse. GFC made a huge difference in postal charges.

 

[D_W]

Shipping to Australia is still woefully high from the U.K. From the USA its even worse. GFC made a huge difference in postal charges.

We don't have any good shipping options to Australia, as far as I know. The flat rate boxes are very expensive and outside of that, it only gets worse quickly.

is GFC a forwarder?

I've looked at a couple of forwarders in the UK, but the cost is generally more than the GSP from ebay, sometimes by a large amount, but it does provide another option for auctions (or dealers) that don't ship outside of the UK.

 

[D_W]

I've got no knowledge of Sorby stuff, but keep only one metal jointer and wanted something different. Some of them look a lot like the marples metal planes, with style cues that look a little record-ish. Who made them?

William Marples - they owned the I Sorby trademark from some time in the second half of the 19th century, I think. At one time between WW1 and WW2, tools otherwise identical could be had branded either Marples or Sorby. I think the Sorby trademark was dropped during WW2.

NB - Don't confuse I Sorby with I & H Sorby (another 19th century trademark ultimately owned by Marples), or with Robert Sorby, who remained independent and separate until late in the 20th century. I think they're now owned by Spear and Jackson, but still trade as a separate company.

The Sorby family was something of a Sheffield dynasty. The first Master Cutler of Sheffield was a Robert Sorby (not the same one) in the early 1600s. Another Sorby was one of the fathers of modern metallurgy, and the first to develop metallurgical micrography. The metallurgical state 'Sorbite' is named after him.

Edit to add - a bit of light reading, which if nothing else illustrates the complex and intertwined nature of companies, families and trademarks in Sheffield - http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/media/wys ... ooklet.pdf

Thanks for that history link. Robert Sorby (new tools, not old ones) has sort of a bad reputation over here due to softness of some of their tools. They do make some tool patterns that are nice (compared to a lot of what else is available), and I've got some of their turning tools, but am much more interested in the old sorby stuff you mention.

 

[swagman]

GFC (Global Financial Crisis) 2008.

 

[thetyreman]

I remember how it was the exact opposite in 2005 with the low dollar, I bought lots of stuff from america back then for very cheap, even with import tax it was still cheaper than buying from a UK supplier, anyway it looks like a great time to be a dealer or business shipping to the USA! you got some nice planes there, I've wanted a record plane for a while now, didn't realise they had laminated blades which makes me want one even more.

 

[NickN]

For interest, re the Sorby / Marples thing:

 

[Mr_P]

Think that explains your custom delays, flag raised due to quantity being imported. A former member on here with a good eye for a bargain had his paypal account suspended for suspected money laundering.

I also spotted the no.7, would have looked good next to my no4,5 and 6 but not my size sadly hence my chariot /block plane addiction. My I.Sorby no.6 is by a country mile the best bailey type I own, shame I don't do more big stuff.

 

[D_W]

Think that explains your custom delays, flag raised due to quantity being imported. A former member on here with a good eye for a bargain had his paypal account suspended for suspected money laundering.

I guess that's possible, I figured there might be a pattern that I raised by doing a bunch of the same thing at once, as every plane I've gotten since has been labeled "restricted item" and held up for about four days.

And then, the sorby arrived here about 8 miles from my house 5 days ago, and it still isn't out for delivery. The company that ebay uses for the stateside part of the global shipping program is dreadful.

It'll arrive at some point. it replaces a millers falls 22 that I had that was really a pretty good user, but had a handle that I just couldn't get on with. I could've just replaced the handle (by making a better one), but the drive for something different was stronger.

 

[custard]

A British Bailey style brand name you might look out for is Woden. The half dozen or so Woden bench planes that I've used in real world woodworking applications always seemed that tiny bit better than Stanley or Record (or Marples or Sorby come to that).

It could just be noise from a small sample size, or it could be a case of a smaller independent maker trying that bit harder and focusing that bit more on quality control. Woden certainly weren't afraid to do things slightly differently, their plane irons that were very slightly thicker than Record and Stanley, and on the No 4 and 4 1/2 they machined a small bevel on the part of the sole beneath the rear tote, so you didn't risk bruising the workpiece when you drew the plane back. It's a thoughtful little touch that suggests maybe they went the extra mile in other areas as well.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Of all the planes I've ever owned and still have the best machining is a Woden No.5 ... and the worst by a mile a Marples No. 5 1/2. It took an age to get the twist out out of that.
Down at the market at the moment there's a Woden 78 (or =) virtually unused and with its box for £35, so if there are any Woden collectors interested ...