Intersting Spiers Plane, minor gloat!

[mahking51]

Hi All,
Just got this along with some other interesting bits and pieces as I was passing a workshop that was being skipped.
Asked the lad to let me have a look round before he chucked it all out and gave him a tenner! :roll: ; he was a happy bunny and I got seventeen planes and two crates of other old goodies.
Not often that I am at the right place at the right time!
Not sure if the images will load on this new setup but here goes

Cheers,
Martin

 

[Pvt_Ryan]

Lucky git.

Go on get pics of the rest of the haul up. you know you want to make us jealous..

 

[mahking51]

Well there was this:

and this:

and this:

the other stuff includes some really nice woodies, 2 No6, No7 couple of early side rebates and a very nice Stanley 72 that I have not cleaned yet.
Lots of good marking /mortice gauges, Buck handbrace etc,rules, screwdrivers, 2 Disston DT saws etc etc.
I was a very lucky boy indeed that day!
I constantly find it amazing what people atill throw away.
Cheers.
Martin

 

[lanemaux]

If the objective was to drive me nuts , then congrats. My piddly array of toolage begins to look wan next to your mere description of the swag. A tenner!!! Darn , drat and other four letter words.
Quite seriously amigo , more piccies a definite must. If only so I can get my jealousy up to a proper fever pitch. As well , showing the wife pretty toolage may loosen her mind to my admittedly pitiable lot of detritus below stairs . No need for her to know about the tenner part, now is there?

 

[jimi43]

"Minor Freakin' Gloat!!!" Bleedin' 'ell Martin! That is a mother lode of a haul!! And a TENNER! You was robbed! :mrgreen: :wink:

Wonderful Spiers Plane-o-Ayr there! I really love that little baby and the Bailey is also a gem of a find....and the icing...a nice little circular plane to boot!

Some people just don't appreciate what they have...thank you, thank you and thank you again for saving these gems from a premature death in the landfill! =D>

Jim

 

[AndyT]

Haven't you got enough planes now?
:lol:

Honestly, despite being very jealous, it's sort of comforting to know that gems like these have not been scrapped - what sort of place was it? and what else was going into the skip?

 

[Vann]

, more piccies a definite must.

Hear, hear... more pikkies.

You lucky so and so.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[mahking51]

Will try and post some more pics of the other stuff soon, got a lot of cleaning to do first before they hit EBay as they are going to fund some quite serious stuff that is coming up in the US shortly.

The shop they came from was on an old farm type industrial esate that is being redeveloped. I was too late to see a really nice Drummond lathe completely smashed up and skipped with all the bits and gears.

These places are still around, you just have to be nosy and persistent! There is another old barn near me that I got a peek inside recently only to see a long huge work bench (30feet!) that has a ten foot high mountain of old tools, mainly agricultural but a lot of woodworking that has been there untouched for 60 years to the owners certain knowledge and probably more than that!

I have started the ball rolling by suggesting he might want it tidying up to give him more room.... :evil: He seems keen...... :roll: :!:
Cheers,
Martin

 

[jimi43]

I was too late to see a really nice Drummond lathe completely smashed up and skipped with all the bits and gears.

](*,)

What sort of society are we creating! :roll:

Jim

 

[CroppyBoy1798]

First off, congrats on a magnificent haul, I'll try keep this short as I feel an awful pang of jealousy arising within me *grumbles* =P~



Secondly, what sort of gobsheen would be throwing tools like that into a skip??!!!!!!! Surely it doesnt require anymore than a third brain cell (the first two being used to breath in, and out) to realise that those were good, servicable tools, its not like they were buckets of rust. Makes me sad to think about many other workshop contents that could have went the same way.

So, I say welll done sir!

:twisted:

 

[mahking51]

To be fair the tools are shown after cleaning up they were just very dirty with minor surface rust mostly.
I keep finding other useful bits and pieces as I get to the crud at the bottom of one of the boxes one of which is a very nice 2 fold archirects rule so even more pleased.
cheers,
Martin

 

[jimi43]

They're not ivory architect's folding rules are they!?

They go for a fortune!

Jim

 

[mahking51]

Hi Jimi,
No, this one is a Best Boxwood Rabone with the'New Variant' hinge.
attachment=0]boxwood rule 3.jpg[/attachment]
I do have a few Ivory & German silver mounted rules as part of the tool pension fund.

sadly, a bit more than a tenner
cheers,
martin

 

[jimi43]

Oh very very nice Martin...

Seems to be an Aladin's Cave of tools you have there! Well done my friend!

Jimi

 

[CroppyBoy1798]

To be fair the tools are shown after cleaning up they were just very dirty with minor surface rust mostly.
I keep finding other useful bits and pieces as I get to the crud at the bottom of one of the boxes one of which is a very nice 2 fold archirects rule so even more pleased.
cheers,
Martin

Sad to think of some poor old devils personal kit, possibly his/her pride and joy (possibly even spent a pretty penny on them back in the day) going into a skip. Are any of them named? Whoever they were they must have been pretty accomplished to have had such good tools! Had that guy dumping them any notion at all of the $$$'s he could have made, but, there you go, as they say 'one mans rubbish is another mans treasure' never more appropriate than in this case!

Looking forward to seeing more pics!

 

[mahking51]

Here is another of the 17 planes as found:

And the same one ready to go:

 

[jimi43]

You do a superb job of restoration on these old ladies....very sympathetic

Nice to see indeed! =D>

Cheers

Jim

 

[jimi43]

Resist FleaBay....resist!.....I WILL resist! :wink:

:mrgreen:

Jim

 

[mahking51]

Jimi, here is another one from the haul to help you resist...

Others are nearly finished, the rule did very well way over £100 which cheered me up no end!
cheers,
Martin

 

[jimi43]

Ok...I can resist transitionals...and that is REALLY a transitional...in the purest sense of the word!

I just knew that rule would go for lots....brilliant! What a nice Christmas present...and fantastic to see that you must have moved it from the skip to the collector...a nice example indeed!

I had a tiny box and ivory/brass caliper...the common ones but it was a rope caliper that my great-uncle gave me. A few years ago...a dear friend of mine in Oregon gave me some beautiful lathe books from South Bend Co. and in repayment I exported my caliper to him.

He was absolutely made up with this little piece of English craftsmanship...I felt that I was exporting and retaining a beautiful part of our history to a place where it would be safe and secure for many generations to come.

The Spiers-O-Ayr is a fascinating part of tool history...that little statement of an age which struggled with technology and ingenuity to improve the lot of the wood worker and make working tools available to those who could not afford them before.

I guess we have seen a number of these steps - the two World Wars pushing these barriers forward. I can quite see how the collecting bug gets hold...it is the history that fascinates me...

Good luck with the sales... :ho2

Jim