New Carboot Tools

[tombear]

didnt boot today, the idea of a lay in had more appeal but I did clean up the previous small lot. It took hardly anytime, didn't even need chemical derusting just the quickest of rubs on the wire wheel after a go on the grinding wheel in the case of the larger seaming tool.

.

The 1/8" closer has no other markings nor have the plier type things.

I think i have worked out what they are for. I bodged the 2nd to last presstud I had ( was talking and fixed the domed part to a second female half rather than a male ) and needed to remove it before fitting the last on with the correct inner working part. By chance the pliers slipped over the domed outer piece and when closed popped the two sections apart.. I'd found them in the box of leather working tools that Mile at Colne Tools keeps so they had probably come with some of those.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Still quite dead on the carboot front with regards to tools and outdoors gear i don't have.

Got a nice boxed Stanley 271 grannies tooth, a bit of cosmetic rust on the blade that will polish off when i next get the bench grinder out.

It wasn't cheap at £20 But herself insisted and the guy throw in a penknife and a big X-acto handle and set of scraper blades which he had been asking a fiver for,

The penknife was really rough but I gave it a quick clean up and put a 30 degree bevel on it and gave it a good strop.

Maker is Herbert Robinson Sheffield The logo on the blade is of a grinder sitting over a wheel and the range is CACKLER. The horn scales are chipped in places but polished up well on a buffing wheel with the same paste i use for finishing brass. I couldn't find much on the company, Started about 1973 but another source says 1998. Seams to have stopped trading a little after 1941. I didn't go to town on it but its a perfectly usable blade.

We picked up about 5 old rolling pins at at mos 50p a pop to use as turning blanks, mainly for handles. Otherwise it was a lot of books, pottery and the odd usefull bit of kit for th kitchen.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

It's been a while since I've had owt to report, kids off school or starting work and the money pit has eaten up all my time (and money).

Anyhoo herself took pity on me on Saturday and took me to Colne to indulge my tool fetish. between us we got a decent haul from Mike.

For once I can't quote all prices as herself paid while I was off looking at a second hand book stall. A bunch of them are for her jewelry making kit which i'll pass over.

A new 12" curved scraper,, I assume for catering , £1 Thought it may be useful if I ever do any leather making.

Two Archimedes drills, no makers marks, the larger can take a decent sized drill and has a brass spiral.

Spear and Jackson Workhorse floorboard saw< hardly used. £4, All I need to do was remove a couple of tiny patches of rust and oil the handle, mainly so the lighter, rubbed in storage, corners darkened off. Yes I am a tart.

10" Rabone issue steel ruler £1, just needed washing, no chips or scratches on the edges. Why 10" rather than 12? No idea.

Unmarked pin vice, looks well made, a couple of scratches. Freebie.

Beech handled serated cutting wheel thing. Still sharp and leaves a line of dashes, No markings. Freebie. not completely sure what its meant for.

Best buy for me was a brand new, Made in Sheffield Jacobs 1/2" chuck with a equally new Jacobs made No. 1 Morse Taper arbour with the correct 3/8" 24TPI thread to fit the chuck to my old Myford ML8 lathe. £5. I was chuffed to bits to find them.

A tin of about 65 swiss files, 4 CK ones but the rest were Stubbs, with a few Bedfords. About 15 of the latter had been deliberated cut down or reshaped to do specific jobs, like some converted into tiny scrapers. There was traces of brass and silver on some but oiling and a good go with a file card cleaned them up ;lovely. I've merged the good Stubbs and Bedfords into my own jar of needle files.

Next to the tin is a rather nice stamp for soft metals of a leaf. No markings but it has a patina of age. It works well on leather as after it had been derusted I tried it on some damp 5mm veg tan, see below.

I've since derusted and fettled the pile of small smooth jawed pliers, all good quality mostly German or Swedish made except a pair marked Wilkinson GPO 1958 and a Pair of US made wire snips.

Post clean ups

The wood I treated with a dark dye to cover some nasty deep stains then soaked in some Danish oil with stain in it I got cheap.

Once I got the chips and dinks out of the smaller of the drills I soaked the wood in the Danish oil, the top handle is beech and the slider box.

The disc thing just need some nasty old varnish and dirt removing.

ATB

Tom

 

[Robson Valley]

The twisted wire triangle with the 3 ceramic tube spacers: I have not seen one of these in decades! Magnificent!

This is a spacer that you would put on a ring-stand screen, over a bunsen burner, in a chemistry laboratory.
The Pyrex glass beaker of liquid would sit on top. Commonly found on the back bench with the tea fixings.

Looks unused = the wire would rust easily with repeated flame heatings.
Since maybe 1970?, most lab heaters are electric flameless hot plate affairs.

Do I see also a ceramic crucible and a more dish-like ceramic evaporating dish? ( the white ones).

 

[tombear]

We were still using the triangle things at school in the late 80s. Ive a tripod somewhere but not a bunsen burner.

The little pots are marked "Vitreosil England," and after a quick google its made from vitreous fused quartz. Herself wants to do some small castings,silver or white metal I think.were picking up the bits cheap as they come along.

ATB

Tom

 

[MartiniDave]

For cleaning up the files I would NOT recommend a file card, instead push a bit of copper or aluminium sheet across the file along the teeth, at the angle the teeth are cut. It will quickly get the tooth profile and pushes the crud out. A file card just takes the working edge off the teeth along with removing dirt. As an apprentice I would get a severe rollicking from my mentor for even possessing a file card!

 

[Macaroon]

For cleaning up the files I would NOT recommend a file card, instead push a bit of copper or aluminium sheet across the file along the teeth, at the angle the teeth are cut. It will quickly get the tooth profile and pushes the crud out. A file card just takes the working edge off the teeth along with removing dirt. As an apprentice I would get a severe rollicking from my mentor for even possessing a file card!

Good resource here all about files, their care and how to fettle 'em...

https://archive.org/details/NicholsonFilePhilosophy1928

 

[tombear]

Lordy its been a age since I updated this!

To be honest things have been slow on the tool front, loads of stuff like wooden bowls, about unworn Rohan trousers for the lads for 3 quid a pop coming out of the charity shops. Best buy was a bunch of art stuff, brand new, for about 13 quid.

I've a weakness for Rotring that i normally can't afford to indulge so that made my day.

However its not been a complete bust, this week i acquired a Eclipse No. 35 marking knife for 50p which i've converted to have a single 20 degree bevel on the right side to cleanly trim the end of balsa strip and for a quid a strange duck billed pair of pliers marked 18 Bost Freres Made in France. Ive no idea of the original intended use but they will come in handy for squeezing creases flat.

A few weeks back i actually had a bit of luck on the Thursday flea market in Accrington despite the usual paucity of stalls over the winter.

The saws a No. 6 "DING-DONG" made in England job, just had to derust some bits and polish the aluminium down to get rid of the corrosion. I fitted a cuts in any direction blade to it, like thick wire with chips of carbide welded on..£2

The file is a lovely, pretty much unused, Bedford made in Sheffield saw bladed job, tapers from one edge to the other with a nice aggressive, thin cutting edge. Quite hard to find cheap in good condition.. That just needed a light clean and I had a handle in stock and soaked it in dark staining Danish oil so I can tell it apart from the other same sized files I keep in a pot. £1

The tooth pulling pliers were a bit of a in joke from when the wife stopped me taking my Leatherman to a tooth after not sleeping for 4 days. It would have been the wrong ( mirror ) tooth anyway but I was off my head by then. UK made, just derusted it. £1

The spike thing needs a long thick wire handle and is for knocking holes through hot metal on a anvil, I forget the proper name for them. No makers mark so forge made I guess. £1

The parallel clamp things just needed de rusting and polishing in places. 'Lovely bit of kit. Probably part of the stuff a apprentice would make for themselves as not shop bought but very well made. They were in a pound a go bargain bin.

The last bit that's vaguely relevant is a hand powered meat slicer I got for herself who wants to make jerky but isn't very good with knives, It was a fiver in its origianl box ( which i rather battered dragging home ) with instructions and a bag of bits to stop you losing fingers..

It's Birmingham made except the blade is marked Soligen Germany. 1960s or 70s im guessing, all formica and chrome palted steel.

I have been very lucky in acquiring second hand books on the outdoors/ country crafts. They are rarely more than 50p or a pound.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

'had a bimble on Friday and picked up a few tools from the 1 pound bargain bin in my favourite antique/retro shop in Ramsbottom.

The tap thingy I got on spec', I'm really after one to go in the 1/2" hole on a big old stoneware vinegar jar for the kitchen but you never know when i may need a big 'un.

The cast iron cam clamp is Just marked PAT. FEB. 1881 on one side and NO 4, it should clean up well.

The rounding plane I was particularly pleased to find, even if it needs a fair bit of cleaning up.

And to illustrate the sort of books you can find in charity shops and on stalls , here's my haul from the last two or three weeks, most were 50p, the odd one was a quid.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

cleaned these up a few days bavck but not been on the PC to post the pic.

The tap/bung just needed a rub on the outside with superfine wire wool and food grade linseed oil.

The clamp needed a quick brush then a hour in the usual derusting citric acid solution then a wire wheeling to knock the residue off.

The rounder/tenon cutter needed similar on the steel then quite a while flattening the back on diamond stones and the 22 ish degree edge putting on the other side using a Stanley plane blade guide run over a two sided Norton bench stone i keep just for plane and spokeshave blades. Nowt fancy. the hand caved wood I cleaned with a soft cotton wheel on a bench grinder with a little red/brown compound. I then gave it soak in raw linseed over night. It works OK but I think I'll score a spare spokeshave and make one with a matching reamer should I get around to doing the stools I intend to do when i get some big slabs of seat wood.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Well, for once I actaully had a decent, relevant , haul from the boot on Sunday

Top left, a small utillity pouch with Molle fittings on the back, 50p. No makers mark. I got it home, fitted it to my daysack and promptly broke the zip! Thankfully its easily repairable but still....
Next is a unused dump pouch, rather a neat design and just the job for foraging. rolls up small when not in use.

Karimor Bothy Bag 2, the case (for want of a better term) had a bit of dirt on it but after Id bought it (£5) the guy said he had never used it, on closer inspection when I got it home it does indeed look unused.

Pair of cam tightened clamps, Carver Snap Clamps Type 100, I paid £8 nfor them as I really like this sort of clamp, either in wood or metal.

Side cutting wire cutters, Maun Industries England S8 2990-160 Practically no sign of wear on the jaws. £1 Cleaned up lovely see below.

Below the pliers, home made Beech bench hook. I've been meaning to make one to stop my sons sawing into my bench but for £2 I thought why not?

MiB Ridgway Sheffield 7/8" bit £1


Angled head file HOBSON HOUGHTON & Co SHEFFIELD plenty of life left in the teeth, £1 The company started in 1828 and was at the Don Works in Sheffield in 1914. I cant find a reference to them afyer the Great War.

Near mint base plate for a Stanley 70 router £4, its missing lots of bits but I should be able to find a knackered complete one to cannibalize for parts. Very expensive bits of kit now. I'm in no hurry as I got a Record 071 pretty much brand new in its box a couple of years back and a tiny little minty Stanley 271 grannies tooth that will do most jobs.

Just cleaned up the pliers and file.

ATB

Tom

 

[Mesquite]

Nice haul there Tom

 

[tombear]

Cheers, had a bit more Joy yesterday in the charity shops, a turned in the green deep elm ( I think) bowl for 2 quid, 3 carving / whittling books for 50p a pop and best of all a 2 gallon ( I think, its beeeg anyway) stoneware jug like those I use in preference tp plastic or tin £3 in the village charity shop. I even had a convenient son Id just fed and watered to haul it home for me. Pearsons Pottery, like me, made in Chesterfield! Prewar I think.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Not a lot on Accrington flea today but the tool stall had some full boxes of good quality brass screws, something I try to hoover up when ever they come along cheap. The 1.5" dome 1.25" countersunk flat slotted boxes of 200 were £3 each and the !" £2.

The big jug, flagon / jar is the one mentioned in the previous post as is the deep bowl. The small bottle at the front was £1.50, the rubber seal i'll probably replace as its starting to crack.. I like the screw close ones for storing dry powderey stuff.

ATB

Tom

 

[MarginWalker]

Hey folks. New here, and this thread prompted me to register! I love carboots and tools, so this thread is heaven! I may join in this weekend if the weather gods permit.

 

[tombear]

Hi There MW, there's a few similar threads on here including one or two i started but had to close down for various reasons, mainly because of trouble with photo hosting sites. Oddly one of them have reinstated a bunch of my photos but with their log across them. as the cousins say, go figure.

Things remain quiet up here, mainly as my own good luck means that the things i am looking for still are increasingly obscure and impossible to find cheap.

one thing you cant have too many of ( unless you actually enjoy sharpening ) is good saws so i blew a whole £12 on a nearly mint Tyzack .

Avoiding the teeth of course and the writing I gave the steel a very light rub with a fine 240 grit garryflex block to remove the odd bit of tarnish. I've just discovered they do finer grits so will be investing in this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Proops-Gar...BYTW78RQPAX&psc=1&refRID=MTM977SJDBYTW78RQPAX

The handle got a rub with linseed oil. That was from Huddersfield Flea along with ( finally ) a Uk production 14" Mason Cash mixing bowl for £10 and a old UK made steel tool box for 3 quid.

Incidentally if any ones noticed the 1:1200 wargames sailing ships are now put away since I got some 1.5mm sticky back magnetic card to fix to the bases so they can be carried on a steel tray.

Elsewhere i got a wooden candle lantern for £3, replaced the nasty steel cross head screws with slot headed brass. I dont have a candle mould the right size so i will probably replace the tin holder with a spike or a wooden block with the correct sized hole in it.

works well enough anyway.

Non tool finds have been loads of wicking t shirts, as new from various charity shops mainly for a quid a pop for my mountain biking middle sonm a army wicking T shirt that fits my huge torso for £3, works great under a breathable jacket, pair of obviously used once Brasher Hillmasters in herselfs size for £6.50, no insoles for some reason so we got a pair of Sorbo' double strikes in a sale at the good camping shop in Blackburn. The boots would have been slightly loose without them It hurt that they cost twice what the boots did! I gave them a good clean, fed the leather and waxed them with Grangers stuff.

Earlier in the week we had got to Tamarack Outdoors 20 mins before they shut ( The not updated Garmin lied to us about how long it would take to get there and we seamed to be mainly driving over open fields according to the sat nav' as we headed over from Chorley....) and i was a bit spacey from not having eaten for far too long so I didn't actually get what i was going for ( something shiny?) But herself found the little room at the back with all the second hand stuff which i had never noticed before. In it there were some excellent boots so we came away with some hardly used Meindl Totonto GTXs for me ( cleaned, fed and waxed, fitted double strikes and being worn in at this very moment.) for £20 and some lovely Italian boots for one of the lads for the same, I forget the brand. 'Highly recommended to look in that room /closet if you go there.

The week before I had earned many brownie points by buying her a still with it's shop labels (and hood) Barbour Stockman coat for £60. It had been dumped in a charity shop in Skipton, a unwanted present I guess. the one down the road with the Art Shop on that I didnt even know was there until the eldest pointed it out havong wandered off after getting bored with watching me humming and ah'ing about buying their own brand sable brushes ( I don't blame him).

ATB

Tom

 

[Janne]

In Post no63, top pic, the lower 4 pliers are dentists ( orthodontic and prosthetic ) tools!

Should last you for the next two lifetimes!

 

[tombear]

Well the problem with the PC is finally cured ( and the Luddite (me) was right all along, a cable and power converter thingy needed replacing, nothing more!) so I can now post stuff again. The ipad is so old it will only let me look not log on, don't ask me why. Anyroad I'm back.

Finding tools to do up I dont have has been problematical but I had a bit of luck last week, there's no before pic, every thing was a quid a pop except the leather hole punches which were two each. they were pretty rusty but the cutting edges were good and sharp and I avoided blunting them during the cleaning.

The pick axe head is a 1958 pat, i've a couple of handles to match it and when I need to get it out I'll slap some issue paint on it

The hand vice is unmarked and the leaf spring was broken but still does the job

The hole punches are all Wynn Timmins made in Brum, real quality bits of kit. I'm guessing they are Pre 1969 as they were bought out by a Sheffield firm and shut down.

The little modelers plane is German and I happened to have the correct spare blades for it.

The 1/8th" chisel is just marked TOGO, Not pretty but its good and sharp.

Not sure what the bigger wooden plate is made of but the smaller is marked Somerset walnut on the base.

More recently I picked up a Elwell 1 3/4lb axe, for £3.00, the head looks to be on upside down and the handles in poor condition and too short for my taste anyway so I;m looking for a piece of suitable grained ash or a 22" pre made hickory handle to do it up.with.

The same day i picked up a mint in box Tollgate fletching jig for £2.50, the only but missing is the instruction sheet. if anyone has the same i'd be profoundly grateful for a scan or photocopy of it.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

I have cleaned up the 1 3/4lb axe head, reprofiled the bit behind the cutting edge but not put the final edge on it. that will wait until I have a handle on it.

The saw i got on Saturday from my tool guy in Colne. I actually paida whole tenner for it. Why I hear you cry in horror, knowing how little i usually pay for owt.

Despite the poor state of the handle and the cosmetic scratches on metal work the 12" blade has practically no wear on the teeth ( Its nevbr been resharpened ) and is a lovely example of a Wm Marple and Sons top of the range stainless steel back saw, most probably from the 1930s although they are listed in their 1950s catalogue. Theres no kinks in the blade and it cuts like the very devil! All the blade and back strap needed was a light rub with a 600 grit garryflex block to remove some paint and glue splatters, The handle was as rough as it looked and rather than weaken it by excessive scraping and sanding to remove the stains I soaked it for 24 hrs in tung oil with stain and then gave it 3 coats of varnish with mahogany stain. I didn't sand between coats to give a bit of grip. Normally I don't varnish preferring the feel of the oiled wood but I'm thinking of keeping this one in my green / outdoor wood working kit which tends to get dirty in use, far more so than my indoor kit, naturally enough.

http://williammarplesandsons.com/history/

I think you can tell how much I like this one!

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

I had a bit more luck on the Thursday Flea in Accrington, among the Xmass tat I picked these bits up

The dressings were a quid a pop but it was the other two items that pleased me no end.

The wooden handled thing is a Armourers tool for removing wood from the inside of the fore end on a rifle, no visible makers mark but it has a clear Air Ministry stamp. The 5 inch hand vice is marked Priory 1941 and also has a A (crown) M stamp. 2 quid each.

Ive boned up on armoueres tools and if the guys stall is there next time I'll go more closely through the box of rusty bits and see if he has any more. Oddly enough I once had to fir a new fore end to No. 4 Mk II and had to wrap a bit of coarse sand paper around a piece of wood cut to shape to clear out the channel so it would fit around the barrel.

Anyroad they cleaned up well, all the working part of the rasp needed doing to it was gently cleaning with a soft brass brush to remove the caked on grease after a couple of hours soak in strong citric acid solution. The bent flat section got a turn on the wire wheel which revealed the markings and the handle needed a bit of a sand as white spirit and wire wool failed to remove the stuff caked on. It then got a soak inlinseed oil.

In the above the beech handle has just been wiped off after coming out of the oil and will lighten some as the oil cures. Neither items are particularly rare and so I'll be using them.

ATB

Tom