Rusty bits

[tombear]

I've been wanting to do more leather work for a while having pottered about making belts and the odd snapsack so I jumped on this lot when I saw them a hour back on Accringtons Wednesday flea.

I'm not sure what some bits are but I thought for £25 and a lot of derusting and replacing of handles etc it would be a good start to a kit. Its all old UK made stuff and the rusts surface only. I'm rather chuffed anyroad. The lasting pliers top left a cobbler gave the wife after she went in to ask where he got his tools from. He said he hadn't used one in years. It cleaned up nice anyway!

ATB

Tom

 

[shaggystu]

wow! i think we have a winner for the bargain hunter of the century prize, you lucky lucky sod

 

[Mesquite]

That was a great result Tom

 

[Toddy]

That lot is worth a lot of money
What a brilliant kit to find

Incredible luck, especially for someone like yourself who'll use them

Happy days

cheers,
M

 

[tombear]

Cheers folks!
Wednesday is my day out so armed with a Day Rover after the lads are in school I do a grandtour of Burnley and Accrington fleas and all the charity shops inbetween and its a rare day I don't find something. My best score was a complete 1950s pattern makers chest full of Sorby chisels, planes and old school files.

Now I need to get on ebay and shift some other bits so I can actually afford to buy some leather!

I'll post a pic when they are all shiny and fettled!

PS owt major I am missing? I have lots of cutting tools and pricking wheels and of course a obscene amount of general perpose tools but owt for working leather I should keep an eye out for?

ATB

Tom

PS candle making going really well, I am churning out tallow and some raw beeswax candles with the twisted flax wicks
I've tested a few of the tallow ones that broke (oops) and they work great if they do feel a bit greasy in a centrally heated house.

 

[Dreadhead]

aaaahhhh thats some find! mighty jealous

 

[tombear]

Aye, I nearly wet myself when I saw it all spread out on the side table of a stall. I hadn't enough on me so I asked them to hold onto it for five minutes and ran (which when your as fat as me is majorly undignified) to the hole in the wall and back and got them! If the machine had spat my card back at me I would have cried!

ATB

Tom

 

[Hugo]

Good result Tom, and I thought I was a good negotiator.

 

[udamiano]

A major good luck find there, looking forward to seeing them all shiny and new looking again, and great your going to use them

 

[John Fenna]

Good catch!
I am green with envy

 

[tombear]

At home with the kids today so going to clean some of these up. Any advice on sharpening them? Most seam fine but a few need some work as well as de rusting and I may as well get them as good as I can.

Thanks!

ATB

Tom

 

[Biker]

Like John said, good catch. Just wait till LuckyLee spots this thread, he'll turn the air blue cursing not nabbing that bundle

I'm also guessing what you don't use you could sell on here or ebay and recoup the initial investment. I'm sure a lot of those punches and sharps could double up with each other. Just a thought.

Yeah lucky sod about covers it, well done.

 

[tombear]

Cheers, aye theres a few doubles but not as many as I thought at first.

Heres the first batch, took me half the day to get them fettled.

Ones with chips were easy enough to resharpen. I just rubbed them on a stone to get them flat and then resharpened using a worn belt on a power file held upside down in the wood vice. I finished them with a ceramic rod. They cut well anyway.

 

[demographic]

My best score was a complete 1950s pattern makers chest full of Sorby chisels, planes and old school files.

Now I need to get on ebay and shift some other bits so I can actually afford to buy some leather!

What tools were in that haul (I'm interested now).

Also I don't know if you've used them but Garryflex blocks are very good for cleaning up tools.
They have abrasive mixed into a soft rubber block and when you get them its quite addictive, just picking up stuff and giving them a bit of a clean.
I have all four different grits and they come in handy for all sorts.

 

[tombear]

Let me think, a lot of chisels, mainly I Sorby and old Maples, full set of in and out canal goose necked gouges, 2 planes, one about 18 inches long, a bunch of contraction rulers, a bunch of Stubbs files, scrapers, hand drill and brace and bits, lots of compasses and other measuring gear, a bunch of different sized surform tools uw, loads of stuff, I could carry the box about 20 yards before I had to put it down. All Sheffield or Brummie made. Some bits are still waiting sorting several years later!

Yup got two grades of those blocks, work a treat. I mainly use them on my knives as I went through the first one I had so fast cleaning up heavily.

ATB

Tom

 

[The Ratcatcher]

What you have there appears to be an almost complete set of saddlery and harness makers tools. The one vital piece you're missing is a saddlers clamp, which is used for holding the work while stitching. In the old days, they were made from old barrel staves. I have a reprint of an old book "Saddlery and Harness Making" from when I did some training with an old saddler, many years ago, and if you can get hold of a copy, it's well worth it. The book lists all the tools, materials, etc, and has recipes for making dyes, waxes and so on. It also describes how to make a saddlers clamp. There are also step-by-step instructions for making saddles and harnesses.

Have fun.

Alan

 

[tombear]

Hi Alan
thanks for that, I'm pretty much a complete novice at this stuff.

Oddly enough on Sunday I was talking to a clogmaker on Sunday at a event in town and he hd one of those clamp things. And espeacial thanks for mentioning that book as lo and behold among the wifes books on military saddles there is a copy of Saddlery and Harness-making by PN Hasluck I'd forgotten all about, even though I'd bought it her! Its the 1962 reprint. Half of the first page 67/68 is missng but I will have a good read of it

Cheers!

Tom

 

[The Ratcatcher]

Hi, Tom,

If you need a hand, or any practical help, PM me, I'm in Manchester, so not too far away. I got rid of most of my tools years ago, but still do the odd bit of leatherwork.

Alan

 

[jackcbr]

Good result Tom, and I thought I was a good negotiator.

Ah, Hugo, you're still my top Booty buyer.

 

[tombear]

Apart from a clamp are there any other really useful tool I should be looking for?

ATB

Tom