The Traditional Tools Group Inc.

Last week I was given an old tool box half full of cabinet making tools, maybe it was just the usual assortment of a few late nineteenth century wooden moulding planes, a couple of spirit levels, wooden jack and a coffin shaped smoother, a chamfer plane, a few chisels, and so on. Additions such as a Hunt (Sydney) spirit level, steel tape measure, tin snips, saw sets etc., almost forgot, a small dovetail saw, the inspiration for this article.

Again, I am asking the question, 

“Is it worth the time and effort spent on reviving a relic, especially in this case, an old wooden bodied grooving plane that’s ‘been through the wars?”

How easy it is to walk past a modest looking tool or dismiss it as just a “bit of junk”; the little plane above, a CHAPLIN’S PATENT block plane, was displayed a short time back at a tool sale in Sydney.

“The finest pipe and nut wrench in the world”

Well that’s how ARTHUR JAMES THURLEY, inventor, described this unique wrench back in 1925; the old rusted survivor appeared at a local shed cleanout day; the stall-holder informed me that it had belonged to his Grandfather; judging from the accompanying relics on the table, it had come out of a coastal farm shed. The old wrench wasn’t just an everyday shifter, this bulky tool was different.

I don’t quite know what it is about STANLEY 55s that draws me to them, maybe it’s the history of the wooden stemmed planes to the development of the early beautifully embellished MILLER’s patented combination planes back in the 1870’s, maybe it’s just the statement they make as an engineered piece of art. The No 55 may well be out-dated, however, it’s still a handy tool for restoration mouldings, or just running a simple bead without having to plug in a cord or charge a battery.

In our youth we were taught that humans started off as "hunters and gatherers", so maybe us collectors, motivated by instinct imprinted still in our DNA, just cant help ourselves. Collectors, when confronted with that compulsion to be ever on the 'hunt' for that elusive unusual object, must 'gather' as many variants of the quarry as possible, then satisfy that 'thirst' for knowledge by rummaging through the many 'scrapheaps' of information stored in old catalogues, books and the heads of 'old timers'; maybe its true, "we just cant help ourselves".

A friend and co-member of our local men’s shed forwarded a ‘post’ of a photo on You Tube; the picture was of a large band saw (breaking-down saw) that is on display at Camp 18, 60 miles west of Portland, Oregon, USA. 

I sensed that there was a story behind this ‘post’. I managed to get in touch with Frank Howarth, the man responsible for the photo and requested his permission to use it in an article on bandsaws.