I did a post similar to this 5 years ago and it was generally received as interesting and educational. The following photos are of hand tools from my personal collection and all are shown somewhere in the Hand Tool Page(s) on my vanity website (URL in my signature). See how many you can answer.
Let's start with an easy one. What is the model # of this Stanley plane?
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What is this Stanley tool? What was it used for?
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These two Stanley tools have similar handles but are quite different. What are they and what are they used for? (a)
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(b)
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What is this tool called and what is it used for?
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What are these used for?
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These were removed from some block planes. What are they called?
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These two tools are used in the same carpentry task. What are they called and how are they used? (a)
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(b)
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These three planes were all made for the same purpose. What were they used for? (a)
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(b)
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(c)
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These planes were all manufactured by Stanley. What are the model numbers of these planes? (a)
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(b)
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(c)
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(d)
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(e)
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(f)
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This device was used with a brace. What was it used for?
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What are the correct names for these two saws? What are these two saws used for? (a)
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(b)
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This is a Stanley marking gauge (scribe). For what purpose was this gauge designed?
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This device was made by Goodell Pratt. What was it called? (a)
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How did it work? Here is a hint. (b)
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The following two planes are both smoothing planes. In what country were they made? (a)
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(b)
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This spokeshave was often called the cigar shave. Who manufactured this tool?
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What is this device called? What was it used for?
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What was this tool used for?
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last three are more difficult. Each shows pieces which have been removed from a woodworking tool.
What are these? From what tool were they removed?
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These are accessories used with a Stanley tool. What tool are they used with?
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From what Stanley tool was this piece removed?
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will post answers in 2 or 3 days following your replies.
Ken Vaughn Visit My Workshop:
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Tools Page:
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RicodJour
for scarfing leather belts used as drive belts in old-timey shaft driven machinery.
Omitted the second one due to low blood sugar - Norris A5 smoothing plane.
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K
Ken Vaughn
You really know your tools!
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RayV
setting the spacing on wood siding. Can't answer any of the others, looks like I have a lot to learn.
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RicodJour
Thanks. It's an addiction. It was a choice between crack and old tools - old tools won. Crack would have been cheaper. ;)
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O
Occupant
Wow. RicodJour is a tough act to follow.
#13 is a chain drill used for boring into metal with a hand brace. Photo b shows the indexing wheel which advances the screw which tightens the chain a tad with every revolution of the bit. I have one of these and have never used it.
Art
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Ken Vaughn
Exactly, although I think the chain which originally came with the drill used slightly different shaped links. The chuck is a 3-jaw Jacobs style chuck and not the type used with auger bits so I am guessing it was used mostly with metal (twist) bits. I found this chain drill at an antique shop years ago -- tried it once and it worked OK.
Ken
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Ken Vaughn
Well RecodJour pretty much nailed it. Answers and a few more photos follow.
time when it was made.
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2. What is this Stanley tool?
the depth of the hole.
(3a) is a scraper plane pushed forward with the handles and the scraper blade inclined towards the front with a slight hook formed on the blade, which was usually sharpened to around 45 degrees. (3b) is a belt makers plane used to chamfer the ends of a leather belt so they could be glued together in a scarf joint to form a continuous belt of uniform thickness. These wide leather belts were used to drive equipment that were connected to a water or steam driven line shaft.
seats, scoop out the center of a bowl, or other tasks.
limit the depth of a chamfer cut by the knife.
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6. These were removed from some block planes.
planes, the Stanley #18 and Stanley #65 low angle.
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also used a similar lever cap
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7. These two tools are used in the same carpentry task.
when nailing clapboard siding to a building. It was used as follows -- there are two sharp tabs on the top of the metal plate (not visible in the photo). These were inserted up and under the current top clapboard siding and the handle moved to one side forcing a spur into the clapboard below the top clapboard and holding it in place. The next siding was placed on the L-shaped bracket at the top and the carpenter nailed it in place. (7b) is a Stanley 88 clapboard siding marker. It was used as shown in the following photo to mark the end of a clapboard so it could be cut to butt up against the casing which formed the corner boards.
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before someone comments -- I just grabbed a piece of scrap to demonstrate. I am not planning to side my shop with walnut.
(8a) is a Stanley #48 tongue and groove match plane. With the fence in the position shown, both cutters are exposed and the plane cuts a tongue. When the fence was rotated on the center pivot pin, only one of the cutters is exposed and the plane cuts the matching groove as shown in the following photo:
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is a Stanley #148 which did the same thing depending on which direction you push it. (8c) is a wooden body plane made by H. Chapin which was the early equivalent of the #148
rosewood handles look larger than the one with beech handles (older), but they are actually the same size. (9b) This is a Stanley #112 scraper plane. It is basically the same plane as the #12 discussed above under (3a) but with a plane body and tote (handle). (9c) This is a Stanley #278 rabbet and filletster plane (fence not shown) -- it is kind of a funky looking plane
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This is a Stanley #62 low angle block plane -- about the size of a jack plane and with the cutter iron bedded at 12 degrees -- a very useful plane (9e) This is a Stanley #289 rabbet and filletster plane, The cutter iron was set at a skew angle. It is shown here with the fence
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This is a Stanley Victor #20 circular plane used in much the same manner as the Stanley #113 circular plane shown below:
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10. This device was used with a brace.
end of a chair spindle or wagon spoke. Often used along with a chamfer or pointing device such as shown in this photo:
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11. What are the correct names for these two saws?
trenching out stringers, making slots for stair treads or risers, and cutting dadoes. (11b) is an old Simonds apple wood handled compass saw with a tapered blade and with a lot of set to the teeth. This saw was primarily used to cut irregular shapes or round hole in a piece of wood.
butt hinges on a door and jam similar to the familiar #95:
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of its versatility, it could also be used to layout mortise and tenon joints
post and insert the loose end into a slot in the tool. With each revolution of the brace a steel pin would rotate a star wheel which in turn would rotate a gear and draw the bit into the object being drilled.
(14b) is a Norris 5A infill smoother, made in London, England
or jointer plane to assist is keeping the sole of the plane at a pre-determined angle, usually 90 degrees. Here is a photo of the jointer gauge attached to a fore plane:
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17. What was this tool used for?
was often used to cut leather harness straps for horse or mule teams.
Universal spokeshaves:
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19. These are accessories used with a Stanley tool.
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20. From what Stanley tool was this piece removed?
called the tower, which came with a Stanley #55 plane. It is often missing from these planes. Here it is shown in place at the front of the plane:
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Ken Vaughn
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