# Vintage Tool P*rn - I mean neat old tools



## EatenByLimestone (Nov 15, 2010)

Estate, garage sales, and flea markets offer a unique fix for my addiction.  Battenkiller sounds like he may be addicted to.  So we don't hijack anybody elses thread, post pics of your old, unique tools here. 

Post drill, unknown maker






Dorpian company felling axe in need of some TLC





2 Man crosscut saw





Combination drill/anvil/vise





Here are a few to start off the thread.  I need to load some more pics onto photobucket tonight.


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## Battenkiller (Nov 15, 2010)

I'll see your four and raise you two...


Old axe heads awaiting handles:







Nice old timber slicks:







Hay-Budden Anvil:







Heavy-duty Rock Island quick-adjust woodworking vise:







Record #077 Bullnose plane:







Stanley compass plane:


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## EatenByLimestone (Nov 15, 2010)

Nice... 

That anvil, am I reading it correctly that it is one hundredth weight?  Doesn't that equal out to something like 117lbs?  


Matt


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## EatenByLimestone (Nov 15, 2010)

Broad axes and hatchets:

Top one was made in Cohoes.  Troy used to be a powerhouse in manufacturing so I'm betting there is a lot of locally made stuff out there.  
Middle one I picked up from a dealer but is odd in it's made of Damascus steel.  I didn't know they made anything except gun barrels and swords from the stuff.  Lately there is a plane maker working with it.  
The bottom one was my Grandfather's.  It has a chip I need to fix on the edge.  It's also mounted on a really comfortable boys axe (I need to take a pattern off it.) handle for a south paw.  Grandpa wasn't a southpaw so go figure.  It's marked C&NW;... a railroad maybe?






Matt


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## Battenkiller (Nov 16, 2010)

To the best of my knowledge, Hay-Budden and other American makers didn't follow the English practice of using Imperial hundredweights (112#), so my anvil is 100 pounds even.  Felt heavier last time I picked it up.  That was about five years ago.  Now that 58 years of old guy would be doing the lifting, I won't bother to put in on the scale to verify its weight.

European system was the first number is 112#, the second number is a quarter-weight (28#), and the last number is pounds, 1-0-0 would be 112# if it was an anvil made by Peter Wright.  I have another anvil (an English made "Mouse Hole" brand) that is marked 1-2-3, and I definitely won't be picking that one up any time soon.  1-2-3 would be 112+56+3 = 171#.  

Hay-Budden is one of the very best names in anvils.  This one rings load and clear, actually hurts the ears.  It has great rebound and is heavy enough for anything I use it for in my shop.  I have a real old beast with no horn and no markings.  I was told that as the Union army was chasing the Confederates back south, they built big bonfires and heated up every anvil they found, then poured water over the horn and broke it off so the Southern troops couldn't shoe their horses.  

Can't say if it's fact or some apocryphal tale, but mine definitely had a horn at one point, you can see the rough metal where it was busted.  We guessed it's weight to be about 250#, based on the number of bulging veins I had when I moved it to its present position.  An big anvil without a horn is a pretty dang hard thing to carry.  I set it directly on the ground to use as an upsetting block, and for that purpose it is unrivaled.


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## Dune (Nov 16, 2010)

Battenkiller is correct, american anvils are marked actual weight. Here is a little Hay Budden porn  http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/18789-hay-budden-anvil-catalogue-from-191415/ 

Thanks for the pics fellows. Maybe I will figure out how to post pictures.

When I checked my link, I realized if you are not a member, you can't veiw pics on that site. Feel free to join!


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## webbie (Nov 16, 2010)

I looked at a bunch when I was starting extendaflue - still have a couple sitting around, but sold many of them........

I have a nice old Niagara circle shear - anyone wanna buy it?

I delved into some of the history of Peck Stow and Wilcox - located right near here in CT. 
http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/peck-stow-wilcox.html

The "problem" with many of these old tools is that they worked too good - that is, they never wore out. That killed the upgrade and replacement market!

I had one of these turning tools - bought it on ebay. I sold it at a later date - but it was definitely tool porn! Look at those exposed gears - the brass bearings! Sweet.


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## Gary_602z (Nov 17, 2010)

Found a fence stretcher in my Grandpa's barn about 6 years ago, the handle(oak) was all greasy and dirty. I sprayed it off with brake cleaner good and afterwards treated it with linseed oil and gave it to my Dad for Christmas! Really turned out nice.

Gary


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## Battenkiller (Nov 17, 2010)

Webmaster said:
			
		

> I delved into some of the history of Peck Stow and Wilcox - located right near here in CT.



Great tool company.  

The 2" slick at the top of the slick photo is a P. S. & W. "Extra No.1", the highest quality they made.  The teacher at a boatbuilding class I attended had one in his collection, and we used to fight over who got to use it because it always seemed to be sharper than the others.  I found out that a 2" slick is the most used hand tool in traditional boatbuilding.  I looked for about a year on eBay, and one finally turned up.  Lucked out and got it for a song.  

It is a positively wonderful tool that takes a razor edge quickly and holds it forever.  Absolutely nothing like the old tool steel IMHO.  I grind that one extremely carefully, with a slow-speed white aluminum oxide wheel. 

I'll try to post a few more shots in the next couple of days.  I'll take the camera on a walking tour of the BK estate and see what I can find that's cool or interesting.


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## EatenByLimestone (Nov 17, 2010)

That's a purdy piece Craig!   What was it mounted to?  It looks like it was tapered, was it supposed to be stuck in a vertical pipe or something?

Matt


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## Flatbedford (Nov 17, 2010)

Nice stuff! I'll see what I can come up with.


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## Danno77 (Nov 23, 2010)

here's a pic of my saw. Just ran across it this morning and thought of this thread.


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