Rust Hunting in Georgia 2012.10.06

I had only found a couple of items between my last post and this past Saturday:

I think I've got less than $2 in the three items above - the mallet is made of oak and quite stout. I also look for wood handled putty knives and scrapers - some of the earlier examples that I've found have rosewood handles (this one is more modern in vintage - I bought it as a user). The small file holder - that's about 3 or 4 of those I've found over the years. You can place an awl (or make one from a nail) or small file into it - very useful. The end is padded so it's ideal for small, homemade chisels (if you've ever done any micro carving in hardwood you'll know what I mean).

This second lot I found over the weekend - I was leaving for my woodworking club meeting (The Gwinnett Woodworkers Association: www.gwinnettwoodworkers.com - if you're ever in Atlanta early Saturday come on by, we meet at Peachtree Woodworking Supply. I also edit and upload class videos to our YouTube channel if you'd like to see what the meetings are like: http://www.youtube.com/user/gwinnettwoodworkers) when I spotted a yard sale sign. I turned around figuring I had a few minutes. The neighbor had a pile of rusty tools on a table to the rear. He told me that they had belonged to his grandfather and had been kicking around for many years getting rusted up, and it was time to get rid of them. I won't tell you how much I paid, suffice to say we both walked away happy.

Included were two intact planes - one about a Number 5 size and a Number 48 match plane missing the swinging fence on the bottom. Also in the photo below are some parts for a tap-and-die set, a Yankee screwdriver and a drill-bit sharpening attachment for a grinder.

Here are the two all metal planes:

Also included were these two braces and a super-thin draw knife. Note the rosewood pad and handle on the larger brace. I couldn't find a manufacturer but the chuck is massive and I'm sure it's very old.

There was also an axe head, a circle bit, a saw set and a couple of large machinist clamps...

And finally a spokeshave (probably Stanley - that's what's on the cutter), a divider, couple of punches and some large safety pins (thinking these are for canvass).

The best thing of course was the hand plane. I couldn't see any markings until I got home - It's marked Bailey Tool Co with an 1871 patent date on the blade and features a cam-lock mechanism. Quite old I think, with rosewood tote and knob:

Love the balloon knob and the blade raiser is very interesting. I tried to do some research on it but wasn't able to find out much - no photos at all except for a rendering on the patent. I'll clean it up a bit and post more about it in another post.

-- John