So the last day of my vacation turned out to be sort of a late Christmas for me with a bit of a Christmas Eve last night in which I was able to get a pair of 100+ year old tools. So let’s see what I got shall we ???
The biggest piece of the finds is the Stanley Defiance 1205 14″ Jack Plane. These were made post WWII and although collectible, they don’t bring in the high dollars that pre-war models bring in. The Defiance line was also sort of the red-headed stepchild aimed more at the common handyman and wasn’t as “pretty” as its more refined Victor and Bailey kinfolk.
Following that is a Stanley Victor 1104 or 1105 Smoothing Plane. This is most likely also a post-war model but the Victor’s were sort of the middle between the Defiance and the Bailey styles.
Up next we have a small little Stanley 220, definitely a post-war model but still a nice little plane to have around the shop. It lacks just about any sort of bell or whistle the bigger planes have except for the knurled knob to advance the blade.
Coming in with the planes is what appears to be a body made from a kit by a local gentleman who passed away. It’s missing the blade and wedge but I think after watching some videos I now possess the skill-set to be able to fashion my own blade and wedge for it and have my first wooden body plane in the collection.
And last but not least, and what might well be the prize of the collection this week is a pair of Snell & Atherton Heel Shaves. Now these were originally designed and sold up until the 1900’s as a cobblers tool but are still sought after and used by both leatherworks and woodworkers. Woodworkers love them as they work like a spokeshave but are more specialized for carving out the hollows in chairs. Near as I can tell these came in sizes ranging from 1 through at least 7. I have a #5 and a #6 presently and will definitely be on the lookout for more of these now that I know what they are.
Plans are to get them all cleaned up, replace missing and broken pieces, and put them back into use. Figure I can get another lifetime out of them and perhaps even pass them on to another generation down the road.
UPDATE LATER THAT NIGHT ( 2145 hrs ): As I was relaxing and winding down from the day I couldn’t resist the urge to start playing with some of my new acquisitions so I grabbed the smaller Stanley 220 Block Plane and got to cleaning it up. Not sure if you can see it compared to the original picture but it’s now ready for a new knob and coat of new paint. The iron needs to be sharpened a bit but it cuts as it is now which is testament to how well these tools were made. This was just a little bit of care following some Paul Sellers and Rex Krueger videos on YouTube.
UPDATE 1-26-20: Now that I have a bit of time after work this week I’ve been tinkering with my tools and knocking off the rust and keep coming back to the 220 for some odd reason. Now I’ve gotten it almost totally restored, and it’s actually usable at this point minus the front knob which I am hunting the internet for a suitable replacement that doesn’t cost more than I paid for the plane. I cleaned all of the crud from all over the plane, used a combination of nylon, brass, and steel brushes to get things clean, sanded down what needed to be sanded and refined, and gave it a quick coat of primer, let it dry then hit it with a couple coats of a blue that comes really close to the original color ( the camera flash makes it look a lot brighter than it really is ). All in all I think it has turned out great and I’m really excited that I was able to bring this plane back to life. It’s almost 70 years old and once I get the blade cleaned up, it will easily last another 70 or more !!!
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