I know I perhaps bang on a little about eBay so perhaps I should qualify my thoughts. It’s not eBay I feel proud of but Britain’s historic contribution in developing and manufacturing the best range of woodworking hand tools for centuries of British woodworkers and woodworking. I look too at what their cutting edges made from in this part of the western world and feel, well, amazed. Of course it’s not just here but around the world. Britain’s been a massive central hub to Europe as a whole and then on to other continents too. I shouldn’t wonder that Britain’s tool history doesn’t have one of the widest outreaches of any country in the world if I think about it. Mostly from a small city called Sheffield, but other cities and towns within a 100 mile radius or so. Quite amazing really, if you think that the population of Sheffield in the mid 1800’s was a mere 180,000. I suppose that might max out somewhere around 30,000 in its workforce. Quite remarkable. Of course it never stopped with the UK supplies alone, its contribution to the past and present world of woodworking was and still is most immense.
Today I find most of the tools I want from eBay. I have never bought anything yet I couldn’t bring up to full working level within a few minutes. A saw takes me 20-30 minutes if rusted a little and dull. A plane might take the same. Imagine, I bought a Woden #78 rabbet plane this week for under £10. Without eBay I would be paying hundreds of pounds more than I do. Here’s a Woden 4 1/2 that came in too. Looks a bit rugged. I like them that way and I like paying £12 for them if I can. In the pre-web days around 1980-85 tools were sold by adverts in mags and tool dealers. We paid much higher prices then than we do now, I can tell you, but that’s not my reasoning at all. I think today we see tools that would have been lost to us, perhaps rotted in rust and mildew. Tools keep coming and there are enough to cycle through for every generation of woodworkers yet to come. How about that. A Sheffield, England legacy no one ever knew would happen and no one ever planned for. Sheffield, despite it’s present tool producing demise, is still supplying the new demand for quality tools from its heirloom treasure trove via eBay. I used my I Sorby today to joint the edges of my oak tabletop. I had sharpened bevel ups and bevel downs and the results were good, but when my Sorby licked the surface of the gnarly knots in the oak I felt happy with my rarest of all finds. I know of only two of these planes. John, my last apprentice, has the other. You should have felt it slicing through impossibilities.
11 Comments
England has so much to be proud of in it’s heritage to the world. It’s refreshing to hear someone just plainly say it.
Paul.
Steel City what a legacy and thanks to ill informed politicians it has now all but disappeared..
Have you read Ashley Isles book ?
Keep up the good fight.
Best Wishes.
Fred Sutton
Hi Paul. You recently gave me some advice on a saw to buy. Just to let you know I bought a fantastic 22 inch Disston on ebay. It’s great and feels like I’m driving a rolls Royce compared to the cheap plastic saws I’ve used recently. Thanks again for your help!
I think the tool I am most pleased to reach for is an old Groves dovetail saw. The handle is both a thing of great beauty and a perfect fit for my hand. The brass back means it almost saws by itself and the steel of the plate is a joy to sharpen and cuts cleanly and true. And of course it was made in Sheffield, maybe 140 years ago.
But I also have some modern tools: a Clifton plane, and Ashley Iles chisels. Also made in Sheffield, (or Lincolnshire in the Sheffield tradition). I’m pleased with them too but conscious that I paid more for them than I do for vintage versions that perform at least as well.
And if you’ve bought a neglected and rusty tool, then cleaned, fettled and sharpened it (with abilities and confidence entirely due to your posts/videos/example) I believe you know it and can use it as well as possible.
It’s ironic that the historical success of Sheffield and its abundant legacy of affordable quality tools (via Ebay) are acting as a competitors to its modern day successors.
Surely we all would like the tradition to continue, depleted in size though it is.
So sometimes I will still buy modern tools, not re-badged imports with a once-illustrious name, but where I am convinced they really are still made in England, somewhat traditionally. And they work well, of course.
I’ve recently gotten back into woodworking and gotten some planes off eBay. My current projects are a No 5½ w/ an aluminum tote that was heavily rusted ($25) and a No 4 that was found on a beach off the coast of Mass ($20). Been in the salt water for a while but everything has come apart and cleaned up well… So far. But it’s a good project trying to refurb these old planes.
Tom
I agree and I thoroughly endorse British traditions and manufacturing but to be fair there is one name missing and that is Leonard Bailey who designed the modern plane. Stanley hijacked his design but have at least, retained Bailey on their planes and I think they still do. Record, Woden, Millers Falls and many more have copied his design with little change.
I think some caution is required when buying from ebay tools are not always cheap and its not always easy to be sure of what you are buying but there are bargains if you show patience and restraint. There are other sources i.e. secondhand shops/markets tool auctions where bargains can be found.
Depending on where you live – eBay is by far the best source in Dublin anyway as it’s mostly coming from the uk. Shops, markets selling second hand tools don’t really exist here as far as I’m aware.
I wish more British sellers would ship to Canada. I find that shipping across the Atlantic is generally cheaper than shipping from the U.S., even if it’s only travelling from the other side of Lake Ontario.
It makes me proud to read this, as my mum’s family were once saw makers in Sheffield: Ashtons saws was sadly taken over in the sixties and destroyed but they made saws and knives for a long time up until then. We are currently bidding on a couple of tenon saws to refurbish…
I just received a Stanley #4 that says “Made in England” in front of the tote. I bought it off eBay without realizing when I bid that it was in London. I haven’t looked over the dating spreadsheet I have yet to see how old it might be. There is a “9/44” handwritten on the top of the box in pencil, that may be a date or just something someone wrote on there. I’ve included an album below with a few photos. Looking to clean it up and get to using it.
I bought a few wooden planes cheaply on eBay, part of a job lot. They were old, UK made, well used and a long way from flat and square that people obsess about. Irons were definitely hand sharpened.
Oh my! They are amazing.
Jack
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England has so much to be proud of in it’s heritage to the world. It’s refreshing to hear someone just plainly say it.
Paul.
Steel City what a legacy and thanks to ill informed politicians it has now all but disappeared..
Have you read Ashley Isles book ?
Keep up the good fight.
Best Wishes.
Fred Sutton
Hi Paul. You recently gave me some advice on a saw to buy. Just to let you know I bought a fantastic 22 inch Disston on ebay. It’s great and feels like I’m driving a rolls Royce compared to the cheap plastic saws I’ve used recently. Thanks again for your help!
I think the tool I am most pleased to reach for is an old Groves dovetail saw. The handle is both a thing of great beauty and a perfect fit for my hand. The brass back means it almost saws by itself and the steel of the plate is a joy to sharpen and cuts cleanly and true. And of course it was made in Sheffield, maybe 140 years ago.
But I also have some modern tools: a Clifton plane, and Ashley Iles chisels. Also made in Sheffield, (or Lincolnshire in the Sheffield tradition). I’m pleased with them too but conscious that I paid more for them than I do for vintage versions that perform at least as well.
And if you’ve bought a neglected and rusty tool, then cleaned, fettled and sharpened it (with abilities and confidence entirely due to your posts/videos/example) I believe you know it and can use it as well as possible.
It’s ironic that the historical success of Sheffield and its abundant legacy of affordable quality tools (via Ebay) are acting as a competitors to its modern day successors.
Surely we all would like the tradition to continue, depleted in size though it is.
So sometimes I will still buy modern tools, not re-badged imports with a once-illustrious name, but where I am convinced they really are still made in England, somewhat traditionally. And they work well, of course.
I’ve recently gotten back into woodworking and gotten some planes off eBay. My current projects are a No 5½ w/ an aluminum tote that was heavily rusted ($25) and a No 4 that was found on a beach off the coast of Mass ($20). Been in the salt water for a while but everything has come apart and cleaned up well… So far. But it’s a good project trying to refurb these old planes.
Tom
I agree and I thoroughly endorse British traditions and manufacturing but to be fair there is one name missing and that is Leonard Bailey who designed the modern plane. Stanley hijacked his design but have at least, retained Bailey on their planes and I think they still do. Record, Woden, Millers Falls and many more have copied his design with little change.
I think some caution is required when buying from ebay tools are not always cheap and its not always easy to be sure of what you are buying but there are bargains if you show patience and restraint. There are other sources i.e. secondhand shops/markets tool auctions where bargains can be found.
Depending on where you live – eBay is by far the best source in Dublin anyway as it’s mostly coming from the uk. Shops, markets selling second hand tools don’t really exist here as far as I’m aware.
I wish more British sellers would ship to Canada. I find that shipping across the Atlantic is generally cheaper than shipping from the U.S., even if it’s only travelling from the other side of Lake Ontario.
It makes me proud to read this, as my mum’s family were once saw makers in Sheffield: Ashtons saws was sadly taken over in the sixties and destroyed but they made saws and knives for a long time up until then. We are currently bidding on a couple of tenon saws to refurbish…
I just received a Stanley #4 that says “Made in England” in front of the tote. I bought it off eBay without realizing when I bid that it was in London. I haven’t looked over the dating spreadsheet I have yet to see how old it might be. There is a “9/44” handwritten on the top of the box in pencil, that may be a date or just something someone wrote on there. I’ve included an album below with a few photos. Looking to clean it up and get to using it.
http://imgur.com/a/mUd9F
I bought a few wooden planes cheaply on eBay, part of a job lot. They were old, UK made, well used and a long way from flat and square that people obsess about. Irons were definitely hand sharpened.
Oh my! They are amazing.
Jack