Categories
Norris Shoulder planes

Distinctive Norris A7

As readers of this blog will know, I do trade in collectable woodworking tools, but I don’t often get round to keeping many of them myself. I see little point in keeping tools on a shelf, when they could be being used in a workshop and appreciated in use, rather than for purely aesthetic reasons. I maybe own four or five tools I would call ‘collectable’, the rest of my tools are good clean users, Stanley, Record and the like.
One of my rarer tools is this Norris plane which I’ve been using on a small project and it only goes to confirm my opinion that tools are best kept used and not shelved.
This Norris A7 shoulder plane is a rarer type because the wedge tensioner is at the back and not mid-mounted. This design was a short-lived venture, (I think some models were made around the 1920’s-30’s, according to someone who knows much more than me).
In use, this plane is sublime. The mouth is super-tight, as you can see and the classic Norris adjuster allows for micro blade adjustment. The blade itself has four drilled holes, allowing for larger shifts up or down according to wear, before you dial in with the adjuster.
So if you have a lot of collectables, I would recommend getting a few out one day and getting them going on a project. After all, you can’t take them with you!










Categories
Marples & Sons

Marples ‘Shamrock’ Tool Cabinet


This little Marples cabinet is offered for sale from Michael French. Please get in touch with Michael by emailing him with this link if you would like to ask any questions or talk prices.





And a happy new year to my blog readers out there! 2017 will hopefully see me selling some tools from the blog, as 2016 was just too manic to get onto that. I really need to talk to some digital genius in London who has a deep knowledge of WordPress and can implement some sort of e-commerce solution. Having been down this path before and wasted a not-inconsiderable amount of money, I’m looking for some decent ‘bang for my buck’, but please get in touch if you are a whizz-kid with a portfolio I can look at.

All the best
Gary

Categories
John Moseley & Sons

Moseley & Simpson?

One of the most-read posts on Hackney Tools is about the life of tool maker John Moseley.
A reader of the blog got in touch recently about a pair of mortice chisels he had been given and the name stamp in ‘Moseley & Simpson’. I wondered if anyone might know more about this partnership, as I don’t unfortunately.
moseley-simpson-2
moseley-simpson-1
If you have any info, please post it here in the comments section, it would be interesting to know when and where Mr.Simpson got involved.

Categories
Norris

Plenty more in it!

norris
The old fella I bought a box full of tools from the other day certainly got his money’s worth from this Norris blade. I think I might end up cutting it into two and making a couple of nice little 1″ blades for some small scrapers, but for now it’s a nice reminder to use materials wisely!

Categories
Walke Moore

Walke Moore router plane unboxing…

Back in March I put up a post about the Walke Moore router plane, a great-looking tool based on the scarce Preston 2500p.
Walke Moore Router Plane Unboxing
Bill Schenher over on Billy’s Little Bench has got one and has put up a video of the unboxing. It’s a nice plane with similar features to the Preston and the build quality looks excellent.

Update: If you read Ralph Boumenot’s excellent (almost daily) blog, ‘The Accidental Woodworker‘ you will see he has purchased one of these planes and goes into more detail on the pros and cons. What I love about Ralph and his blog is that he gets right down into the nitty-gritty of whether something is a good design, or not. As you can read, he has some reservations on the depth stop and the fact it conches down on the thread.