(an excerpt from http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com)
My wife and I took a trip across the river to the monthly Belleville Flea Market this past weekend. We combined that with a visit to my great Aunt Edy who is about 80 and still walks five miles every day (wow!). Dana and Aunt Edy spent a lot of time looking for cut glass and Griswold cast iron. If you can imagine, I focused on other things; namely, handtools.
To be honest with you, I thought the pickings were quite slim, as far as flea markets go. I did find a fairly nice Stanley #5 in good condition. I chuckled as I disassembled the plane, checking the various parts out for defects – the blade was set bevel-side up! If it was a “user”, it must not have worked very well…When I assembled it again, I put it together properly; my OCD would not have it any other way.
The handles were crisp and tight and the Victory blade had a lot of life left in it. It wasn’t priced terribly high, at $27, and I was sure I could talk him down some, but I thought back to the pre-WWI #5 I have sitting at home, waiting for me to restore it, and I decided to pass. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn’t have. I could have fixed it up and given it to my best friend or one of my woodworking friends… I probably won’t pass up the next one I find like that.
I did not, however, pass on a nice little piece I thought I’d share with you. It was in the $1 box, so I didn’t feel right trying to talk them down any. It is a hand tool, but not the usual kind one keeps an eye out for, I suppose. Here’s a picture of it in the untouched state…
Not much to look at, is it? Give me a few minutes with some mineral spirits and a green scotchbrite pad, though, and see what you think after that.
That’s a little better. Now take a closer look at the handle. That isn’t plastic, my dear big-box-shopping friends! Looks like rosewood to me. And check out the metal in this close-up.
The blade, the ferrule and the tang are all one piece of metal, riveted to the rosewood handle with brass pins. In this picture, you can also see a small band of sapwood on the end of the handle. It actually has a maker’s mark on it, too! It says, ” G. L. & CO. CHICAGO” on one side of the blade. Google didn’t come up with anything on it, yet, but I’ll keep an eye out.
The blade is really thick and hefty; I wonder if I might be able to file a nice clean flat edge on it and sharpen it up like a scraper. I could use it to clean up the insides of boxes or tight corners, maybe? It feels like it could really hold a hook, though.
I’ll have to post something about it if and when I give it a try!
Aunt Edy kept apologizing to me; she felt badly that I didn’t find anything other than an ordinary paint scraper. I don’t know… a rosewood handled paint scraper with an integral tang? It might not be the find of the Century, but in our world of plastic and poor quality, I’d call that anything but ordinary…
-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/
23 comments so far
Thos. Angle
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3243 posts in 397 days
posted 156 days ago
Good find, Ethan. I like it when I find something like this even if I don’t really need it I appreciate a good tool.
-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon
dennis mitchell
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2889 posts in 749 days
posted 156 days ago
That is a winner! Good eye!
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
Mark E.
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66 posts in 177 days
posted 156 days ago
That is a great find for a buck!
-- Mark
scottb
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2839 posts in 761 days
posted 156 days ago
that is a good find indeed. Flea Market in March?! – Spring must really be on it’s way then (not that you can tell looking at the backyard here ;)
-- The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation. -- Wood T's: http://www.printfection.com/snbcreative
alanealane
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99 posts in 325 days
posted 156 days ago
Where exactly is the Belleville you speak of? Was that Belleville, MI? Because if it is, I’m bummed I didn’t know about the flea market…I was in Belleville MI this past weekend.
-- Lane Custom Guitars and Basses
Red Headed Merganser
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751 posts in 608 days
posted 156 days ago
Sorry, Alan; Belleville, IL.
It’s an indoor/outdoor (mostly indoor this time of year) flea market that goes on all year long (third weekend of the month).
There is another flea market not too far from where I live that should be starting up some time soon. It is completely outdoors and takes place every Sunday through spring, summer, and fall. The good tool sellers don’t usually start showing up until about May, so I still have a while to wait.
Good thing my wife takes naps after church on Sundays! ;)
-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/
MsDebbieP
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11425 posts in 595 days
posted 156 days ago
now I don’t know much about tools but I do know that a blade that is one piece of metal that goes right through the handle is a treasure!!!! Awesome…
Well done
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
MrWoody
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169 posts in 209 days
posted 156 days ago
They sure don’t make them like that anymore.
Nice find, I’ll be keeping my eyes open from now on.
-- If we learn from our mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education.
CharlieM1958
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3899 posts in 653 days
posted 156 days ago
What a neat find for $1!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
cajunpen
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5352 posts in 500 days
posted 156 days ago
Good score – and for a $1l you can’t loose.
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
Dick Cain
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4735 posts in 734 days
posted 156 days ago
Very nice find, I think I have one similar in my tool box. I’ll have to take a closer look at it.
-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
GaryK
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8392 posts in 423 days
posted 156 days ago
You can’t beat that for $1. It’s a great piece.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Blake
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1868 posts in 309 days
posted 156 days ago
I’m right there with you, Red. I love the flee market. I am a very serious flee shopper! Our closed down for a few months, the told us it was forever though, since the land got sold. But they just decided to open back up again. I haven’t been there since they reopened two weeks ago. But I love finding stuff like this. Very cool. Makes me want to make sure I get to the flee market this weekend.
-- Dust collectors suck.
printman
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26 posts in 508 days
posted 156 days ago
Hi Ethan, I have three of those. One is 2” wide and the others are 4”. Mine are by a company that made ink knives for printing presses. They were used to stir the ink in the ink fountain on an offset printing press. I took a 4” knife home and use it all the time for scraping of all kinds. If you want to try a good Flea Market try the one in Wentzville on Sundays. I’m not sure if they have started up yet but they are open all summer long.
-- St. Louis - just a cut away from finishing!
rikkor
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7015 posts in 309 days
posted 156 days ago
Nice catch! I’ll have to visit one of these flea markets.
-- Maplewood, MN
Red Headed Merganser
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751 posts in 608 days
posted 156 days ago
PM, the Wentzville flea market is the one I was referring to in my last entry. Unfortunately, I’ve found a lot of the people there have prices on their tools that aren’t really flea market prices; they are way over-priced.
Still, as soon as the weather warms up I’ll be back out there, looking for the occasional bargain. Maybe I’ll see you out there some time!
-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/
HallTree
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563 posts in 202 days
posted 156 days ago
Here in Minnesota, after a long winter, I can hardly wait for spring and get out to all of those garage and estate sales. A find like that would make it all worth while.
-- Ron in Osseo, Minnesota
Dadoo
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1479 posts in 425 days
posted 156 days ago
Nice one. Not your average putty knife though. Will look real nice polished up.
-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!
mrtrim
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1484 posts in 315 days
posted 155 days ago
i have one just like it and i think print man is right , looks like an ink knife . mine is 4 in. same handle and blade
they are tuff as a bag of hammers !
-- if you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes
jcees
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425 posts in 233 days
posted 155 days ago
I have two of this style putty knifes. Plaster workers appreciate the heft and stiffness. I appreciate the steel and construction. I got a pair of them for two bucks a piece brand new from a hardware store that went belly up after the big box stores arrived. His loss, my putty knives… mine… mine… booohahahaha!
They will indeed make a good scraper. The steel is good and will do what you need it to do. Enjoy.
always,
J.C.
-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein
Red Headed Merganser
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751 posts in 608 days
posted 155 days ago
Interesting… Doing a little research on ink knives, I came up with the following link:
http://www.heimerdingercutlery.com/catalog/category.cfm?Category=122
Is it possible I have myself an “ink knife collection” without even knowing it?
Too funny…
-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/
brianinpa
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472 posts in 157 days
posted 155 days ago
I have got to get out to flea markets more often. Everytime I go, all I see is the junk. Good find!
-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.
Karson
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12413 posts in 835 days
posted 155 days ago
great find Ethan
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com