Thread: Ebay Droppings Thread.

Originally Posted by ian

any chance of getting a copy of the original Norris instructions included with the tool?

So, my plane arrived yesterday. The seller was courteous enough to write the value prominently on the package so that my wife could see it



Anyway, the picture of the instructions that I showed a thread up is all there was. Nothing about adjustment or anything and the back side of the paper is blank. The curious thing about it is that I did get the entire box (another plane that I bought said it came with the box, but it was only the box top). The full box for the A1 has a warning printed on it several times that the purchaser should inspect the contents before signing off on delivery. It appears to be on it from the factory - it's not a post office stamp or anything.

The plane itself is fairly crude for a norris, but the job they did of grinding the casting is really clean and nice. I thought it would be dovetailed, but I'm 99% sure it's a one-piece finished casting since it's rounded inside the casting at the junction of the sides and bottoms.

Despite being crude and not perfectly finished, it feels surprisingly comfortable, and it is almost unused because the factory finish from the grinder is still on the sole with very little marking or scratching. The lost finish on the wood, i expected that to look like lost finish and bare wood, but it's not. I'm just not sure about it in terms of whether it's little used, or if it's been refinished and stuffed with a new iron (the iron's got very little use on it).

I guess "who really cares" is probably approrpriate. It's under 8 pounds at 17 1/2 inches long, a pound less than my old spiers copy was (which is appreciated, that plane was a bit heavy) - partially due to the beech (cocbolo in my spiers copy) and maybe some due to the fact that the casting appears a touch thinner than 3/16th sole and 1/8th side that makes up a lot of modern infills.

Now that it appears to be a casting, the auction says it's steel. I don't know about that, and would be able to tell instantly if I put it on the lap to make sure the bottom is true, but I don't know if I want to lap the bottom of it and remove the original marks on it.

If it's refinished and has been reground, I'm impressed with the cleanliness of the job on the metal.

Upon closer look tonight, I believe it's been reground and selectively refinished. I paid 8 bones american for the plane (fortunately about 200 quid less than the original ask) and do feel a little chapped. There's a chance the dealer didn't have any part of it, but there is a nearly unused iron in the plane - i wonder if it was from another plane.

On the bright side, I think I've learned to live with the adjuster by using the lever cap tightness to set the thickness of the shaving after a general range is chosen. Shame that a plane has an adjuster but that you have to use the lever cap to set final cut depth.

Pictures shortly.

Two of the box. And what I thought wasn't a mailing label definitely was (the caution about signing). It's on tape. It appears that this thing was shipped in its original box with no other packaging!!
https://s27.postimg.org/6ai1y8zmb/20170428_214621.jpg
https://s27.postimg.org/3ug8kehjn/20170428_214629.jpg

Side and top view of the plane - and then bottom (it appears to have been surface ground lightly, but it was ever so slightly hollow in its length. Like thousandths. Still - i hate that. I'm biased to a plane having the toe a couple of thousandths proud instead, and a light lapping does that.
https://s27.postimg.org/4y0cwd26r/20170428_214659.jpg
https://s27.postimg.org/j5umyr49f/20170428_214721.jpg
https://s27.postimg.org/5vbdiz32r/20170428_220926.jpg

Apologize for the messy bench. I am building a plane, and I always have a horrible mess on my bench partway through a plane because you don't need much of the bench surface and there are so many tools that you use to make a plane.
https://s27.postimg.org/gpstkwm6r/20170428_214731.jpg

I did as the instructions said and honed it with a washita. The iron is a norris marked robt. sorby on the back. Sorby isn't known for making hard irons, and this one is not particularly hard, but it's hard enough. It's just right for a washita. I still prefer the wards in the earlier planes - they do battle more seriously with the washita, but it's manageable and they don't hold their wire edge like softer irons do.

First shaving, heavy - straight up and out. Horrible resistance. Reminds me of when I was testing cap iron angles in 2012 and tried 80 degrees. The cap iron had never been touched on this plane and looked rounded over (the iron hadn't been flattened, either. I don't think the iron is original to the plane). I took the cap iron out still suspecting the blunt edge and sure enough, just the tiniest bit along the front was still 90 degrees. I think that's a labor saving measure at the factory - just come short of completing the curve on the cap iron and there is no cleanup to do because you never create a burr.

https://s27.postimg.org/nhj8nrb6b/20170428_214842.jpg

After finishing the roundover on the cap, much better, and a little fiddling with the lever cap to set adjustment and I can set it for thin shavings. It's a washita edge, so thin shavings look more like a bundle of tiny strings woven together. There still is a little improvement for the washita, though - as the back becomes fully settled in on the stone, it will get finer.
https://s27.postimg.org/pam5c2wcz/20170428_220629.jpg
https://s27.postimg.org/9qerljm8j/20170428_220743.jpg

This is not a heavy plane. Am I sorry I bought it for 8 big ones? Sure am. After concluding that it's been used fairly heavily in the past, though, I've no qualms about lapping it and making it like I want, and the weight (7 1/2 pounds) is actually practical. It doesn't feel nose heavy, either, which is a plus with long infills. I will use it like I'd use a try plane. Still, I'll eat a few hundred if I resell it later, and that sucks.

Since the price is on the front, I just did some figuring. The cost of this plane in dollars around 1945 (probably about the right year) would've been about 4 or 5 days' work in the US, perhaps a little bit more if a woodworker made below the average wage - probably the case.

The average woodworking wage in the UK (how lucky is it to find that, and in the US bureau of labor and statistics of all places) in 1946 was about 5 pounds. So the worker in the UK would've been stuck working about 2 weeks to pay for this plane new.

What do you reckon the finish to be? Looks like paint from here.

Originally Posted by rob streeper

What do you reckon the finish to be? Looks like paint from here.

It's like a paint/stain or something of that sort, and then it looks like it's covered with varnish. Not the kind of thing you'd expect to see on a tool that was relatively expensive when made, but I guess they wanted it to look uniformly dark rather than just applying a dark stain to beech (which looks better, in my opinion).

There's a jointer for sale on eBay ($2500) out of Australia that looks to be finished with the same stuff. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXTREMELY-RA...RUCTIONS-/3719

Yeah, I don't really know what norris planes are worth (if that was a bargain, I'd guess it would be sold), but the materials and methods used in making the older ones are more costly.

The older irons are better, too (they are ward instead of a private labeled robt. sorby iron).

Originally Posted by rob streeper

What do you reckon the finish to be? Looks like paint from here.

Rob, if it's like my post-war Norris, the finish is shellac-based. When I got it, the finish was in a very poor state, with virtually nothing left on the bun, so that I could readily see what it was. The rear infill is more interesting, the centre piece from which the grip is shaped is Mahogany (I'm 95% certain) while the two outer cheeks of stuffing are also Beech: Norris.jpg

The original finish was dark enough & thick enough to make it look like all of the wood was something much darker ("Rosewood" ??). I wanted to clean it up just a little, with some alcohol & fine steel wool to smooth it off & even it out a bit. What was left of the finish came off so easily, I decided to take it all off & restore it to what I think it would've looked when it left the factory, but then I thought I'd just leave it, since it's meant to be a user, not a museum piece. So I just gave it a few rub-overs with a heavy cut of Shellac & left it to the next owner to decide if they want to get more fancy with it....

BTW, we really should have started a new thread, we have gone way of the real theme of this thread......

Cheers,

My norris has the same ugly dark brown varnish on it. Can't see any of the wood grain at all. Still that may have been the aim to hide the fact it's not rosewood. I did think of stripping it but that would likely devalue the plane.
Regards
John

tendon saw.JPG

Originally Posted by rob streeper

tendon saw.JPG

The pits give it extra power for those tough tendons and ligaments.

From the estate of Achilles.

What do you guys make of this?

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/boro...saw/1150350463

The sunken medallion indicates a pre 1896 manufacture date and the brass spine indicates a number 5. However look at the double nibs on the top and bottom of the handle.

Could it be a brass back 77? Alas no visible etch.

I contacted the seller and he's had it for 45 years and the handle hasn't been replaced in that time.

Any thoughts?