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Thanks. Good idea.

there's enough usage on the face of the stone that any markings have disappeared.

There's a chip on one corner, exposing a light yellow stone - so, pretty fine grit, I guess - 4000-6000, perhaps?

I picked up a King waterstone on a wooden base at a yard sale. Is there a way to know what grit I purchased? It's not marked, at least not in English; the base says, on one end, "King," and on the...

Wow. That's a neat drill. No info on it in my head, alas.

From here - and I'll grant that there's an entire Pacific Ocean between you and me, so I may be missing some fine detail - your tool looks like a stiff putty knife with an edge honed on it (and, in...

For those of us who haven't been keeping up, a picture of your ham knife might help in coming up with suggestions.

The really narrow fluting cutters don't have a notch and center on the first skate because they're skinny enough. You use the adjusting pin to push them down; your fingers to retract them.

I've...

Thanks for the recommendation. I've got a Kapro torpedo level from a yard sale, and it seems a quality tool.

Congrats! I have a mild yen for an infill, and, if so, definitely a Spiers (after all, they were built in Scotland, my favorite part of my ancestry). You found a good one.

There was a similar plane being sold here in the U.S. by a retailer named Harbor Freight* that imports all kinds of tools and tool-related stuff, mainly from China. The plane was US$10 or so, and a...

I've only ever had a hand-powered model, with a saw resembling a boomerang on the end of the pole. At full extension, it's hard work. I've never used the little chain saw on the end of a pole, but...

Try this: Sargent No. 414 Jack Plane - The Sargent Planes Page

Small saws, like other small tools (e.g., 4" double square for layout), can be very handy. I picked up a 16" panel saw, thinking, "good for some kid to use;" but it's become a regular user in my...

So THAT's what that screw on mine is for! I had wondered.

They originally came with a collar with a spring-loaded catch that fit in the grooves up the shank (away from the tip), allowing you to countersink or counterbore the hole. Useful, as said above,...

The American made versions of the yellow and black resin/plastic handles are, in my opinion, quite good; some of the best for carpentry, because you can beat the daylights out of them and the steel...

Pictures always help.

Stanley USA often put the "Stanley" name only on the cutting iron. The bench planes would have various patent dates cast into the bed, and sometimes you'd find "Stanley" on the lever that adjusted...

"Gizmotic" may be entirely U.S. slang...don't know. A gizmo is a device that gets something done in a complicated way (levers and links and ratchets, oh my!). "Gizmotic," then, is a description of...

I don't know that model, but the Taintor sets I've owned are reallly gizmotic.

Nicely done.

A lot simpler to execute than the other common design out there that resembles the metal router body in general shape, and requires some sort of clamping mechanism more complicated...

Yes, D.W.'s reported experience is consistent with mine. The round-bottomed Stanley shaves I see - not common, but there are plenty on That Auction Site, are the smaller No. 63. I've seen No. 63s...

I kind of suspected you did, but I can never resist a straight line.

By the way, the 151R Stanleys are pretty well unknown here in the U.S. A good find on your part.

Yeah, I'd go back to that seller in future, if he bargains that way - a counteroffer from your five pound proposal to one pound...if you'd kept bargaining, he might have ended up giving you money to...

Good thing it's not possible to short out computer keyboards, but I need to figure out how to clean the drool out of mine now.

Wait, how did we get into racetrack betting here, and what did they use those hammers for?

Bootmakers, now...that I can understand...

Cobbler's hammer, yes. The face should be noticeably convex. One of the main uses is driving and clinching nails when making or repairing shoes. The convex face allows for driving the nails...

Which one do I like best? The answer is "yes." That's one of those "who's your favorite child?" questions.

One of the reasons I favor the older Stanleys (the ubiquitous brand here in the U.S.)...

From where I'm sitting, here on the West Coast of the U.S., it looks to be off both coasts.

I picked up a Stanley 110 - the same tool as the Record - a few years back for something like 50 cents (about 75 cents in Aussie dollars, at current rates) because, someday, I'd like to put together...

Make sure you neutralize the vinegar right away when you get it out of its bath. Scrub off the rust, wash vigorously, (ideally) put on a thick coat of baking soda and water, let it set a minute,...

Also, that lever cap gives you a finger rest, much better than the Record pictured in earlier posts here. If you decide it's a Record/Preston frankenplane and are offended by that, I could send you...

I don't know if Stanley shaves show up much there in Oz, so I'll focus on the Record shaves first. And I am assuming you need a round-soled shave because you're shaping some tight inside corners on...

Warranted Superior saws can, often, be quite good, although you never know until you sharpen them and find a piece of wood to saw.

Much better than the less common Warranted Mediocre saws - which...

Now, that's patina!

Jim's more accurate test is a new one to me. I've relied for years on the first test he describes, and it works quite well. Two notes:

1. Make sure the edge you're using to test from is dead...

It's been a while since soldiers were expected to go into combat barefoot; and they probably beat the daylights out of their boots. I can imagine the need for a cobbler.

The Sargent bench planes varied quite a bit from their top line planes to their entry level planes.

The specialty planes were often simplified versions. Their #79 duplex rabbet plane, for...

You clearly married well.

I think it's just unfair that you folks in Oz have more Wadkins than we do here in the American colonies - we're closer to the factory, after all!

Bill, who occasionally dreams of finding a Wadkin...

Regardless of who made it, it's an interesting design, similar in intent, I'd guess, to the British Warrington hammer design (probably all y'all know what a Warrington hammer looks like, but just in...

A hammer manufacturer, obviously...

A closer picture of the maker's mark might help.

Sometimes called "camel back" presses in the U.S., I guess because they had to call them something. Neat little critter.

From what I understand, these were mainly used, by the 19th and into the 20th (in some places) centuries by watchmakers and jewelers who needed to drill small holes. There's an American company,...

Nice gift!

"Mohawk" was a second line for Millers Falls. You might dig around here: Welcome To Millers Falls Planes - Millers Falls Planes

I'm in

Roy Underhill, who did a long-running TV series here in the U.S. on traditional methods of hand tool woodworking ("The Woodwright's Shop" - I have no idea how easy* it is to find in Oz), was famous...

7 stages of OWWMery - Old Woodworking Machines
Hope this works across the big pond.

I lately picked up a 400 jig, the larger version. I really did, even with no pictures.

Well, now that you have the knives, you'll need to correct that problem - ask your son to bring you some reindeer on his next trip.