Posted 4 years ago
sharonlina…
(2 items)
Found alongside the perfect handle screwdriver while looking through family heirlooms. I see no markings at all on the cast iron. Dating will help me confirm which ancestor was the original owner of this item.
Try searching for "spokeshave" too, and you might end up with more results. NIFTY looking old tool!! :-) :-) :-)
Great idea. Maybe I can find years of manufacturer for this item.
It is a spoke shave but not a spoke blade. This one has a flat blade. The loop handles cause me to think perhaps Ohio Tool Company could have made it.
Hello, Are there any markings on the blade??
Great. From these clues, it looks like it is a Preston Spokeshave. Ohio Tools don't have such large ears. Searching for images of one in cast iron and no-frills (which is another hint about which side of the family this came from). Still can't date...
Pulled the blade out. No markings on the blade nor on the inside of the tool. The blade area looks mire like a Stanley that I found in this thread (but the handles are wrong) https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?193065-old-stanley-spokeshaves
Many, many unmarked Stanley tools were made by Millers Falls. The unmarked tools were sold cheaper because they were actually rejects that didn't meet the quality control measures Stanley required before their stamp went on a tool. Goodell also made a bunch of cast stuff for Stanley that was unmarked. Goodell was in New Hampshire amd Millers Falls in Massachusetts, Stanley Tool used to be in Wallingford Connecticut. I worked for Stanley tool for a bit after high school before getting a draft notice for Vietnam.
Unmarked, cheaper tool would fit the scenario. I found the Miller/Goodell spokeshave and they got the patent for the cigar shape, https://www.leevalley.com/archive/us/newsletters/woodworking/2/2/patents.htm.
That said, it could be a pre-stanley 51 which has a screw and a tension cap. The one I have only has a screw.
Getting closer everyone! Thanks for your input and please keep it coming.
The stanley 51, http://peterrobinson.galootcentral.com/spokeshaves/#Stanley-51-shave
The patent for cigar shape doesn't enter into this post. If your item was made for Stanley then Stanley would own the patent and license Millers falls to produce it.
You might also look at draw knives.
Sorry BB2 not even close to a draw knife.
It is a Union Manufacturing Company Spokeshave 115! Now, can anyone get a date on when these were manufactured? Can't narrow that one down yet.
google pattern date for it ..lol
Well you just compounded your difficulties in researching this. I find not less than six Union Manufacturing Companies that app produced planes. A spokeshave is a form of a plane in that it is intended to smooth and shape wood. Your reference to it being a lathe is rather far fetched.
Fhrjr2, the first comments corrected my error which helped my identify what the tool really was. Maybe I can edit the title.
I'm getting confused here, the title looks correct!! The handle style is what I call an "open loop " handle. Dunlap, Sargent, Preston, all made the open loop handle spoke shave. There was a lot of competition among tool makers in the New England area back then. Yours could have been made by a worker in one of those shops, or, made as a one-off by a pattern maker.
Brillant, keramikos! That's the Union !o 115 in a 1905 catalog. I hadn't thought of the Internet Archives to look for it. I will search for more catalogs to see when they started manufacturing.
Hello, keramikos. Great job on the research!! I am going to be the devil's advocate here. I still see a slight difference in the shape of the inside of the handles, where they meet the body. The one posted appears rounded, while the Internet Archives version looks , (to me ), like the inside of the handle is tapered toward the body. Slight difference , could have been cast on a different day, or the final grind was done differently.
It looks exactly like the 115!
Keramikos, the suggestions in this thread enabled me to start viable image searches using the correct name of the tool, possible manufacturers, etc. I spent hours going back and forth between the thread and the search. Finally, I saw a photo of it in a vintage tool sale which led to a description and the name of the manufacturer. I still would love to know when Union started making the 115 but I never would have gotten this far without the help from this thread.
keramikos, you have found a lot of the links that I found to identify my spokeshave. It really took a while to find it. Knowing that Union didn't purchase Derby until 1900 will help me determine whose spokeshave it was. I am bouncing between my great-grandfather Thomas Levi or his father Charles W Pearce.
My blade has no mark but was likely replaced. I believe this is an early version. I know that my great uncle Harry Keefer gave his tools to my grandfather (b. 1905). There were lots of wood working tools. Thanks everyone for your help!