I recently acquired a few new, old tools. They were a gift of a friend of mine whose grandfather was a cabinet maker. They sat in his basement for many years and he finally decided that they would be more useful in my hands that continuing to decay in his basement. They were in fairly rough condition, but mostly salvageable. The first two pieces I chose to rehabilitate were the marking gauge and a #3 Stanley Bailey hand plane, (circa 1910-1919).

While somewhat rusty, the plane is complete with the exception of the horn on the tote having broken off. I’ll be looking for another tote, but the plane will be useable as is when refinished. I am not specifically a collector, so the work I do to refurbish these tools will put them in working order rather than for display puroses.

The marking guage is particularly nice and was in quite good condition, but deffinitely used. I lightly sanded it and place a light coat of BLO on it. There was a tag attached to this tool that was placed there by my friends grandfather in the early sixties. It stated that the tool was a solid ebony marking guage used for marking door mortises when doors where made by hand. It also stated that it was made in Scotland over sixty years ago. I am sure there are nicer guages than this one, but I have never seen one. If anyone knows any more about this guage I would like to hear about it.

Thanks, Bill G

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