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A bit of history on E. Sarjeant’s carving tools

Today W.K. Fine Tools published this article: History of Cutlery and Tools with Geoffrey Tweedale – Addis: A Famous Name in Carving Tools – By Geoffrey Tweedale. The article inspired me to take a few pictures of E. Sarjeant’s carving tools and the makers stamps I saw while cleaning them.

Some of the makers stamps from the article.

Some of the stamps on the tools.

E. Sarjeant’s carving tools.

If you want to know more on these tool check out this link.

What’s so fun about restoring an old plane?

Well, using it after its all cleaned up and ready to go of course!

So that’s just what I did today. Ernest and I ( 😉 ) went to work on the picture frame that I started before the giant tool score. Its very fun to use a tool that I not only rehabbed, but that I know the story behind. This particular Stanley No. 4 is a late 1800 early 1900 version. Its so old that the blade adjuster turns in the opposite direction that typical Stanleys and for that matter, pretty much every other plane does. If nothing else, it will remind me how old the plane is every time I use it.

Here’s a couple of pictures of Ernest’s old plane in action.

Getting No. 4 all lined out and cutting fine shavings on some easy to tear out quarter sawn Douglas fir.

Thinning out a spline of yellow heart.

Splines

Restoring E. Sarjeant’s Hand Planes

So I was able to get Ernest’s hand planes into the bead blaster. Also the new handle and tote arrived as well as the blade, so now for the sequence of pictures showing the restoration. The handle on this plane was completely trashed so I replaced it with a Bill Rittner handle and tote set. The blade was also worn down to the nub, so I replaced it with a Hock blade. For a blow by blow on how I did it please see this post -> No. 3 Stanley Rehab.

No. 4 before

Naked planes after bead blasting.

Planes with Engine Black on. Like my fancy paint booth?

Glam shot!

Working ..

And in it’s new home.

8 inch Brace Rehab – E. Sarjeant tools continued

In Ernest’s set of tools there was sweet 8″ brace that needed a little TLC.

Braces before.

First I had to figure out how to get the ratchet apart so I could get the gunck out and grease the parts for good working. Wiktor Kuc helped me figure out that I need to tap the pin out in between the ratchet teeth. Once I did that, I could go into the mechanism, clean it out and pack it with grease.

Knocking out the pin.

Pulling out the ratchet and threaded head.

Spring inside jaws ready for grease.

After some scrubbing, look what I found.

Sweetheart Logo

Then I took the upper part of the brace to the wire brush wheel the grinder, removed the crud and cleaned it up after with some metal polish.

I also sanded the wooden handle which lightened it up significantly. I left the pad alone so the contrast looked kinda silly. I mixed up some boil linseed oil and some black dye. And this is how it turned out.

8″ Brace after

Before for comparison

Here is the metal polish I used:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67014&cat=1,43415,43439,67014

More on Ernest Sarjeant’s Story

One of Ernest’s commissions was a conference table for the Florida State Capital building. Below is a gallery of some of the plans, documents and photos of the table. I don’t know if the table is still in use, but it wouldn’t surprise me. The large mahogany table went for $ 900 in 1946. No doubt the tools I’ve been working on helped make this table. Right click on the pictures and open in a new tab to see pictures better.