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MI1304108 Robt Varvill & Sons A magnificent oversize gentlemen's oak tool chest. Victorian gentlemen's tool chests, marketed by the Sheffield makers, are scarce, but not rare. This one is the only one that I have seen by a York maker, and it is also the largest one that I have seen. The label has the original owner's name written on, and dated Sept. 1876. This chest has two drawers on the bottom, and a large top compartment. It measures 23" wide, 12 1/2" deep, and 12" high. The top has a shrinkage crack across the top and a few old stains that are typical of a chest of this type. The lock for the lid is missing, but we are including a proper period replacement that requires only very minor fitting. it is a near perfect fit as it is. One of the 4 drawer pulls is missing the rosette that goes between the knob and the drawer. Not a bid deal. It is also missing the label that would have been in the center of the lid and listed the original contents, as supplied. This is a hand-made chest, with first quality dovetailing work, that is worthy of any living room. A magnificent example for the connoisseur. G+ $745

MI1304101 Norton Abrasives This is a Norton IM-313 cast iron multi-stone. We have sold thousands of the modern version of this tool, which is made with a plastic case, but these cast iron models are hard to find. Nobody who has one wants to part with it. I personally use the same tool and I don't think that a finer system for holding your stones exists. The lower two stones are in a oil bath, and you rotate them to expose the stone that you want to use. This one is as found and a bit dirty, but a good honest example. It still has the original stones, the coarse and medium Crystolon and the fine India. The stones are usable, but they are worn. We sell every stone that you could ever need for these new, so we can provide you with any stones that you need, including various Arkansas stones. I also have some new Crystolon and India stones with small chips in the edges, that we can sell very reasonably. For the person who must own the best. G+ Sold

MI1304102 Baldor A Baldor #114 1800RPM, 8" bench grinder/buffer. This was my personal grinder until the Robert Sorby Pro-Edge came out (If you can afford a Pro-Edge, they are the best sytem that I have found. We sell them in the new tool section). Since then, I have not used it once, so it is time to pass it alone. It has seen very little use. It has mounted on it two friable 8" grinding wheels for grinding hardened tool steel, a narrow one and a standard one. These are expensive USA made wheels, the best quality that you can get for grinding edge tools, and would set you back over $100 for the same US made wheels today.). This machine is does not have blade guards or tool rests built in, since it is officially called a buffer. I used it free hand or with a separate bench mounted Robert Sorby 446 tool rest. I am including a brand new Robert Sorby 446 tool rest, buit if you don't want this, tell us and we will take $40 off of your order. Fine+ Sold

MI130336 Cabinetmaker's Chest A fine Victorian cabinetmaker's chest with 8 separate drawers in one bank and saw till with a separate till above it. One of the turned knobs for the lid of this till is broken, but that is the only notable issue with this chip, and that is not something that would bother me It still retains the original dust cover. Medium sized, as cabinetmaker's chests go, which is still pretty big, 32"W, 24"H, 22 1/2" D. Lovely mahogany interiror with an oval motif in the lid banded with a light wood such as sycamore or satin wood. Probably sycamore because of how sharply it is cuved. Some shrinkage cracking to the veneer in the lid, but only what is normally seen on these chests. The condition of this chest is much bettter than most and the quality of workmanship is exceptional. The drawers are all dovetailed with the finest London quality dovetails just like what was typical on the very best late 19th Century British furniture. The outside is just painted black, as is typical, except that it has a brass band around the lid. Sadly, some idiot has take the paint off of the brass with an orbital sander and you can see the pattern that it left on the brass. I would try and smooth it out again with emory paper and let it patinated naturally, although just repainting it would be more historically correct. An exceptional chest for the connoisseur. This will have to be crated to be shipped, so please call to discuss shipping options. The website shopping cart will not provide an accurate shipping quote. G++ $1995

MI1301103 Millers Falls This is a scarce 6" size Millers Falls pre-War brace with nice rosewood. I rated it low because more than half of the nickel is gone and the bear metal parts are dark. A great user but not bright and clean enough for a collector. This is a hard size to find. Good Sold

MI130160 Unmarked Spy Glass This is a three drawer telescoping French spy glass with an ivory and silver body. I don't know if the silver is solid or plate, but it is not hallmarked. I showed it to an expert who told me that it is late 18th Century, French made, and that the mark on the top of the original case tells him that it was made for the English market. The opitcs are great and work amazingly well. The catch is torn out of the top of the case but it is otherwise quite good, especially considering that it is a a leather case over 200 years old. There are two shrinkage checks in the ivory, which is pretty typical for these and does not affects its use. 1 5/8" closed, 3 1/8" open. 2 1/8" diameter. Really crisp and clean and except for the shrinkage cracks it is otherwise Fine $265

MI121236 Mount Knife A classic British picture framer's mount knife with rosewood stock and brass trim. This one is quite a bit heavier, and frankly nicer, than those commonly seen by Preston. It is more of the quality of those made by Norris, but it is not a Norris. The only marking is on the blade, it has the acorn logo of Henry Taylor. They would have made the blade, but I don't know about the rest of it. The condition is superb. I put a minus on the rating only because the brass trim is very lightly hand polished. It still retains much of its original lacquer and the original surface from manufacture, so I think that it is still fair to give it a fine, albeit with a minus. A tool that is all polished up will never again rate fine. I frequently see these knives being called marking knives, but they are not. If you want to use this one, it will need sharpening. It is as dull as the proverbial butter knife.60 Fine- $89

MI12102 Nut Cracker A superb quality hand made nut cracker from about 1800, plus or minus about 30 years. Nut cracker's of this form are not rare, but this is the connoisseur's example. It has a fine polished and blued surface. The handle turning is finely deliniated and elegantly formed. The pricks that hold the nut are in a symmetric pattern and surrounded by a wrigglework outline. In other words, this was a top-of-the-line example made for somebody of quality, to use the phrase of the day. There is one small spot on one handle that had a rust spot, and somebody rubbed it with an abrasive, thus damaging the finish. Had they scraped it like a gunsmith would have done, the blueing would not have been damaged, but alas when fools get hold of fine things, **** happens. A real gem of English metalwork. Fine- $119

MI120735 Miller's Falls Number 9 Smoothing Plane in Box A lovely as found example in the original box, with perfect wood, perfect japanning, nickel that will probably be perfect after you wax it, and some light powder rust on the exposed ferrous sufaces. There is a tiny chip in the edge of the blade on the original factory grind, the tell tale sign that it was used once to plane a door. The sole has no scratches. The box has two torn corners on the top and one on the bottom. Connoisseur grade. Fine- Sold

MI120238 W. Marples & Sons An Victorian oak gentlemen's tool chest with some of the original tools. This is larger gentlemen's chest, the number 5 size according to the label. It retains both original labels in the lid. The one of the works is absolutely to die for. The other one lists the contents. Of these, it still has, the Mallet, the turning saw, 3 chisels, 1 gouge, 1 stone in box, and a file. The saw is marked James Howarth and is French polished. It is worth $200 on its own, a real gem. I have had this one in my collection for many years. It is the nicest Victorian gentlemen's chest that I have had. The front knobs are refinished and might be replacements. Also, both lock escutcheons appear to be replaced. It measures 20 1/2" wide, 9" high, and 11 1/2" deep. If I sold it empty and sold the tools, I would get more, but of course I would never do something so unethical. G+ $595

MI120139 T.E. Wells & Co. A scrarce Philadelphia made spokeshave. Beech rather than the far more widely used applewood (that is in Philadelphia). The blade is 2 5/8" and the overall width is 10 5/8". Shows some wear in the middle of the sole from the repetitive action of shaving the same type of object in the same spot on the sole. A nice user or a collector's piece. Untouched condition. G+ Sold

MI1110122 S. Symes, Barrington This is one of the most exciting tools that I have found in some time, this is a rare early Glove Donkey. I quote from www.goleathergloves.com/history-of-gloves.htm: "All gloves were sewn by hand and sewing evenly was a problem such that getting consistent results was problematic. It took an invention by James Winter of Stoke Sub Hamden, South Somerset, England in 1807, called a Gloving Donkey, that revolutionised the process. The Gloving Donkey consisted of a clamp with evenly spaced brass teeth which held the glove and enabled the sewer to sew evenly and more quickly. It was an important invention that brought consistency and a degree of quality in stitching gloves and remained in use until the invention of the sewing machine." It is built like a harnessmakers vice, with a foot operated release, but it is so small that it would have had to be for women & children. It is signed on both sides of the brass jaws, which are 3 1/2 inches wide and have evenly spaced serration for regulating the stitch width. The central column is beautifully turned, and seems to be some kind of fruitwood. One foot has been cracked and glued back on, but the whole piece has a very untouched look about it. It is about 27 inches high. An online search revealed a marriage license being issued in 1812, in Barrington, to an S. Symes. Barrington is not far from Woodstock, once the capital of English glovemaking. This is truly a museum quality piece. G+ $495

MI110657 Holtzapfel & Co.64 Charing Cross London A complete original Holtzapfel tool roll with the handle and 15 separate tools. The hammer handle doubles as a burnisher. Most of the tools are marked Holtzapfle. A few things are not marked, such as the hammer head, but since the handle is marked, this makes perfect sense to me. I am pretty sure that all of the tools are original to the roll. The roll is marked in three places, and is marked in gold letters with the owner's initials, FEW. This was an expensive roll, probably a gift to some wealthy person, and thus marked with the initials at the store as part of the gift process. Some of the tools have some very light powder surface rust. The set is untouched and every tool needs to be waxed with museum grade wax. The roll is good except for one hole that happens to be right over the mark, but thankfully it is marked in two spots. These rolls in this complete condition are very rare. Should clean to better than G+ $1195

MI80157 Goosewing Ax This is one of the nicest European goosewing axes that I have seen. I had it up next to a Pennsylvania ax by Stahler that I will be listing soon and it is amazing how similar the lines are, but I am pretty sure that this one is European, probably Austrian, but could be Swiss or German as well. The surface on this ax is untouched with as good a patina as you ever find on axes. It is double marked with a touchmark, but I am not aware of a reference with which to identify these. The blade is also nicely decorated. It shows use but not abuse, with wear to the center of the blade. The handle looks old, but I question if it is original to the ax only because at both ends it shows evidence of having been recently trimmed. This is subtle and it certainly looks original until you study it. If you want just one great example of this classic form, I recommend this one. G+ $595

31033 W.H. Pond, New Haven Pond was a major manufacturer of coachmaker's tools. I don't know what this tool was for, nor do any of the people I have showed it to. I did discover that at least one other is known and that the other one was found in a kit of coachmaker's tools. The tool has two separate slitters, adjustable on vertical pieces in the stock of the tool. All I know for sure is that this is a neat looking and very rare signed American tool. There is a hole in the stock where a screw was used to lock what was designed as a friction fit. A customer has sent in this information: "I grew up here in central Ohio in the small village of Plain City. During the 1960's there was a harness shop owned and operated there by two sisters. They served the horse-and-buggy Amish in the area, and later, the local harness racing community. I used to stop in their shop on occasion just to watch and be amazed. On occasion I remember seeing one of the ladies slicing strips from cow or horse hides for the reigns, traces and other straps on the harnesses with a tool that looked very much like this one. It had opposing knives (very sharp) and was adjustable for the width they needed. The notch in the "top" of the cutter way acted as a guide for the hide as it was being cut. they could cut pairs of strips very evenly and rather quickly. The hide, as I remember, was held at one end in a vice or with a clamp and stretched by hand to keep it taut as it was cut. I won't say that their tool was exactly the same one, but it looked very similar." G+ $135