Welcome, from way down South...near the Bayou (and, unfortunately the
creeping crude)

Your mystery shave is most likely a Stanley #51. I'm no expert; but do
have a boat load of post-Katrina experience of rehabbing old tools. My
first thought was, "He's got a blade that's used up and won't adjust any
further." But, the pics of the blade don't really show that. Your adj.
screw for the lever cap should easily tighten down completely. If not,
work on it. Though the lever cap looks a little high on the frame, it
should work. Replacement blades are available from several sources.

Again, welcome. We're glad to have young blood join the ranks.

Arch, near NOLA

--- On Sat, 6/12/10, Bob Miller  wrote:

> From: Bob Miller  Subject: [OldTools] Introducing
> myself to the list To: oldtools@r... Date: Saturday, June 12, 2010,
> 1:39 AM Hello everyone, =A0 After lurking for several months I figured
> I should introduce myself to the list (also several list members I
> contacted in private suggested I do so).=A0 So here is a brief history
> of how I got here.
>
> I think it all started as a little kid when I would watch PBS every
> weekend just to catch woodworking shows.=A0 I loved to watch New
> Yankee Workshop and I thought Norm was the coolest.=A0 I also enjoyed
> watching that show with "the weird guy who doesn't know about
> electricity" though always wondered why he stuck with hand tools.=A0
> I thought though that his woodshop/fort in the woods was cool
> (remember I was like 6).=A0 My parents house never had room for a
> shop and either way I never had money for lumber so while growing up
> I just waited.
>
> Through college and for a few years afterwords I lived in apartments
> which are uncondusive to the large shop required for tools with
> sparking tails. Finally I bought a house 2.5 years ago and decided it
> was finally time to start woodworking myself.=A0 I bought used (way
> cheaper) wood working machines and learned two things.=A0 First that I
> rather enjoy restoring old machines and two that I hate using almost
> anything powered by electricity.=A0 I found myself using my hand tools
> that I had bought from a borg store for odd jobs around the house more
> and more for my woodworking tasks.
>
> Eventually I bought my first woodworking book, Tage Frid Teaches
> Woodworking and saw that many things were possible with hand tools.=A0
> I also remembered watching St Roy as a child.=A0 It was an epiphany of
> sorts.=A0 At about the same time my parents got me a subscription to
> PW and I started visiting their website.=A0 One of the blog posts was
> either about egg beater drills or bit and brace (I cant remember which
> one) and suggested Sandy Moss's site to buy said tools.=A0 This was
> about a year and a half ago.=A0 It has gone down hill since then...
>
> So far I have built various shelving units and book shelves, shop
> tables, a 3 bin compost containment unit and am currently working on a
> coffee table (once my joints started to look like something other than
> absolute tragedies I declared myself furniture ready).=A0 I have also
> built various shop fixtures and made myself a marking knife, marking
> gauge and 2 scratch awls.=A0 I find I like making tools to use almost
> as much as furnature.
>
> My wife recently got into lathe work in order to make drop
> spindles and various other tools for hand spinning yarn.=A0 In the
> process I discovered that I also enjoyed turning even though it
> was a tailed beastie.=A0 I now have a shop full of old tools and a
> love of using them.
>
> That, fellow list members, is my "brief" personal woodworking history
> (you can also add a bunch of bleeding, some swearing and a little bit
> of staring in sadness at parts cut to exactly the right size when I
> started with wrong measurements to begin with.
>
> I did have two questions for the list.=A0 The first is for some
> recommended reading.=A0 I want to set up and use a small charcoal
> forge in my back yard to make more tools.=A0 Does anyone have a good
> recommendation for a beginners book on blacksmithing, especially for
> those of us stuck in suburbia.
>
> The second is an identification and use question.=A0 This past
> Christmas my parents knowing my new found love bought me a box of rust
> (literally, all of the tools needed a lot of love to get working).=A0
> It was one of the best presents I have ever received and now I have a
> bunch of tools that work beautifully.=A0 There is one exception
> though.=A0 It was a spoke shave that some previous owner
> "restored".=A0 And by restored I mean it looks like he took the blade
> and chip breaker to a wire wheel and then just rustoliumed the whole
> body without removing the rust first. After filing the paint off of
> the machined surfaces and back far enough from the sole to stop
> leaving black streaks on the wood I thought I had a very comfortable
> spoke shave.=A0 It was far more comfortable than the Stanley 151 that
> also came in said box o rust.=A0 Unfortunately the chip breaker will
> not hold the blade in position under use.=A0 I have not tried
> excessive force but no tightness of the screw in the center or the top
> will hold it.=A0 Does anyone know a remidy for this situation.
>
> Also I have no idea what it is.=A0 The blade has the Stanley rule and
> level "arch" logo.=A0 I think I can make out "Balleys patent" on one
> handle and a date ending in 1858 on the other.=A0 It is hard to read
> under the thick cover of paint and getting a rubbing on a curved
> surface eludes me.
>
> Since without pictures it didn't happen so here are a few pictures
> (please excuse the bad camera work,=A0 I was too lazy tonight to get
> out my light tent and non phone camera):
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/105192907109903453543/Tools#54817628760-
> 98890226
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/105192907109903453543/Tools#54817624516-
> 49823298
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/105192907109903453543/Tools#54817620109-
> 09582178
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/105192907109903453543/Tools#54817618024-
> 44720082
>
> Outside of woodworking I am a software engineer working for a small
> legal publishing company.=A0 If you live in the northeast in a medium
> sized town there is a good chance my company codified and published
> your town code.=A0 I am 28 and have a wife and a naughty cat named
> President Nixon.
>
> Anyway... Hi!
>
> =A0 Bob (from Rochester, NY)
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