Today, I decided to spend my Sunday afternoon looking for hand planes. Ever since Module 5 started, I have been in constant search for chisels and planes. The three main sources I’ve been combing have been thrift stores, Kijiji and Craigslist. Thrift stores (just like garage sales) are a give-or-take situation, mainly because it depends on who is selling their stuff. I rarely find tools in thrift stores, which are mainly a good source for kitchenware and clothing. Craigslist and Kijiji, on the other hand, can narrow down your search easily. From the past few weeks of my search, I have only found two or three ads for smoothing planes, most of which vary from $35-70 each. Ontario listings seem to have more people posting ads selling their old hand tools; Montreal in comparison is scarce.
I have worked at thrift stores and antique stores before, even acting as a buyer for my friend’s Antique store Salmagundi West in Vancouver. One place I always went to to find specific antiques is Marché Aux Puces St. Michel. This place is huge. I have found a variety of rare items here before, like 1920’s light fixtures, a medium-format Yashica film camera, a 1940s-vintage doctor’s leather case and some dentures from the 1800’s. Yes— anything you can imagine being left behind from the past, you can dig up here.
The first time anyone ever goes inside this flea market is overwhelming. So I’m telling you now, if you decide to come here, be prepared to have your energy drained if you’re not ready to spend a whole afternoon here. It’s just a few minutes walk away from our John F. Kennedy Campus /RTC garage door, right before you hit the Trans-Canada Highway. There are two floors and many kiosks. Each kiosk is run by a buyer/seller who have items that can either provide specific specialty items like tools, old medical antiques, cameras, etc, to just plain everything. Prices also vary widely, and bargaining is a must, don’t be shy about haggling. Note: they only take cash here. If you forget to get cash out, there is an ATM at the gas station across the street.
I came in the flea market with my boyfriend Murray in arm, and $60 in my pocket. I was aiming to get a smoothing plane and a block plane for that price. I always remember to go here with a set budget and a specific item in mind or else my mind will wander and I will end up buying a taxidermied raccoon. So I walked down the aisles, peeking into each kiosk for a tools section. If you see a pile of rusted metal, you’ve found a good place to start. Don’t hesitate to browse quickly, and pass on kiosks which don’t have what you want. If you allot yourself a time of at least 5 minutes per kiosk, you’ve already wasted too much time. Remember, you’re on a mission.
The first plane I found was an old Stanley smoothing plane with a frog assembly. It was rusted and dirty, but that shouldn’t deter you from opening it up and taking a look. (Remember, you can sand off any rusted bits off the steel). I opened it up and saw that it had the chipbreaker, but not the blade. I asked the man how much it was and he was willing to give it for $15. Not sure if I am able to find the blade for that Stanley model, I decided to think about it and keep walking.
As I continued to look around, I decided to just ask one of the sellers if he knew where we could find a kiosk full of tools. “You're looking for a guy name Aldo. Just go straight from here, turn right then left. You won’t miss it.”
We followed his instructions, and before we were even within 50 feet of Aldo’s kiosk, we could see his piles and piles of tools. There were screws, routers, hand drills, saws; power and hand tools, everything you could think of. On one messy shelf, he had four smoothing planes, one jack plane and five block planes! I started going through them, analyzing the damage to see what was fixable and what was not. Since all of them are old hand tools, I had to take them apart. The blade is the most important part: even if rusted, it had to have enough steel for me to use it on the bench grinder. A lot of the block planes barely had any steel left. I also kept in mind that I needed a low-angle block plane. Some of the mechanisms like the screws or levers were rusted shut, others were just too big for my hands. Missing pieces should be a deal breaker since these are old tools. If you think these are hard to find, think of trying to replace a specific piece. Don’t forget to test the feel of each; seeing the weight and the ergonomics of each tool. Is it comfortable? Is it easy to manage when you're using it?
After I considered which planes I would take, I also managed to find a carpenter’s square, an old tape measure with 1/16th ticks (and no fraction labels!) and a bevel gauge. He gave everything to me for $30! Quite a steal. I told him that I was attending Cabinetmaking in RTC and he told me to send him more of my classmates. Remember to look for Aldo.
Before we left, we stopped by one place with lots of tools spread around shelves and found a heavy-duty vise. I had $30 left in my pocket so I bartered to get it for $20 but he asked for $30 instead. We shook hands at $30. Bartering is key. All in all, I spent all of my budget, but considering how much I got, I’d say I hit jackpot. On the way out, I passed by the man I asked earlier about tools. What I didn’t see was that he had two hand planes in plain sight! I asked him how much he would sell them for and he said $10 each. I told him I would send some classmates over.
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| The complete haul, as they were when we got home. Four of the pieces have significant surface rust, but that’s easy to remedy. |
After I arrived home, I spread a drop sheet on my kitchen table and began to restore, starting with the block plane. I used WD-40 to loosen the gunk off of everything. I used wet/dry sandpaper ranging from 80–600 grit to grind off the rust and crust off the blades and soles, working from the lower grits up. Instead of water, I used silicone-based bicycle lubricant to work with, treating the steel and making sure to use it for finishing and rustproofing. One great thing about using bicycle lube instead of machine oil like 3-in-1, is that it does not attract dust. * good idea!
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| The low-angle plane, before and after, from above. |
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| The low-angle plane, before and after, from the side. |
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| The low-angle plane’s shoe, before and after. |
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| The low-angle plane’s blade, before and after. |
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| An engineer’s square, before and after corrosion removal. |
I then began to work on the smoothing plane. This was completely covered in rust, but just by using an 80 grit sandpaper, I managed to clean it and was able to see silver after only 5 strokes.
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| Ehrmahgerd. ! |
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| “You are sooo beautifuuuul, to meeeeee” |
The handles had thick blue paint that was chipping and faded. So unscrewing them, Murray decided to help me sand them off. The S handle had thicker old paint so he used a heat gun to strip the paint. It bubbled right off and he used a scraper to clear it off.
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| The handles after stripping, one coat of stain, and sanding with 150-grit dry sandpaper. |
After sanding both again, he stained it with some Minwax water-based stain with a custom blue tint (Tardis Blue!) and did four coats before letting it dry and re-attaching it back on the smoothing plane. The last two coats were applied by dipping the handle right into the stain and letting the excess run off back into the can, until the last bit was wiped off with a paper towel.
I still need to take the blades to the bench grinder to get the 25° angle and to hone it after, but the hardest part is finished. They are now cleaned and polished.
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| Before and after. Schmexy. |
In one afternoon, I managed to find and restore some hand tools which will last a long time in my hands. Being able to get to know your tool is important. Working on bringing one back to life really gives you and your tools a bond. I’ve already named my purple block plane Prince
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| *I believe this is the proper spelling |
So go on and start your search, you’re on a mission (like Jake and Elwood). Remember to have a set budget, bid low, and do not hesitate to disassemble the tool before buying.
Happy hunting! A penny shaved is a penny earned!
Marché Aux Puces St-Michel
3250 Boul Crémazie E
Montréal, QC H2A 3N9
Hours: Fri-Sun 9:30 AM- 5:00 PM
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