After work yesterday I was wandering a local hamlet's antique market after sampling the wares at their quaint little bakery (excellent date squares, if you must know). Lo and behold a there was a Stanley/Bailey #5 fore plane with "Made in Canada" in the top of the casting. In another overflowing room, a pristine Millers Falls ratcheting brace was revealed in a pile of lesser quality fare. Everything was 20% off the marked price, so I grabbed these two items forthwith.
The base of the plane has been slightly (and foolishly) abused, but should be easily repaired with a little careful work. It's equipped with a square-ground iron which I will regrind and sharpen to an 8" radius. The brace only needed some small streaks of ancient, pale green paint cleaned off the handle; both chuck and ratchet teeth are in really fantastic condition.
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The base of the plane has already been touched up to remove the worst of the damage. The iron was also honed and a few test passes were made. Initial results were good, but a more thorough going-over is still the plan.
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