Tools of the Trade - Part 1 Flog It: Trade Secrets

Over the years on Flog It you've brought us thousands of items

and we've valued and helped you sell around a million pounds' worth

of antiques and collectables.

Now I want to share some of that knowledge with you,

so sit back and enjoy

as our experts let you in on their trade secrets.

The world of antiques isn't just about the refined and beautiful objects

that adorn the walls of the upper echelons,

although we do see a great deal of those on the show.

Personally, I'm very interested in how some of these items are made.

That's why today's show is based on the Tools of the Trade.

Coming up, Philip weighs in...

Pork butchers? I thought butchers were butchers.

Charlie thinks he's got just the ticket...

Hold very tightly!

But which tools will do the business at auction?

Fantastic! Brilliant!

What I love about tools of the trade

is that they tell us about the history and the lives of the working classes.

I suppose the question is, can something as seemingly ordinary as workmen's tools

be considered antique and of value to a collector?

You certainly bring along many items to our Flog It Valuation Days

that once adorned the walls of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.

So, what do our experts think you should be keeping an eye out for?

Old tools, these wonderful old things,

give us an insight into how people lived

and how people worked.

If you want to start collecting old tools, the things to go for

are things that tell the story or the evolution

of that particular tool, for what it was used for.

There are certain trades and professions

that are more collectable than others,

namely anything to do with the law,

anything to do with doctors, veterinary science.

Quite often, you come across a gadget that has a patent on it, or patent pending,

and then you think, "I've never seen one of those!"

In other words, although it was patented, it was a complete flop.

But that means it's rarer and therefore more collectable.

Our first item is certainly unique,

so much so, it had Will Axon confused.

When Eric came along to the valuation day at Exmouth,

he had a mahogany box with him

and I assumed it contained a microscope.

I was wrong! It had a miniature lace machine in,

the like of which I had never seen before, or since actually.

What is this?

It's a little miniature net-making machine.

The real machines are about 12-feet wide.

Right, so this is an actual sort of scratch-built scale model

-of an existing lace-making machine.

-Yes.

Because we're in an area that's pretty well-known for lace-making.

-Is it Honiton and...?

-Honiton and Tiverton.

-Tiverton.

Honiton made the hand lace

and Tiverton did the mechanical lace.

Right, so there's two strands of lace. I see.

So, yes, the hand lace, with all the bobbins and so on

and lace pillows and things like that,

and then this was one from the Tiverton side of things.

-Did you work in the factory?

-I worked in the factory, but I was an engineer rather than...

I made parts for the original machines, the big ones.

Right.

My father actually looked after the particular department that made the net.

It was really nice that he could give a real personal insight

into the conditions of the time

and the sort of setting you would've found the full-size machine in.

-Are these the little thread bobbins?

-The carriers, yes.

-The carriers.

-So, each one of these tiny little things is threaded?

-Yes.

-Then they sit on this sort of cradle?

-Yes.

-Set on each side.

-Set on each side.

We turn the handle here,

-which then variously moves...

-Of the two pieces.

-That's it.

So they're picking up bits of thread each time they move backwards and forwards,

-and then...

-It eventually comes out as a strip.

As an actual strip of threads,

which on the real machines, you're saying that's 12-foot-wide.

A lot of the time when you get these scratch-built models,

people think they're apprentice pieces, maybe to expand their skills

or to show off what they could do. I don't know in this instance.

Maybe it was a trade piece to take to factories,

to try and sell the full-size models,

maybe it was an engineer, filling in time down in the workshop by building his own model.

Who knows? I don't think we'll ever find out the truth, but a nice thing nonetheless.

What's it going to make?

-There's no comparable to compare it with.

-No, nothing.

-Let's put it in at £50 to £100.

-Good idea.

-It could make 50, it could make 100.

-At least you know that whoever's going to buy it is going to want it.

-Yes.

Miniature lacquered brass scratch-built model

of a lace-making machine.

There we are. We'll start this at £100.

-100!

-Brilliant.

£100. And ten. 120.

130. 140. 150. 160.

170. 180. 190.

-200. And 20. 240. 260.

-Eric, you've caused a stir!

£260. 280. New place. At 280?

-He's reluctant.

-Last chance...

Yes! The hammer's gone down. £280.

So definitely not run of the mill.

As far as collectors of these types of things go,

I would imagine it's more of a scientific instrument,

a sort of tools crossover.

Hard to place, really. I'd love to know who bought it and where it is now.

The lace machine was probably a one-off,

but more often than not, the gadgets you bring along

are everyday tools of the trade that have been kept

because they hold a personal significance.

Carmel and Monica, tell me about this,

-because it's got history, hasn't it?

-Yes. It's got quite a long history.

My grandmother was a pork butcher.

You brought these photographs along. In the window there,

-we can see O'Malley, which is the family name...

-Our maiden name.

..and it's got "Pork Butcher" there. I just find that quite strange!

I quite like the butchers scales

simply because my father and grandfather were butchers.

What was really interesting about them

was that they were pork butchers.

I never knew you could be a pork, beef or lamb butcher. I thought butchers were butchers.

-So these were in the family shop.

-Yes.

I think they're really great, I really do.

They're just lifted up from the norm

by this lovely porcelain plaque, this transfer print.

And you've got the weights with these.

-They're just a mish-mash.

-They're a mix-mash.

No-one's going to buy these to use them. They're a decorative thing.

They're going to look great in a farmhouse kitchen.

I think they're really, really lovely.

The value in the scales

is not necessarily that they came from a butcher's shop, or this, that or t'other,

it's the fact that they can dress an environment.

They're either going to look great in a farmhouse kitchen

or someone might buy them as a shop accessory.

-What are they worth?

-We don't know. We've got no idea.

You're in excellent company! THEY LAUGH

I think that someone will pay between 50 and 80 pounds.

When I first started in this business 30 years ago,

-things like this, they weren't antiques.

-No, not then.

But all of a sudden, it's become a decorator's piece,

it helps furnish the house, somebody's going to buy it.

One of the great areas of collectability,

something that would've been dismissed through the years -

like, who on earth wants a set of 60-year-old butcher scales? -

but if you have that forethought to keep them,

all these things that today have become collectable,

if someone had kept all of them, they probably wouldn't be worth what they are

because there'd be millions!

Lot 2 is a set of cast-iron butcher scales.

What shall we say for those? Nice set of weights. 20 bid.

30. Two. 34. 36.

38. 40.

Two. 42's there. 44.

46. 48. 50. 52's by the door.

£54. 54.

56. 56, then, by the door. All done at £56.

Not a bad result. Not my 80 that I was hoping!

-Philip was bang on with his 50 to 80.

-Yes.

It always amazes me what sells well at auction and what doesn't.

But just because a tool is old, that doesn't make it valuable.

You don't want an old plumber's hammer, for instance,

or the fork that was used to empty the cesspit.

That's not going to be popular.

It has to have an appeal, it has to have a collectability.

Every now and again, you see something

that brings back memories of your childhood,

and this was one of those things.

-Trevor, I think I recognise what this is, don't I?

-Yes.

-Tell me all about it.

-I think you do.

It's a London Transport punch ticket machine

-of the kind that was used, I guess, in the 1940s and '50s.

-Yes.

What struck me about it is the weight of it!

I mean, it's a really, really heavy, well-made bit of kit, isn't it?

What was it? A large lump of metal that used to produce tickets on buses and stamp them,

but that did it for me!

Why should it be such an incredibly complicated piece of machinery

when all it does is punch a hole in that?

-Yes!

-What's the answer?

-Do you know, I don't know!

But it works very well, it lasted very well,

-it went through a lot of tough service, I'm sure.

-Yes.

-You didn't use it yourself?

-I did,

-but not in a professional capacity!

-Not in a professional capacity!

-When I was a little boy...

-Yes.

-..I played with it a lot.

-May I use it?

-Of course you can.

-In there?

-In there.

Hold very tightly. BELL RINGS

-There you go, you've punched a ticket.

-I have!

If you go onto a bus nowadays,

a ticket comes whizzing out of a plastic machine at the front.

This was a wonderfully mechanised piece of kit,

and I always think that the conductors used to treasure these items.

-You're happy to sell it?

-I am.

My guess is 20 to 30 pounds.

I don't think it's a £100 item, but I don't think it's a £5 item.

Shall we put £10 reserve on it? I don't think we've ever put anything as little as that on Flog It.

-That should draw people in.

-It should do. We'll find someone to buy that.

What are you going to do with the fantastic amount of cash?

-Oh, gosh! It's such a huge amount!

-It is a lot.

-It could be life-changing, couldn't it?

-It could!

A bus ticket hole-puncher.

These, believe it or not, were before my time!

-Let's see it fly away.

-What do we say?

I don't know... Five pounds to start it off!

Five pounds. 7.50. £10.

-£12. 14. Come on, have another one.

-30!

£12 here. Can we sell it at £12?

-Rather!

-Right, £12 here.

It's going. For the last time...

All done. £12, then.

£12!

That's got to be one of the cheapest things we've ever sold on Flog It.

-Two pounds over the reserve.

-Two pounds over the reserve, yes.

He's a very optimistic man, isn't he?

-I think it's a bit of history for £12. I think it's splendid!

-So do I.

-I think it's great.

-And I've got enough for a cruise.

-You've got...!

On the Mersey!

The ticket machine is a gadget, and people like gadgets.

Having said that, it only made £12

and I still think that was too cheap for the item. Erm...

Perhaps it has no appeal to anybody but me.

But I think, watch this space,

bus ticket machines will take off one day.

I'm not sure Charlie's being entirely serious.

One thing we can be sure of, when it comes to collecting tools

there's one trade that's a cut above the rest

and also very close to my heart.

The most valuable ones tend to be woodworking.

-Woodworking tools.

-Woodworking tools, to be fair.

Good carpenter tools are highly prized.

They are works of art in their own right.

If you think of the magnificent furniture that was made in the Georgian period,

the tools they made were no less magnificent -

wonderful brasswork, wonderful polished woodwork -

and, of course, they were very much treasured by their owners.

Matt and June, what can I say?!

When you opened the box, what a reveal!

Welcome to the world of precision woodturning instruments.

I think that sums it up, really. The Rolls-Royce.

Tell me, how did you come by this wonderful set?

I didn't know I'd bought it.

Why?

-Well, I bought a lathe...

-Yes.

..and when I came to collect the lathe

they said, "We've got some tools that go with that."

It was nearly 50 years ago.

-How much did you pay?

-You're not going to believe this -

£16 for the lathe and these came with it!

Mind you, that's still quite a lot of money, isn't it?

-Oh, in those days.

-It was for him at that time.

How much were you earning then?

Er, I was earning something like £30 a month.

Let's pick one out, for instance, down here. Look at this.

-This is a typical woodturner's tool.

-It is.

-It's a gouge. You can see by the end.

As with all precision instruments, perfectly balanced.

That's not going to give you any grief

if you're using this for three or fours hours every day.

-It doesn't get any better, does it? You've made my day! You really have!

-He's fallen in love with it!

-They've all been punched with Holtzapffel & Co.

-That's right.

Made in Charing Cross Road in London.

John Holtzapffel, a German immigrant,

started the firm in the late 1700s

-and it was a father-son-grandson business.

-Yes.

His son, Charles, took over the firm, I think, in 1827.

-Right.

-And I think that's bang-on the date of these.

I think we put a fixed reserve on this at £1,000.

I'd love it to do £2,000.

We need four woodturners in the auction room at the same time,

fighting it out, and hopefully we'll get that!

OK, so four woodturners was a bit optimistic,

but did the bidders appreciate this collection as much as I did?

201 - this fine collection of tools right behind me here.

The nicest set of tools I've ever seen.

£800. £800. £900.

£1,000. £1,100. 50 if it'll help anybody?

£1,100. All done at 1,100, then?

-Brilliant.

-Great!

-Just over.

-Great!

I was getting a bit worried, but we did it, didn't we?

It's great!

Since that sale, these tools have undoubtedly gone up in value even more.

That's, in part, because collecting old carpentry tools is becoming more and more popular.

So if you're buying or selling, check the body of the tool for engravings, patent numbers

or other stamps that will help identify the maker.

Most collectors specialise in a specific maker,

so check your shed for antique hand tools

with names like Stanley, Belknap and Bailey.

Most carpentry tools aren't hugely valuable, but there are a few exceptions.

If you find a Norris plane,

which tend to be rosewood and steel and very simply designed

but quite large and engineered almost,

they can range anywhere from five to £15,000.

Unfortunately, we haven't been lucky enough to see one of those on the show,

but back in 2009, Michael found an antique drill that rather took his fancy.

You know it's a tool, but you don't know what it was used for.

-It was a breast drill, a carpenter's breast drill.

-Absolutely.

So you've got this as the end piece,

you put your drill in there and away you go.

It's a wonderful thing.

-How long's it been in the family?

-It belonged to my father-in-law,

and if he was alive today, he would be 100.

If he bought it when he was 20, it'd probably be about 80 years old.

We're going back 80 years, so we'd be 1920s, wouldn't we?

This is a real quality tool.

The wood that we can't see terribly well,

if we do that, it just brings the colour up and you can see that that's ebony.

Really expensive hardwood. You wouldn't get a piece like that today.

Looking at the wood, you've got a very close-grained dark timber,

so it's going to be a species of ebony or rosewood,

and that's very hard-wearing, it's very dense.

With the breast drill, you're pressing it up,

it's taking a lot of force and wear and that will resist it.

So it's a very sensible timber, but a very expensive timber to use.

We've got these beautifully-made brass plaques,

all screwed and bolted on and then gilded.

That's real gold on there and then lacquered.

-Fantastic tool.

-It's not just brass, then?

-No, no. There's a bit of gilt and lacquer.

Actually, the end piece here,

we've got a little bit of ivory inlay there,

which is totally unnecessary,

it's just the chap that made it was that proud of it he thought, "Why not?"

He probably made it in about 1850, 1860,

-so it's a good 140, 150 years old.

-Good grief.

Anything that's as well-made as this obviously has a value.

Any ideas what it might be worth?

No idea whatsoever.

Well, it's with its bits, in its roll.

-Lovingly cared for.

-They might have a negative effect on the value!

But it all helps that it's together.

I think at auction, we'd be safe to put 50 to 80 on it.

Good grief.

Put a reserve at 50. You don't want to sell it for any less than that because it's a good piece.

It wouldn't surprise me if I stood there on the day

looking a bit foolish and a bit cheap on my estimate.

-Are you happy to put it into auction?

-More than happy at that price.

But did anyone want to buy this vintage cordless drill?

19th-century rosewood, ebony and brass carpenter's breast drill,

together with other bits and pieces, lot 461.

A lot of interest in this. Three commission bids, plus a telephone.

-We've got a phone bid!

-I can't believe it!

Start the bidding at £95.

-Straight in at the top end.

-At 90... 100 up at the top.

105. 110. Commission bid's out.

Is there 120? 130. 140. 150.

-160.

-Fantastic!

-170.

180. 190.

200.

And ten. 220.

-At £220, if you're all done...

-I didn't think it would make £20!

-Fantastic!

-Good Lord!

-Brilliant!

The fact that the drill was functional probably didn't make a great deal of difference

because I believe you can get power tools down at the DIY store that require less effort.

I would be amazed if someone bought it to use it.

Nevertheless, it's an exquisite item,

and astonishing to think that it was made for use

in dusty carpentry workshops.

You know, I'm very passionate about old woodworking tools

and in another life, I think I'd like to have been a carpenter,

so you can imagine my delight when I was recently given the opportunity to get my hands dirty.

Now, I've been told up this lane, there's a rather unusual furniture-making workshop

where they make tables, stools and chairs.

But you won't hear the whirl of machinery.

That's because there is no electricity.

In fact, there's no water, there's no gas,

there's not even any walls to the side of the workshop.

So when I go down in the woods today,

I'm sure we're all going to be in for a big surprise.

It's no accident that I'm here in Clissett Wood,

named after the important local furniture-maker Philip Clissett,

renowned for his traditionally-made leather-back chairs.

He was revered by the Arts & Crafts movement of the 1880s

and his chairs went from being sold in the local markets of Hereford

to being stocked in London's Liberty.

And one person who's continuing the tradition is Gudrun Leitz,

a master in the craft of green woodworking.

Gudrun, tell me all about Clissett Wood.

-This is a ten-acre wood, bought in '94.

-Yes.

We wanted to run courses in this traditional greenwood craft from the start,

making furniture from the resources,

from the green ash or cherry oak, whatever we take down,

and using it green, making components from it green,

and then going into the assembly, where some parts get dried,

-and putting it together as a stool or a chair.

-Fabulous.

And I'm certainly into that

because it's freshly felled, it's easy to work with, it doesn't blunt your tools so much.

-That's right. And sustainable.

-It's sustainable.

-Yes.

Away from the technology and the pressures of modern life,

traditional crafts are seeing quite a resurgence.

It's quite easily taught, it's quite easily learnt,

and so people can go away after a weekend with a stool

or, after a week in the woods, with a chair.

I've got some pretty good woodworking skills.

I'd love to make a little stool,

-maybe a bit of ash or a bit of oak, whatever we can find.

-Yes.

-Can we do that?

-We can do that.

-We can go through the rudimentary steps

-of making a tiny primitive stool...

-You can.

..which I'll give to my little boy! I think he'll love that!

-Come on, then, let's get started.

-Yes!

It doesn't get any greener than this, does it? We're going to cut this bit down.

Lovely. Lovely.

Smashing.

-Nice.

-Isn't that lovely?

-It is.

-That's a great start to our legs.

-Yes.

OK. So now,

put your weight on it first and then...

-Push down.

-..take it down.

-OK.

Perfect.

That's very nice.

-Magnificent.

-Lovely.

-These techniques, they've been around for centuries, haven't they?

-Absolutely. And longer.

Yes. This is the basis of all furniture-building and woodworking!

But it disappears as archaeological evidence,

so it's hard to date it back.

From about the time 3000 BC,

most of the common furniture-making techniques we know today

were already being used by the Egyptians.

Absolutely love it! You cannot beat this!

Look... We've done two legs each. That's four legs.

There's our tops, ready to socket-through the seat itself.

Right, next stage!

I've got my cup of tea. And this here,

what I've drawn, this sort of egg-shape,

keeping it very contemporary,

is what I'm going to, what we call, bottom out with an adze.

'An adze was used to smooth and carve rough-cut wood.'

Sort this out for me.

'Its blade is at right angles to the shaft,

'rather than in line with the shaft like a normal axe.'

Cramp it in!

'This allows you to bottom-out a piece of wood.'

You drop down and then find the angle...

-..where it will go in.

-Sure.

-Should I have a go?

-You can have a go, yes.

-OK.

-There's quite a bit to do.

-There's a lot to do!

-I might see you in a good hour!

-THEY LAUGH

You can injure yourself, so it is important to keep your legs at least a foot apart.

Swing the adze centrally, bisecting your body.

I'm starting to use muscles that I haven't used...

..for a few years!

It looks like the teacher

gets a easy job.

Two hours in now, and I'm working up a sweat.

-Gudrun.

-I think that's beautiful.

-Concentrate just getting the rough...

-Oh, those ridges out.

-Right.

Be slow.

Just going with the grain smoothly...

..before Gudrun comes along and gives me marks out of ten.

-Are you done?

-Look.

-Calluses?

-Yes.

Fantastic. I think you did fantastic.

-So we can move on?

-Yes.

-Yes?

-Let's socket those legs in.

-Mm.

Gudrun has given me a giant pencil sharpener

to give my leg a perfectly round tenon.

A satisfying thing, this is!

We mark up the stool with a good old-fashioned pencil and ruler

and now it's time to get drilling.

That's good.

All the way down.

'And a few old finishing touches...'

I swallowed a bit then!

It tastes good!

Nearly the moment of truth. We're nearly there.

OK.

Lovely.

-Hey, well done.

-I'm hoping for something tangible.

Well, I know I'm going to go away with something tangible -

I'm not hoping because this is absolutely brilliant -

that I can use for the rest of my life.

-That's very nice.

-Yes, it's beautiful. Yes.

I'm just looking at this from here. That looks so sculptural.

-It's gorgeous.

-I know it's got to be squared off,

but now the moment of truth...

It didn't even move, did it? That is as solid as a rock.

Oh!

-Ah, this is so good!

-Well done.

-Thank you for being such a brilliant teacher.

-You worked so hard!

-I'm going to give you a big hug and a kiss. Thank you.

-Well done!

You've made my day!

-Remember...

-You've taken me back centuries

to how these crafts worked, and that's what it's all about.

We've all got a connection to the past

-and this has given me a fabulous one here today in Clissett Wood.

-Yes.

-Thank you. You're a star.

-And so are you!

I went back to basics for the day and it was magical!

As we've seen,

tools of the trade are far more than dusty old implements.

They capture a little slice of our not-so-distant past.

Whether you are buying or selling, there's not doubt there'll be

someone out there you'll appreciate their beauty and value.

Join us again soon for more trade secrets.