Addis · Sweep 5 · 1870s–about 1970 (Ward & Payne's S. J. Addis brand)
Carvers have prized Addis tools since the Great Exhibition of 1851, where Samuel Joseph Addis and his younger brother James Bacon Addis both showed carving tools in London. S. J. Addis worked in Southwark and Finsbury until he died in the early 1870s. Ward & Payne of Sheffield then took over his name and, with a compass-and-square mark beside S. J. ADDIS and LONDON, stamped it on carving tools made in Sheffield for about a century. J. B. Addis had moved to Sheffield in the 1860s and ran his own firm, J. B. Addis & Sons, which lasted into the 1950s. Ward & Payne's 1961 catalog still sold S. J. Addis tools with boxwood or ash and beech handles, forged over the anvil. Wilkinson Sword bought Ward & Payne in 1967 and the works burned around 1970, which is where the pre-1970 line comes from.
Identify and date it
In the Sheffield list a No. 5 is a fairly flat gouge, between the near-flat No. 3 and the semicircular No. 9. The sweep number is stamped on the shank, often with ENGLAND. LONDON under S. J. ADDIS doesn't prove London manufacture, because Ward & Payne used that mark on Sheffield-made tools, while a crossed-hammers-and-anvil mark or J. B. ADDIS & SONS SHEFFIELD names the maker outright.
If you’ll use it
Carver Christopher Storb, who uses old and new tools, finds a well-sharpened modern gouge cuts as well as an Addis, and started buying old ones because they cost less. Buy one because you like the feel and the price.
If you’ll collect it
Early London imprints with a street address, like 20 GRAVEL LANE or WORSHIP ST, and J. B. Addis prize-medal marks are the rare ones.
Decades of regrinding can change a gouge's sweep, and the stamped number doesn't always match the shape. Boxwood handles crack, and some shanks are bent or pitted inside the curve.
Buying guide
Only two Addis gouges titled sweep 5 are listed, so the $50–60 band is just those two asks and isn't a market read. We'd take the 1/2-inch S. J. Addis at about $49 delivered from a US seller, since the 17 mm boxwood one titled ready to use comes to $63, and $30 of that is shipping from the UK. The sweep in a title is the seller's reading of the shank stamp, and regrinding can change the curve, so compare the end-on shape in the photos with a Sheffield chart, where a No. 5 is a shallow curve well short of a half circle. Check both corners for chips and the handle for cracks near the ferrule, and don't read LONDON under S. J. ADDIS as London-made, because Ward & Payne stamped it on Sheffield tools.
$49.09est. delivered
The lower delivered price of the two at about $49, an S. J. Addis titled No. 5 sweep, 1/2 inch wide, from a US seller. Ask for an end-on photo of the edge and a close-up of the shank stamp before you offer.
S.J. Addis Wood Carving Gouge Chisel No 5 Sweep 1/2" wide
$63.03est. delivered
Titled ready to use, so it should cut after a light honing, and its boxwood handle is one Ward & Payne's 1961 catalog offered on S. J. Addis tools. Shipping from the UK is $30 of the $63 delivered.
Vintage S. J. Addis Carving Gouge - Sweep 5, 17 mm Wide - Ready to Use, Boxwood
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 11, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Snapshot
Checked . Some may have sold.
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 11, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Used$49.09est. delivered
$42.00 + $7.09 shipping
Buy It Now$42.00
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Good buy
S. J. Addis No. 5, 1/2 inch per the title. Ships from the US.
Seller: twbffm
100% positive
Used$63.03est. delivered
$33.09 + $29.94 shipping
Buy It Now$33.09
Good buy
17 mm, boxwood handle, titled ready to use. $30 shipping from the UK.
Seller: hubba_mchubba
100% positive
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