OK,
so I have read some posts in this newsgroup and many peopl recommend to
purchase old stanley planes off of e-Bay. I guess the 2 questions I have
are:
1. How old?
2. How do you tell from a picture what you are getting?
Are there any tricks to use? It seems like people on e-Bay give some of the
markings on the planes and such, but that doesn't mean much to me as a
newbie.
I guess the good news is that, based on the prices I saw, if I don't get
something that really works, I'm not out a lot of money.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Craig Orput
Cave Creek AZ
I'd sure look at that plane for $10..... not sure where the idiot part
comes in...
Rob
http://www.robswoodworking.com
"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
>
> > Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can
see
> > that this seller is an idiot:
> >
> >
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
>
> I'm curious; why do you think he is an idiot?
>
> I don't buy or sell on Ebay but I look at the auctions once in a while
> just to convince myself I'm not missing much. I happened to look
> around a bit yesterday and saw a transitional Stanley described as
> being in perfect user condition or something to that effect. The
> plane had no blade, chip breaker, or lever cap. But it's no worse
> than some of the "knowledgable" dealers out there. One particular
> dealer recently sold two "sets" of augur bits touted for the rarity of
> finding intact sets in good shape. It was clear from the photograph
> that the "sets" were mixed styles. Caveat emptor indeed.
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
Steve Turner <[email protected]> wrote:
> A good #4 or #5 should be easily had, and try to hold out for a
> GOOD one. This shouldn't cost you more than $20 or $30, maybe less if you
> catch the right auction at the right time. Don't get in a hurry or bid too
> much on a plane that looks to good to be true. Another one just like it will
> probably come along tomorrow.
Best way to get an idea of current prices on eBay is to follow the
auctions for a while without getting caught up in bidding. Keep track
of final sale prices of planes in good condition over a period of a few
weeks. Many serious bidders don't come in until the last few minutes
of an auction so the final selling price is often much higher than it is
during most of the time the item is listed. I would say that you are
VERY lucky if you can get one of the more desireable #4 or #5 user
planes (types 10-15) in good condition for $20-30. The last time I
was buying buying on eBay they were going for more like $50-80. You
may get better deals at estate auctions but that takes lots more time.
--
To email me use: sjusenet AT comcast DOT net
In article <uC7db.593767$Ho3.115387@sccrnsc03>, John F
<[email protected]> wrote:
> "Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > This seller is one whose intelligence I'd be more inclined to question:
> >
> >
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244384737&category=13874
> >
> > The description doesn't suck completely, and the seller seems to know he
> has a
> > fairly desirable plane for sale, but those pictures are a friggin JOKE,
> and the
> > initial asking price is just ridiculous.
>
> Someone did an analysis once of the prices on Ebay auctions, and I believe
> they found that the auctions that generated the highest prices were ones
> that had an initial bid of $1. I guess it's sort of like test driving a car,
> once you do you have an emotional attachment. If you are winning for a low
> price for a few days, you start to think of the item as "yours", then you
> are willing to bid high at the end of the auction in the excitement. So, the
> seller is probably doing the smart thing from his point of view.
>
The ones with the $1 starting bid are most likely to be shilled, too.
Hello there,
> Best way to get an idea of current prices on eBay is to follow the
> auctions for a while without getting caught up in bidding. Keep track
> of final sale prices of planes in good condition over a period of a few
> weeks. Many serious bidders don't come in until the last few minutes
> of an auction so the final selling price is often much higher than it is
> during most of the time the item is listed.
Rather than follow an auction, simply click the "completed items" link on
the left of the screen to see all the auctions that have ended for the items
you are searching for.
Thanks,
David.
Every neighbourhood has one, in mine, I'm him.
Remove the "splinter" from my email address to email me.
Newbies, please read this newsgroups FAQ.
rec.ww FAQ http://www.robson.org/woodfaq/
Archives http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search
Crowbar FAQ http://www.klownhammer.org/crowbar
"Pops" <no_spam@no_spam.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> OK,
> so I have read some posts in this newsgroup and many peopl recommend to
> purchase old stanley planes off of e-Bay. I guess the 2 questions I have
> are:
>
> 1. How old?
> 2. How do you tell from a picture what you are getting?
> Are there any tricks to use? It seems like people on e-Bay give some of the
> markings on the planes and such, but that doesn't mean much to me as a
> newbie.
>
> I guess the good news is that, based on the prices I saw, if I don't get
> something that really works, I'm not out a lot of money.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> Craig Orput
> Cave Creek AZ
Hard to top all this good advice,only thing I can add is local antique
dealers.
Stop in a few,some are over priced while others keep those nasty old
tools away from their fine old furniture and are glad to get rid of
them.
Silvan wrote:
> Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can see
> that this seller is an idiot:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
Ok, I must be dense. What specifically about that seller makes him (or his
offering) idiotic?
O'Deen
--
http://www.klownhammer.org/ - Home of the World-Famous Original Crowbar FAQ
Ken Muldrew wrote:
> "Patrick Olguin (O'Deen)" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Silvan wrote:
> >
> >> Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can see
> >> that this seller is an idiot:
> >>
> >> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
> >
> >Ok, I must be dense. What specifically about that seller makes him (or his
> >offering) idiotic?
>
> A $10 dollar reserve for a beauty like that? Seems a little low to me.
Ok, I can see a lot of corn-fusion here. Although the seller isn't a genius at
explaining that the tote and knob (those pieces of wood) are painted black, he's
almost certainly correct in the description. That is, planes of the apparent
variety pictured (type 18, 1946-47) did indeed have hardwood knob/tote painted
black.
This picture looks like painted wood:
http://www.therailfence.com/pic/MVC-465F.JPG
Secondly, the $10 is not the reserve, but the opening bid. Opening bids really
don't mean squat on ebay, except when they're stupidly high.
Hope that clears things up a bit.
Oh yeah. I'm a plane guy. ;)
O'Deen
--
http://www.klownhammer.org/ - Home of the World-Famous Original Crowbar FAQ
snip
Larry Jaques wrote:
> It's not a $10 reserve. It's a start price and has nothing to
> do with the reserve price he has set. The reserve is likely
> $40 or $50. And it's not a real beauty, at least not to me,
> though it's hard to tell from his bad pictures. Something
> about it feels too "new". Those knobs may be plastic.
I just contacted the seller off-line about his tools after checking his
ratings on eBay, standard disclaimer. He has NO negatives and better
than 600 positives. He seeems to be a helpful and reasonable sort. He
has a mild interest in tools although his main interests are in trains
and other toys. Since he says that the handles are "painted", I suspect
that they are, plastic is pretty obvious, look at any Corsair. I have
some "old" Stanleys with painted knobs and totes. My older ones don't.
Write him and ask if you are curious, his e-mail is therailfence at dcr
dot net
Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
I'll add to David's good points:
Ask the seller if there is any serious rusting or pitting on the sole.
Rust or pitting on the sides isn't too critical and more cosmetic (if
you don't plan to use a shooting board), but major rust or pitting on
the sole may hamper getting a nice flat sole, especially on a
smoother. Also, ask the seller if the mouth (the part of the plane
where the iron sticks out of) is free of cracks or chips. A plane with
a cracked or chipped mouth is all but useless. A cracked or chipped
chipbreaker is also useless, but can be replaced, perhaps with a
better designed Hock or Lie-Nielsen chipbreaker.
I've bought a few planes off Ebay with good success. If the seller has
taken good, detailed pictures and the plane looks good in them chances
are the plane is in good shape.
Hope this helps,
Layne
On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 23:19:35 GMT, "David F. Eisan"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Buy a #3 or #4 with a keyhole (not kidney) shaped hole in the lever cap. The
>lever cap is the topmost part that sits on top of the blade with a screw
>that passes through it. See that there are no cracks in the casting, that
>the handles are useable and all the parts are there. You should be alright.
>
>See Canadian Woodworking Magazine for a good article on buying and restoring
>handplanes,
>
>http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/issue.php
>
>This may seem like a shameless plug, but I am the guy who wrote the article.
>
>Thanks,
>
>David.
>
>Every neighbourhood has one, in mine, I'm him.
>
>Remove the "splinter" from my email address to email me.
>
>Newbies, please read this newsgroups FAQ.
>
>rec.ww FAQ http://www.robson.org/woodfaq/
>Archives http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search
>Crowbar FAQ http://www.klownhammer.org/crowbar
>
>
"Patrick Olguin (O'Deen)" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Silvan wrote:
>
>> Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can see
>> that this seller is an idiot:
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
>
>Ok, I must be dense. What specifically about that seller makes him (or his
>offering) idiotic?
A $10 dollar reserve for a beauty like that? Seems a little low to me.
Ken Muldrew
[email protected]
(remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
>Mike wrote:
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
>>
>> I'm curious; why do you think he is an idiot?
>
>"Both wood pieces are painted black."
>
>Yeah. Black as in *plastic*.
>
>Unless I'm the idiot and someone who knows more about these than I do can
>tell me that they were manufactured with black lacquered wooden handles in
>the '70s or something.
The handle and tote on my Stanley #7 are black lacquered wood. It's
older than a 70s model but nobody would have used plastic handles in
the 70s; that particular improvement is much more recent.
Ken Muldrew
[email protected]
(remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
Larry Jaques <jake@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
> And it's not a real beauty, at least not to me,
>though it's hard to tell from his bad pictures.
Around here, those puppies are rare and expensive. I had to look for
ages just to find one that was cracked and welded, and I had to pay
quite a bit for it too.
BTW, thanks to you and O'Deen for the ebay lesson.
Ken Muldrew
[email protected]
(remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
"David F. Eisan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]<snip>
> See Canadian Woodworking Magazine for a good article on buying and restoring
> handplanes,
>
> http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/issue.php
>
> This may seem like a shameless plug, but I am the guy who wrote the article.
David, following your link we don't get the article but the
opportunity to buy the issue or subscribe. I'm sure you know that, but
you may not appreciate how irritating that is for those of us who
don't want to follow a link without warning to a site that give us
only a sales pitch. So, for those of us who don't care for that (and I
realize not everyone here feels the same, yet...), please indicate
that the next time you supply a link (i.e., that it's not the article
but an invitation to buy the article).
I for one would appreciate it,
H
Jamie posted links to some of the best information available. Keep those links
close-by and refer to them often. I saved those webpages locally just in case
those sites ever go away.
Pops wrote:
> OK,
> so I have read some posts in this newsgroup and many peopl recommend to
> purchase old stanley planes off of e-Bay. I guess the 2 questions I have
> are:
>
> 1. How old?
Use http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip8/stanley/stan-bpl/bailey-types.htm if you
want to "date" a plane.
My preference is for the Type 10 or 11 planes made between 1907 and 1918
because they have all the "best" features, and I like the feel of the "low"
front knobs. Aesthetically, I also prefer those because they have the "plain"
lever caps without the Stanley logo. I don't mind the Stanley logo, as long as
it's not the nickel-plated variety with the orange background; I rather dislike
those.
> 2. How do you tell from a picture what you are getting?
> Are there any tricks to use? It seems like people on e-Bay give some of the
> markings on the planes and such, but that doesn't mean much to me as a
> newbie.
More often than not, the sellers don't know squat about planes, and they seem
to know even less about taking good pictures. Rarely do they capture the
important information in the photos. I'm always emailing the sellers asking
for more information, whilst trying to refrain from commenting on their
intelligence.
For the first "trick" I would suggest that you go here
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm#num3 and read the entire section.
The quick tricks I use when looking for planes on eBay (or anywhere else):
1. Stay away from anything that carries the "Handyman" moniker.
2. Only consider planes with black japanning. Stay away from the maroon or
blue colored models.
3. I like planes with a "low" front knob, so I immediately look for that. If
you prefer the high-knob models, stay away from the type 12's and 13's; that
is, look for the supporting "ring" cast into the base. The high wooden knobs
tend to break without this support. In the link I referenced above, the third
picture clearly shows this ring.
4. Look for the presence of a frog adjusting screw (see #46 in the diagram at
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm#num3); it's an important feature
that a low-knob plane might not have, so try to make sure the plane has one. I
typically have to pry this information from the seller because the photos are
so crappy. Good luck with that.
5. Look for the presence of a lateral adjustment lever (#9 in the
aforementioned diagram). Leave the "pre-lateral" planes for the collectors.
6. Unless you want to replace the blade, make sure there's plenty of meat left
on the cutter. If you can see a significant portion of the lateral adjustment
lever protruding beyond the top of the cutter (like an inch or so), the cutter
is shot.
The presence of the magic "Three Patent Dates" on the base between the frog and
the tote is a popular thing to look for, as it usually means the plane is a
Type 11 and has "all the best features". I look for it too, but not at the
expense of ignoring my previous criteria. I've seen planes with 3 patent dates
that don't have the frog adjustment screw, for example.
> I guess the good news is that, based on the prices I saw, if I don't get
> something that really works, I'm not out a lot of money.
That's true. A good #4 or #5 should be easily had, and try to hold out for a
GOOD one. This shouldn't cost you more than $20 or $30, maybe less if you
catch the right auction at the right time. Don't get in a hurry or bid too
much on a plane that looks to good to be true. Another one just like it will
probably come along tomorrow.
"Pops" <no_spam@no_spam.com> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> So what is a "smoother". Is this something to make the sole flat if it
> is no longer true? If not, its a great question I have. If I buy a
> plane off of e-bay and the sole is not flat, how do I make it so?
>
A smoother refers to a type of plane, usually a #3, or #4 -- so called
because it's used for final 'smoothing' of surfaces (rather than
'jointing', or rough surface prep <'jack' or 'scrub'>).
If you get an older Stanley (someone earlier in the thread mentioned
looking for one with a 'straight' keyhole slot in the lever cap, rather
than a 'kidney' shaped slot), unless the plane has been severely abused, or
badly dropped, it will almost certainly be more than flat enough.
You can check here for a great website on tuning planes:
http://www.amgron.clara.net/ (Jeff Gorman's most excellent website).
Regards,
JT
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Mine is one of the new ones, and I can't wait to become conscious of
> how not flat it is, because that will mean I have graduated to the
> next level. :)
>
> It sure seems flat to me.
>
Mike,
It all depends on 'how new' -- I've got a later (probably late 50's) 5
1/4 that's really pretty good. It's got more 'slop' in the adjustment
than my earlier ones, but the sole's good.
For Stanley, the real era (apparently) to avoid are the ones painted
blue. I haven't looked at any recent production to have any idea how
they fare.
For real 'crap', I have a new Buck Bro's that I bought at the borg
before I knew any better. You don't even really need a straight edge to
see how badly formed the sole is, esp around the mouth. It's bad; very,
very bad.
Re: ebay, that sucks that you haven't gotten any feedback despite paying
promptly. I've done maybe 30 transactions, a variety of things, and
I've always paid promptly, and always got good feedback; it sometimes
took awhile, but always showed up.
And about sniping -- that seems really endemic in the tool world, but
it's about the only way I was able to successfully buy planes.
Regards,
JT
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Mine is brand spanking new, not from eBay. Made in England. It has
> the kidney shaped keyhole that evidently is a thing to be avoided.
> Plastic handles, but I really don't care about that.
>
> Like I said, I'm only an aspiring plane guy, but it looks reasonably
> well-made to me. I might try that surface plate bluing test to see
> how flat it really is, but it's flat around the perimeter at least.
> Doesn't rock on a piece of granite, but that could just mean the sole
> is uniformly concave, and the mouth is actually badly made.
>
Mike,
I think the MIE ones are typically ok. The 'kidney hole' lever cap
isn't a sign of badness, per se; it's just a really easy way to
identify older vs newer planes, and it's a really easy thing to point
out via pictures (ie, shopping on ebay, or as a way to help identify
rough age if you find something at a flea market, yard sale, what have
you); and it's also based on the assumption that the plane is completely
of the same vintage (IOW, that someone hasn't just thrown a bunch of
pieces from random planes together). (The hole shape changed from
'straight' to 'kidney' ca 1940 or so; in 'type speak' it's the
demarcation between a type 15, and type 16 plane s-- which brings up a
whole 'nother issue. Do a google search for 'stanley plane dating' and
you'll turn up a number of different websites that have slightly
different ways to ID how old a given plane is. It's an 'art', rather
than a 'science').
As for the flatness of the sole, just lay a straightedge along the sole;
if you don't see big honkin' gaps underneath, you're most likely ok.
Don't stress over 'slivers' of light, especially if away from the mouth.
The mouth on the Buck Bros plane I've got is visibly depressed around
the edges -- it's clearly really hosed. It looks almost like it was
punched out of the sole, rather than cast in, it's that bad, and that
visible.
Hang in there ...
Regards,
JT
Hello there,
> 1. How old?
> 2. How do you tell from a picture what you are getting?
> Are there any tricks to use? It seems like people on e-Bay give some of
the
> markings on the planes and such, but that doesn't mean much to me as a
> newbie.
Buy a #3 or #4 with a keyhole (not kidney) shaped hole in the lever cap. The
lever cap is the topmost part that sits on top of the blade with a screw
that passes through it. See that there are no cracks in the casting, that
the handles are useable and all the parts are there. You should be alright.
See Canadian Woodworking Magazine for a good article on buying and restoring
handplanes,
http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/issue.php
This may seem like a shameless plug, but I am the guy who wrote the article.
Thanks,
David.
Every neighbourhood has one, in mine, I'm him.
Remove the "splinter" from my email address to email me.
Newbies, please read this newsgroups FAQ.
rec.ww FAQ http://www.robson.org/woodfaq/
Archives http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search
Crowbar FAQ http://www.klownhammer.org/crowbar
In article <[email protected]>,
no_spam@no_spam.com says...
> OK,
> so I have read some posts in this newsgroup and many peopl recommend to
> purchase old stanley planes off of e-Bay.
>
Another option, which at least allows you to examine the plane before
buying it, is to frequent estate sales. It may take a while longer
though.
That said, I've bought two or three planes off Ebay with no problem.
--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?
<Layne> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I'll add to David's good points:
>
> Ask the seller if there is any serious rusting or pitting on the sole.
> Rust or pitting on the sides isn't too critical and more cosmetic (if
> you don't plan to use a shooting board), but major rust or pitting on
> the sole may hamper getting a nice flat sole, especially on a
> smoother. Also, ask the seller if the mouth (the part of the plane
> where the iron sticks out of) is free of cracks or chips. A plane with
> a cracked or chipped mouth is all but useless. A cracked or chipped
> chipbreaker is also useless, but can be replaced, perhaps with a
> better designed Hock or Lie-Nielsen chipbreaker.
I agree with the mouth needing to be in good shape, but some pitting on the
sole is not a big deal in my opinion. As a matter of fact I have a number of
planes with big gouges out of them. The factory put them in and called them
corrugation.
Generally old planes (unless they are rare) are cheap enough that it is easy
to justify spending $10 more and get a better one instead of trying to save
a few bucks with a trashed one.
-Jack
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:rdee41-
> I haven't actually used it for much of anything yet, because after three
> days beating my head against the workbench, I still can't come up with a
> shop made honing guide that works (specifically, I'm coming up empty on a
> roller), and I'm determined not to ruin another plane iron by attempting
to
> sharpen it freehand.
It isn't that hard. If the blade is new and sharp, you don't need to do a
whole lot of sharpening to get it in decent shape.
> > Re: ebay, that sucks that you haven't gotten any feedback despite paying
> > promptly. I've done maybe 30 transactions, a variety of things, and
> > I've always paid promptly, and always got good feedback; it sometimes
> > took awhile, but always showed up.
>
> I just checked. 0 feedback. I should go find all the people I bought
from,
> if the record still exists, and leave them negative feedback for not
giving
> me positive feedback. :)
Next time you buy, mention about feedback in your followup message. Tell the
seller you will leave feedback after you get the item and check it out and
you would appreciate them leaving feedback as well. After 90 days the option
to leave feedback expires. If you really want I'll sell you some the rare
1997 penny I happen to have in my pocket for a couple cents and you can get
some glowing feedback. I also have an ultra-rare only been used to buy gum
2001 nickel that I'm planning on listing with a reserve of five cents. Let
me know if you are interested and we can set this up.
> > And about sniping -- that seems really endemic in the tool world, but
> > it's about the only way I was able to successfully buy planes.
>
> Yeah, I know. Keeping them running for a week is a joke. 99% of auctions
> are won or lost in the last 60 seconds. They might as well just show the
> thing for a week, and not allow bidding until five minutes before the end.
Sniping is the most logical way to buy. It is the equivalent of a sealed bid
auction.
The presence or absence of snipers on an auction should not change the price
you are willing to pay.
The winner is always the person who is willing to pay the most for it.
-Jack
Here are some of my bookmarks...
http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/typology.html
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan15.htm
http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip8/stanley/stan-bpl/bailey-types.htm
Jamie
On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 21:20:44 GMT, "Pops" <no_spam@no_spam.com> wrote:
>OK,
>so I have read some posts in this newsgroup and many peopl recommend to
>purchase old stanley planes off of e-Bay. I guess the 2 questions I have
>are:
>
>1. How old?
>2. How do you tell from a picture what you are getting?
>Are there any tricks to use? It seems like people on e-Bay give some of the
>markings on the planes and such, but that doesn't mean much to me as a
>newbie.
>
>I guess the good news is that, based on the prices I saw, if I don't get
>something that really works, I'm not out a lot of money.
>
>Any help would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>Craig Orput
>Cave Creek AZ
>
John Thomas wrote:
> looking for one with a 'straight' keyhole slot in the lever cap, rather
> than a 'kidney' shaped slot), unless the plane has been severely abused,
> or badly dropped, it will almost certainly be more than flat enough.
Mine is one of the new ones, and I can't wait to become conscious of how not
flat it is, because that will mean I have graduated to the next level. :)
It sure seems flat to me.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17953 Approximate word count: 538590
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can see
> that this seller is an idiot:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
I'm curious; why do you think he is an idiot?
I don't buy or sell on Ebay but I look at the auctions once in a while
just to convince myself I'm not missing much. I happened to look
around a bit yesterday and saw a transitional Stanley described as
being in perfect user condition or something to that effect. The
plane had no blade, chip breaker, or lever cap. But it's no worse
than some of the "knowledgable" dealers out there. One particular
dealer recently sold two "sets" of augur bits touted for the rarity of
finding intact sets in good shape. It was clear from the photograph
that the "sets" were mixed styles. Caveat emptor indeed.
Cheers,
Mike
This seller is one whose intelligence I'd be more inclined to question:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244384737&category=13874
The description doesn't suck completely, and the seller seems to know he has a
fairly desirable plane for sale, but those pictures are a friggin JOKE, and the
initial asking price is just ridiculous.
Patrick Olguin (O'Deen) wrote:
> Silvan wrote:
>
>
>>Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can see
>>that this seller is an idiot:
>>
>>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
>
>
> Ok, I must be dense. What specifically about that seller makes him (or his
> offering) idiotic?
>
> O'Deen
>
> --
> http://www.klownhammer.org/ - Home of the World-Famous Original Crowbar FAQ
>
>
So what is a "smoother". Is this something to make the sole flat if it is no
longer true? If not, its a great question I have. If I buy a plane off of
e-bay and the sole is not flat, how do I make it so?
"JackD" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> <Layne> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > I'll add to David's good points:
> >
> > Ask the seller if there is any serious rusting or pitting on the sole.
> > Rust or pitting on the sides isn't too critical and more cosmetic (if
> > you don't plan to use a shooting board), but major rust or pitting on
> > the sole may hamper getting a nice flat sole, especially on a
> > smoother. Also, ask the seller if the mouth (the part of the plane
> > where the iron sticks out of) is free of cracks or chips. A plane with
> > a cracked or chipped mouth is all but useless. A cracked or chipped
> > chipbreaker is also useless, but can be replaced, perhaps with a
> > better designed Hock or Lie-Nielsen chipbreaker.
>
> I agree with the mouth needing to be in good shape, but some pitting on
the
> sole is not a big deal in my opinion. As a matter of fact I have a number
of
> planes with big gouges out of them. The factory put them in and called
them
> corrugation.
>
> Generally old planes (unless they are rare) are cheap enough that it is
easy
> to justify spending $10 more and get a better one instead of trying to
save
> a few bucks with a trashed one.
>
> -Jack
>
>
Mike wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
>
> I'm curious; why do you think he is an idiot?
"Both wood pieces are painted black."
Yeah. Black as in *plastic*.
Unless I'm the idiot and someone who knows more about these than I do can
tell me that they were manufactured with black lacquered wooden handles in
the '70s or something.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17989 Approximate word count: 539670
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
JackD wrote:
> It isn't that hard. If the blade is new and sharp, you don't need to do a
> whole lot of sharpening to get it in decent shape.
Yeah, but I've demonstrated that I suck at sharpening plane irons freehand,
even a little. I round them over, and they don't cut worth a damn when I'm
through with them. I've been experimenting with a low quality block plane,
and the more I fool with it, the worse it gets. I've ground off 1/4 of the
iron and still haven't gotten it right.
I ordered the Veritas jig Friday, thanks to lovely SWMBO for sharing some of
her craft show money with me (she made $400 this year at a one day show,
which was pretty cool!), so hopefully really soon now I'll be sharpening
everything perfectly. Sometimes you really just need to suck it up and buy
the right tool for the job.
> Next time you buy, mention about feedback in your followup message. Tell
> the seller you will leave feedback after you get the item and check it out
> and you would appreciate them leaving feedback as well. After 90 days the
I've done that. Nobody bothered to hold up their end of the deal.
> used to buy gum 2001 nickel that I'm planning on listing with a reserve of
> five cents. Let me know if you are interested and we can set this up.
Heh... We could do this if I ever really need to be able to bid one one of
those items that require a minimum level of feedback. I really appreciate
the offer, but for the moment I'm broke, and I'm going to be broke for a
good bit yet, so I'm not seriously looking at buying anything anyway.
> Sniping is the most logical way to buy. It is the equivalent of a sealed
> bid auction.
> The presence or absence of snipers on an auction should not change the
> price you are willing to pay.
> The winner is always the person who is willing to pay the most for it.
All true. Snipers are just annoying because they make you think you're
really going to get it that cheap, and then whammo, somebody comes along to
pay a more reasonable, or sometimes an extraordinarily unreasonable price
at the last second.
Also because auctions almost never end when I will actually be around to
snipe them myself. ;)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17997 Approximate word count: 539910
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Yeah, I don't think the handles on that particular plane are plastic; the plane
doesn't look new enough. If you inspect the third picture close enough the
tote looks wood to me. Of course the front knob could be a plastic replacement.
At some point Stanley quit using Rosewood for the knobs and totes and
substituted Beech instead. I don't know why they felt the need to cover up the
grain with that dark stain (or paint), but I think it looks like hell. That's
another thing I look for when scrutinizing a plane; if it doesn't have Rosewood
knobs, I look elsewhere.
Ken Muldrew wrote:
> Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Mike wrote:
>>
>>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
>>
>>>I'm curious; why do you think he is an idiot?
>>
>>"Both wood pieces are painted black."
>>
>>Yeah. Black as in *plastic*.
>>
>>Unless I'm the idiot and someone who knows more about these than I do can
>>tell me that they were manufactured with black lacquered wooden handles in
>>the '70s or something.
>
>
> The handle and tote on my Stanley #7 are black lacquered wood. It's
> older than a 70s model but nobody would have used plastic handles in
> the 70s; that particular improvement is much more recent.
>
> Ken Muldrew
> [email protected]
> (remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 23:27:23 -0400, Silvan wrote:
<...>
> I still
> have a feedback of 0 because nobody could ever be bothered to take the time
> to give me credit for making good on the cash-ola.
>
> I always pay within 24 hours after winning. I don't bid unless I have
> greenbacks in my hot little hands. Yet there are numerous people out there
> who won't even sell to me because my positive feedback level doesn't reach
> their magical threshold.
Just curious, did you leave positive feedback for the sellers in the
auctions that you won? Leaving your feedback first would probably remind
them to reciprocate. I usually don't check to see if the seller has left
feedback before I leave mine. If all is OK, I just do it. Most of the time
I get the feedback one way or another.
Did those sellers have big feedback numbers, or were they newbies? If the
seller isn't experienced, they may forget, not understand the feedback
system, or just not understand how important it is. A friendly e-mail can
do wonders here. I usually send an e-mail when the item arrives and I've
had a chance to check it out. That's a pretty good time to bring up
feedback.
Remember, you're really dealing with individuals, not eBay.
--
Joe Wells
Patrick Olguin (O'Deen) wrote:
>> >> Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I
>> >> can see that this seller is an idiot:
> Ok, I can see a lot of corn-fusion here. Although the seller isn't a
> genius at explaining that the tote and knob (those pieces of wood) are
> painted black, he's
OK then, I'll go on record once and for all and admit that *I* am the idiot
here, and I owe the guy an apology.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17996 Approximate word count: 539880
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
John Thomas wrote:
> For Stanley, the real era (apparently) to avoid are the ones painted
> blue. I haven't looked at any recent production to have any idea how
> they fare.
Mine is brand spanking new, not from eBay. Made in England. It has the
kidney shaped keyhole that evidently is a thing to be avoided. Plastic
handles, but I really don't care about that.
Like I said, I'm only an aspiring plane guy, but it looks reasonably
well-made to me. I might try that surface plate bluing test to see how
flat it really is, but it's flat around the perimeter at least. Doesn't
rock on a piece of granite, but that could just mean the sole is uniformly
concave, and the mouth is actually badly made.
I haven't actually used it for much of anything yet, because after three
days beating my head against the workbench, I still can't come up with a
shop made honing guide that works (specifically, I'm coming up empty on a
roller), and I'm determined not to ruin another plane iron by attempting to
sharpen it freehand.
I spent my money on the plane, and there's nothing left to buy a honing
guide for awhile yet. I guess I put the cart before the horse, in
retrospect. Ah well.
> For real 'crap', I have a new Buck Bro's that I bought at the borg
> before I knew any better. You don't even really need a straight edge to
> see how badly formed the sole is, esp around the mouth. It's bad; very,
> very bad.
I looked at those. I said to myself "Hmmm, I've never heard of Buck
Brothers. The new Stanley stuff is supposed to be a pale shadow of the old
stuff, but I'll bet it's better than this." I guess I was right. :)
> Re: ebay, that sucks that you haven't gotten any feedback despite paying
> promptly. I've done maybe 30 transactions, a variety of things, and
> I've always paid promptly, and always got good feedback; it sometimes
> took awhile, but always showed up.
I just checked. 0 feedback. I should go find all the people I bought from,
if the record still exists, and leave them negative feedback for not giving
me positive feedback. :)
> And about sniping -- that seems really endemic in the tool world, but
> it's about the only way I was able to successfully buy planes.
Yeah, I know. Keeping them running for a week is a joke. 99% of auctions
are won or lost in the last 60 seconds. They might as well just show the
thing for a week, and not allow bidding until five minutes before the end.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17988 Approximate word count: 539640
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
<[email protected]> wrote in message
snip
Since he says that the handles are "painted", I suspect
> that they are, plastic is pretty obvious,
Could be painted plastic.... ;~)
Steve James wrote:
> weeks. Many serious bidders don't come in until the last few minutes
> of an auction so the final selling price is often much higher than it is
Damn snipers. $30, $30, $30, $30, $40, $40, $40, $40, $175
Heh. That's funny. This thread got me looking, and I've been piddling
around a bit.
Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can see
that this seller is an idiot:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=13874
I really don't like eBay all that much. For one thing, I've only won a
handful of auctions over the years, but I've won _some_, and yet I still
have a feedback of 0 because nobody could ever be bothered to take the time
to give me credit for making good on the cash-ola.
I always pay within 24 hours after winning. I don't bid unless I have
greenbacks in my hot little hands. Yet there are numerous people out there
who won't even sell to me because my positive feedback level doesn't reach
their magical threshold.
That just bugs me.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17960 Approximate word count: 538800
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 18:56:18 GMT, [email protected] (Ken Muldrew)
pixelated:
>"Patrick Olguin (O'Deen)" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Ok, I must be dense. What specifically about that seller makes him (or his
>>offering) idiotic?
>
>A $10 dollar reserve for a beauty like that? Seems a little low to me.
It's not a $10 reserve. It's a start price and has nothing to
do with the reserve price he has set. The reserve is likely
$40 or $50. And it's not a real beauty, at least not to me,
though it's hard to tell from his bad pictures. Something
about it feels too "new". Those knobs may be plastic.
--
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
---- --Unknown
"Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This seller is one whose intelligence I'd be more inclined to question:
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244384737&category=13874
>
> The description doesn't suck completely, and the seller seems to know he
has a
> fairly desirable plane for sale, but those pictures are a friggin JOKE,
and the
> initial asking price is just ridiculous.
Someone did an analysis once of the prices on Ebay auctions, and I believe
they found that the auctions that generated the highest prices were ones
that had an initial bid of $1. I guess it's sort of like test driving a car,
once you do you have an emotional attachment. If you are winning for a low
price for a few days, you start to think of the item as "yours", then you
are willing to bid high at the end of the auction in the excitement. So, the
seller is probably doing the smart thing from his point of view.
>
>
> Patrick Olguin (O'Deen) wrote:
>
> > Silvan wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Same old eBay. Caveat emptor. I'm not a plane guy yet, and even I can
see
> >>that this seller is an idiot:
> >>
>
>>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244352978&category=138
74
> >
> >
> > Ok, I must be dense. What specifically about that seller makes him (or
his
> > offering) idiotic?
> >
> > O'Deen
> >
> > --
> > http://www.klownhammer.org/ - Home of the World-Famous Original Crowbar
FAQ
> >
> >
>