After over a year of inactivity on the tool collecting front, I decided to dip my toe in the market to see the prices of planes on e-bay. One of the items I put up was a very nice Spiers with matching blade and cap iron, all parts marked 56. The plane itself was in very nice condition and my hopes were high of a good return. To my surprise the plane went for the sum of £89, half of the price I expected. I must admit that it will be some time before I venture into selling one of my better items.
I recently got the chance to purchase this spiers plane. I got an email form a very pleasant chap, asking if I would like to buy his fathers toolkit. The star of the show being this muckle piece of woodworking history. He said he wanted it to go to a good home, and I couldn’t refuse. It will clean up nicely and be pride of place in my collection.
I put this lovely Spiers plane up for sale on ebay, just to test the water. If it does well I might put a few others on sale to get the cash for my next target plane, a Stanley No. 1. If not I will bide my time and wait until the market improves. wiccathewitch.com https://wordpress.com/view/smuggymcsmugster.wordpress.com
I’ve had this on the scales and it weighs in at a hefty 5 lbs 1 1/2 ozs. This is about 6 ozs heavier than the standard US made 4 1/2. Hoping to keep a hold of this for a while, as I am unlikely to come across another.
Half way through the restoration of the Stanley 4 1/2H and you wouldn’t believe how easily the rust came off. It was like a thick plume and came off with a Stanley blade. I wish that I had done a video of it, as it was a joy to behold. I weighed the plane and on average it is a good 6 ozs heavier than the rest of my Stanley 4 1/2s. The normal Stanley is a good heavy plane in it’s own right and the extra 6 ozs would have given it a much heavier feel.
Who in their right mind would pay £360 for this rust bucket?? The answer is, I did.
A company called Versatile Engineering had this plane for sale on the online auction. It just happens that this is one of the planes that I have on my wish list. After 20 years of restoring and collecting tools, I’ve come to realise that although this my look like a rust bucket too far, the chances are that most of, if not all the rust could be superficial.
This last picture show why so much. This is a type 10 Stanley 4 1/2 H.
As I’ve said in a previous post, I always like to have a couple of GTL brass planes. I always put them along with my token Norris collection, to show them at their best.
I was looking on the online auction for another project to work on when I saw this WHAT co brass plane for sale. I have seen a handful for sale in the past few years but never managed to secure one.
When I did my research for my post on GTL I also tried to find out about WHAT co, with very little success.
Anyway I put a late bid in for this one and got it for £21, which I think is a bargain.
Over the last 20 years I’ve concentrated on collecting infill planes and to date have a collection of 55. During my travels I have also bought and restored several hundred planes by other makers,mostly Stanley. I can totally understand why collectors rave about these planes, as I do about infills, to that end I’ve decided to see how long it will take me to collect a (good) Stanley No. 1, No. 4 1/2H and a No. 11.
I’ve seen a few No.1s on the online shop but none that I would consider collectable. This side of the pond Stanley No. 1s are a rare bred and to get one from the states is prohibitive due to the postage and customs duty.
Anyhow it’s good to set goals, it may take years or never, but I’ll give it a go.
I would like to thank Leading Scottish author Alan Addison for his continued sponsorship of this site. To date Alan has written 4 crime novels which have been critically well received. Alan a former carpenter, has always taken a great interest in all things relating to his previous employment. Thanks mate.
Not to sure if I’m fussed about this effort, I’ll see if the paint work settles down, if not, I’ll have another go at it.
You win some you lose some!!
I took a chance on this late Preston No. 1014 plane when I saw it for sale on the online shop. The only reason that I considered buying it was that I already have a Spiers No.14 and 2 Mathieson No. 4s in my collection. Like them, this was a latecomer to the Preston range.
The plane was as described apart from a chunk out the front knob and the back handle being stuck fast to the plane, I think someone must have repaired the handle and left an excess of glue, which has left it stuck to the plane.
