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Jim Koepke
04-08-2009, 11:44 PM
The wife and I decided to take a trip today into Oregon to buy a replacement greenhouse for the one we lost in the snow storms of last winter. I prefer to do business for things like this face to face so we can ask questions and pick the brains. Learned a lot while there.

My other motive is the greenhouse maker is in Aurora, OR which has a lot of antique shops. One of them does have a lot of old tools and there is a salvage building material seller that also has a display case or two for tools. To top it off, Woodburn is just a few miles more down the road and there is an antique shop there with a few tools and the guy who sells tools there lives on the same lot and has a house full of tools. I think the wife humors me only because the woman there is pleasant to talk to, because once Terry and I get going, the time just goes out the window.

Anyway, the only plane that was not in my accumulation of bench planes is a #8. That changed today. It is in need of some clean up & care, but imagine it will be useable in short order.

So after about an hour or so of going down to his basement, yacking away and admiring his collection including a Bedrock 605-1/4 we finally left heading back towards Aurora. My wife had seen a furniture company going out of business, so we stopped there. Not much to choose from and nothing we like for sure. There was another furniture store that did have a sofa we liked, so it was a good thing the fire wood and pallets were cleared out of ol' Red Wheezin' Goose this morning. That is what we call our pick up truck because now and again it makes a sound like a wheezing goose and I'll bet you know what color said truck be.

So we loaded and tied the sofa and as we continued toward Aurora, SWMBO must have had buyers remorse or something and said, "I think we have spent enough money today." I didn't think so, with the greenhouse, sofa plane and the little goodies she got from the antique shop it was still less than the insurance check for the greenhouse. Of course with the other things we will need to get for the greenhouse, that will dwindle fast. So I didn't get to peruse the tools in the antique shops of Aurora. Just another reason to go back sometime.

I did leave a list with Terry for some things I want to get. He said he likely has them, they are just buried in boxes somewhere.

This wasn't the highest price I have paid for a plane, but it is one of the higher prices, $50. I like Oregon, there is no sales tax.

There isn't anyone selling the kind of greenhouse we were replacing in Washington, but just the same, the sales tax would have been over $400 if we bought it here. Besides, there likely wouldn't be anyone selling planes just a hop and a skip down the road either.

jim

Brian Kent
04-08-2009, 11:52 PM
Nice plane, Jim. Nowdays I think that is a very decent price too. Good job.

Jim Koepke
04-09-2009, 12:19 AM
Nice plane, Jim. Nowdays I think that is a very decent price too. Good job.

Yeah, you are right, but having just recently gotten a #6 type 4 for $10 just kind of spoils a guy, even though there were a lot of parts missing on the #6.

Terry is also pretty fair in his pricing and honest about what he sells. He says he recently sold a cleaned up #8 for about $80. He felt a little guilty because mine has parts from different types. He sells type correct planes for more. Mine has a newer handle and blade with a mismatch between the frog and lateral lever and casting marks and esoteric stuff like that. I will likely lose all of about 15 seconds of sleep worrying about that. The blade has a few nicks, but no major pits.

For me, it is a joyful experience to see what he has. He has a good collection of planes he has cleaned up and a few down stairs in the workshop waiting for clean up.

I like the hours listed on the business card: Tuesday-Saturday 10-6 Monday maybe.

jtk

Dominic Greco
04-09-2009, 6:29 AM
Jim,
Who cares if it's a "Frankenplane"? I think you did extremely well! As a friend of mine says, "It looks like it has good bones". I betcha' it'll clean up NICE!

steve swantee
04-09-2009, 6:42 AM
Looks like a good deal Jim, betcha got it making long thin curlies already. It looks like it even has the obligatory white paint splotches. Can't tell what type it is from the pic, but I see a low knob and small diameter brass adjuster, so thats a positive. I wish the Woodburn I live in had an antique shop like that.

Steve

George Beck
04-09-2009, 7:14 AM
What a great plane. I really like the 08's. I have an old record 08 and use it all the time (once I got the sole flat, which is another story).

I could checker that handle and put some scrolls or flames on the steel sides if you would like. just kidding.

Congrats on the plane

George

Bill Houghton
04-09-2009, 10:32 AM
I paid $55 for mine, but that was fifteen years ago, and what with inflation and all, you got yourself a bargain!

Great tool. You'll know you're planing after a few hours of using it (I've finally learned to do the preliminary work with a smaller plane and reserve the battleship for the final flattening), but nothing beats the big ahrn for getting work straight.

Hank Knight
04-09-2009, 10:38 AM
Nice snag, Jim. I agree with everyone else: that's a good price. Looks like she'll be a winner. Post photos when you get her going.

Hank

Brian Kent
04-09-2009, 11:15 AM
Jim, are you looking for part for the #6? I just got a broken #6 in a lot of tools. If you need something from it I could check. I don't even know which type it is since the side of the body is cracked off.

Jim Koepke
04-09-2009, 11:49 AM
Jim, are you looking for part for the #6? I just got a broken #6 in a lot of tools. If you need something from it I could check. I don't even know which type it is since the side of the body is cracked off.

I am always looking for spare parts, blades, totes knobs and such.

Though, if you are buying old planes to fix up, you may want to start your own parts stash.

The #6 I am seeking parts for is a pre-lateral type 4.

jim

Jim Koepke
04-11-2009, 9:58 PM
Took a little time to take the rust and grim off of the recently bought #8. It is either a late type 6 or early type 7. There are no dates on the lateral adjuster. I have seen one date on the lateral adjuster on some type 9s. So, I frankenplaned it a bit more by adding a large style blade adjuster. The blade is obviously a type 11. The tote looks to be a later addition. The tote is nice since it fits my hand well without any modification.

The rust was removed mostly with some used 220 sandpaper, a single edged razor blade and #0 steel wool. A bit of mineral spirits was used to clean off the gunk.

Usually a plane is given a test run before doing anything. The blade on this one was badly chipped an poorly ground, so that was skipped.

The blade was honed, the chip breaker was dressed to seat properly. Had to clean some paint or gunk off the bottom of the frog that was causing seating problems. Then back together for some test shavings.

Before this, my biggest iron plane has been a #7. These were not tried together today but the #8 seems to be a bit more stable and also seems to have a better ease of use. This does not seem to make intuitive sense. More testing with both planes will have to be done before my mind can be made up on this. So here are some pictures.

jim