The most ridiculous thing i've seen in years

[Justin Cavender]

Ebay item # 130306626029
There is a guy asking 1500 dollars for a sweetheart era #1 you could buy a very nice infill for that I get aggravated seeing people trying to make a fortune off something like that!

[Tim Put]

He's not hurting anyone by doing that.
If you think it's overpriced, don't buy it.

I'll sell you any one thing I own for a million dollars, act now and I'll give you everything I own down to the clothes I'm wearing for only two million. :cool:

I'm serious, though I don't expect anyone to take me up on the offer. You have no reason to be mad at me for making such a fool's offer. At most, if you thought I really hoped for success, you would have every right and reason to mock me.

[Justin Cavender]

All I am saying is its not the holy grail but your are right Tim although he is offering free shipping lol.

[Bruce Page]

When I search that # I get "Green Emerald White Gold GP Ring Lady Jewelry Size 7/O"
:confused:

[Justin Cavender]

sorry 130306626029

[Casey Gooding]

Honestly, I've seen them sell for more.

[Sam Takeuchi]

It's not so bad, I guess. Look at # 180355684468. Starting price of $9.99, in one day it's already in the $1400 range. As long as they are willing to pay that kind of money, I'd say let them.

[Justin Cavender]

I had no idea that they sold for that much what makes it so special?

[Todd Burch]

Supply and demand.

[Tim Put]

I don't think anyone believes they're all that special in regard to function. Collectors buy them.

They're expensive for the exact same (somewhat silly) reasons that early unopened Star Wars action figures are expensive.

Actually, I think the inexpensive MujingFang planes we're both fans of are better performers than any Stanley's.
Though I must admit I've never used a #1, nor for that matter any other sweetheart Stanley.

[Peter Scoma]

Cool looking plane. If I had a few mil laying around, I'd buy it. Seems like its headed to go for over 2k with bids around 1500 and 8 days left.

I don't see anything wrong with the price. The seller's got a rare tool worth big bucks. Is he supposed to sell it for a buy it now price of 200$??

ps

[george wilson]

I sold one at the last Early American Industries meeting here,that had been broken across its body at the throat.Everyone knew it had been repaired.I showed them the restoration. It still had the Stanley decal on the handle,must have been dropped early on. A guy offered me $700.00 for it,which I accepted. Saw several at their flea market for twice that much,and not minty,either.

[Justin Cavender]

Tim I have a sweetheart Jack and there is nothing more special about it than my type 17 jack I guess they can spend it however they want it is there money

[Sam Takeuchi]

I'm sure unsuspecting seller(s) had sold No.1 with Buy It Now for less than $100 at some point in the past on eBay.

Apparently the price of No.1 is such that there are some fakes floating around.

[Jim Koepke]

The second one looks better than the first one.

The first one has a cap iron and blade mismatch.

Can not tell on the second one if the blade is date correct.

There is nothing special about the #1 other than its small size. If a person wants a plane of that size, they would likely do better by buying an LN #1.
Of course, if one came my way real cheap, I would likely buy it and use it.

jim

[Eric Brown]

L-N made some 1 1/2 bench planes. Ductile iron. Being sold by FTJ in the limited edition section.

Eric

[Todd Burch]

If a person wants a plane of that size, they would likely do better by buying an LN #1.
jim

That's exactly what I did several years ago. I took it out of the box to get the feel of it, realized it was pretty small for my big hands, and put it back in the box and that is where it has been ever since.

Todd

[george wilson]

There have been fakes made. The subject was being discussed at an Early American Industries meeting several years ago. Personally,I can't see why someone would go to the trouble to fake a #1 instead of making a nice original design,that they could get more money for,and not be a criminal. I don't know,maybe they just make castings off the original one,but still,I wouldn't do it for the money it would bring. Just not worth the labor.

I suppose some people don't have the imagination to do a nice,original design,and are inclined to be crooked in the first place.

[David Keller NC]

"I had no idea that they sold for that much what makes it so special?

Justin - the reasons' simple, though disturbing. They're cute. Stanley made a lot of these, and most weren't used - they were display pieces. The reason that the demand is disturbing is that the vast majority of collectors are old men. I'm not surprised that collector's items that appeal to women and are cute bring high price tags, but old men?:eek:

But you should also understand that $1500 for a Stanley SW #1 is not at all a high price. The collector's market has largely collapsed over the last 10 months or so - the record high price on e-bay for one of these was $4500 for a pretty much NIB one from the 1930's.

But neither plane is a "worthy" example - the first one, as Jim noted, is an assembly of mis-matched parts. The second one has been restored - re-japaned and the totes re-finished. If you look carefully, the front knob shows a good deal of open pores. An original Stanley laquer finish is quite thick, and all of the pores in the rosewood is filled. It would not at all surprise me that if examined very carefully (in person), one could find a few repairs to it.

This is fairly typical of e-bay lately. You can still find user tools, but most high-end collector's items are no longer sold on the 'bay, at least for now, because very few are willing to pay what a collector's item was worth 10 months ago. In some cases, like Davis Inclinometers, the equilibrium price on flea bay is about %30 what it was.

[Ray Gardiner]

Just an additional observation, if you look at the Studley tool chest, the No1
has it's own little shrine.

I have no idea why?

Regards
Ray

[David Keller NC]

Justin - A footnote. There are several types/designs of Stanley's production that failed in the market place, either through design defects, or the general woodworking crafstman population deciding that they didn't need it. These bring incredibly high prices.

An example - the #444 dovetail plane. Complete, with the box, instructions and little "example" sliding dovetail, this plane (used) to go for about $2k. Without the box, instructions and example sliding dovetail, about $1k. In otherwords, some cardboard, printed paper, and an example in wood that the plane's designed to cut (so you could easily make another one) is worth about a thousand dollars. I've seen arguments at tool meets before as to whether one of the wooden examples was actually original or not.

There are others - the #162 butcher block plane, the #212 small scraper (that's now reproduced by Lie Nielsen), and the #196 curved rabbet all bring astronomical prices, as does an original, undamaged Stanley #9 miter block plane (that L-N also now reproduces, and it's a superb tool).

[george wilson]

If anyone wants to get angry,go to Collectibles,Tools,and type in Salesman's samples. Last time I did that,there were about 9 salesman's samples,2 of which were actually such. One idiot had a Swiss watchmaker's hammer down as a salesman's sample tacking hammer.

[Jim Koepke]

L-N made some 1 1/2 bench planes. Ductile iron. Being sold by FTJ in the limited edition section.

Eric

Nice but pricey. It would seem more logical to call it a #3-1/4. I would expect a 1-1/2 to be a wider #1.


That's exactly what I did several years ago. I took it out of the box to get the feel of it, realized it was pretty small for my big hands, and put it back in the box and that is where it has been ever since.

Todd

I find use for mine every once in a while with swirly squirrelly grain in small areas.

Other than that, you could likely get back almost all you paid for it on the Bay.

jtk

[Dave Matson]

LOL! I guess 3 1/4 just doesn't sound as sexy as 1 1/2. I was unaware of this one. For those who haven't seen it heres a link to save you the googlin'

https://ssl.wowpages.com/finetoolj/LN/ln2004.html

At that size (8 1/4 long), one is better off using a Millers Falls No. 7 as they run a little over 8 inches and are priced about half as much in fine shape.

[Luciano Burtini]

I'm not sure why the asking price would 'aggravate' you. You don't have to buy it....

In any case, want to see an even crazier asking price? Check out 270391393864

[Sam Takeuchi]

I just dug this up from another forum (some people will recognize I'm sure)

A plane of extraordinary value (http://www.eldreds.com/sales/detail.php?itemID=82533)

This one makes those No.1s look ordinary.

[Justin Cavender]

To put it in perspective I just bought a 99 chevy malibu in great shape with low miles for 800 dollars.

[George Sanders]

$10,000 for a handplane? As always there is an abundance of people with more money than sense.

[george wilson]

Look up french morin plane on collectibles on ebay to see the most unusual looking hand plane I've ever seen.

[David Keller NC]

"In any case, want to see an even crazier asking price? Check out 270391393864"

Actually, Jim Bode (2lshark) may well get that for this level. L.L. Davis "skeleton" levels are exceptionally rare. They were too fragile for carpenter's use, and many of them broke, so Mr. Davis re-designed them with re-inforcing on the vertical uprights. So not only were they produced for a very short time, most of them were casualties in the 140 years since they were produced.

And, of course, any collector wants "one of everything", so the rarest examples bring high dollars.

This is also the case with Steer's Patent bench planes. They were very early examples of metallic cast planes, and though they're not exactly good user tools (a Bailey is a far superior plane), they bring several thousand dollars on the antique market.

Finally, for those aghast at how much a tool is worth, Sandusky and Ohio Tool produced a type of wooden plow plane in the late 19th century called a "center wheel plow", where a wheel mounted on a single double-threaded rod controls the movement of the fence, thus avoiding the typical issue of aligning the fence parallel with the skate.

These were expensive in their day, and were produced when wooden plane production was on the decline, so they're rare. The best (and highest priced) example of an "ordinary" one of these was a Sandusky all-boxwood center-wheel plow with the original iron set, ivory inserts in the knobs, and in great overall condition which sold for $12,500 at Brown a couple of years back.

But the all-time record for one of these, and the world record for an antique tool period, was the Sandusky center-wheel plow produced for the World's Fair exhibition in 1876. This plow was made of ebony, with engraved sterling silver mounts and ivory knobs. It sold for about $110,000 at Brown about 10 years ago. It'd be worth much more today.

And finally, this is not for sale, but if it were, I suspect it would fetch in the million dollar range - the Seaton tool chest in the Guildhall museum in the UK. It is the only (mostly) complete, contemporaneously inventoried cabinetmaker's tool chest of the 18th century. Most of the tools are unused. And even though an example of everyone of the tools in the chest could be had for a few dollars at tool auctions and e-bay, the complete chest is extraordinarily valuble.