Yet another carriage makers box, and a question...

[Zach Dillinger]

Fellow Creekers,

You may remember a previous gloat of mine, in which I detailed a carriage makers tool box that I found near my home in Mid-Michigan. Well, I hit an antique show this morning and found a similar box. This one was better, however, in that it has more drawers and the box included a Stanley 5 1/2C, a Tower and Lyon smooth plane and a Stanley No. 10 bench rabbet plane. You can see pics at www.eatoncountywoodworker.blogspot.com (http://www.eatoncountywoodworker.blogspot.com/)

I have a question about the Japanese blade you will see on that site. I know almost nothing about Japanese tools, but I understand that some of these blades are quite well made and can be valuable. If anyone has any insights into the blade, which has some Japanese characters stamped into it at the top, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Jim Koepke]

Fellow Creekers,

You may remember a previous gloat of mine, in which I detailed a carriage makers tool box that I found near my home in Mid-Michigan. Well, I hit an antique show this morning and found a similar box. This one was better, however, in that it has more drawers and the box included a Stanley 5 1/2C, a Tower and Lyon smooth plane and a Stanley No. 10 bench rabbet plane. You can see pics at www.eatoncountywoodworker.blogspot.com (http://www.eatoncountywoodworker.blogspot.com/)

I have a question about the Japanese blade you will see on that site. I know almost nothing about Japanese tools, but I understand that some of these blades are quite well made and can be valuable. If anyone has any insights into the blade, which has some Japanese characters stamped into it at the top, I would greatly appreciate it.


Zach,

I posted a picture of the plane blade on another forum with a Japanese section. The answer came back:


The large kanji in the oval are for kakuri, a maker of fine tools.

I will send you a link via email.

jim

[Zach Dillinger]

Jim,

Thanks for the link! I'm happy to know that the blade is of fairly high quality. Now I just need to investigate making a body for it...

Zach

[David Keller NC]

Of potential interest - the carriage maker's router and the matched pair of squirrel-tailed rabbet planes are worth more (considerably more) to a collector than the 5-1/2C and the #10 bench rabbet plane.

Carriage-maker's tools are considerably more uncommon than joiner's tools and many of them have graphic forms, and they're desirable on the antique tool collector's market. It's by no means a home run such as a Sandusky or Ohio Tools center wheel plow, but the group's worth several hundred nevertheless.

[Zach Dillinger]

Of potential interest - the carriage maker's router and the matched pair of squirrel-tailed rabbet planes are worth more (considerably more) to a collector than the 5-1/2C and the #10 bench rabbet plane.

Carriage-maker's tools are considerably more uncommon than joiner's tools and many of them have graphic forms, and they're desirable on the antique tool collector's market. It's by no means a home run such as a Sandusky or Ohio Tools center wheel plow, but the group's worth several hundred nevertheless.

David,

I had no idea that they were valuable, I figured the 10 and the 5 1/2c would be the best of the lot. I'm not much of a seller of old tools, aside from the occasional MWTCA meet. If I were to decide to part with the carriage makers tools, any suggestions on how to place them and how much to ask?

Zach

[Jim Koepke]

A bit more came in from the interpretation of the marks on the blade:


...and the smaller kanji on top is read backwards (old style) as "tou-roku" meaning "registration"


So, I guess it all means "Registration Kakuri" or "Registered Kakuri" as we westerners might say.

jim

[Zach Dillinger]

A bit more came in from the interpretation of the marks on the blade:




So, I guess it all means "Registration Kakuri" or "Registered Kakuri" as we westerners might say.

jim

Hey Jim,

Thanks again for all your investigative work on my blade. I'll plan on keeping it handy for all sorts of small trimming jobs... maybe build a body for it at some point.

Best,

Zach

[David Keller NC]

David,

I had no idea that they were valuable, I figured the 10 and the 5 1/2c would be the best of the lot. I'm not much of a seller of old tools, aside from the occasional MWTCA meet. If I were to decide to part with the carriage makers tools, any suggestions on how to place them and how much to ask?

Zach

What you can get for them depends greatly on who made them and where (American tools are worth more than their British counterparts) and their condition. The low mark would be e-bay, a better bet would be at an MWTCA meet, and possibly a better route would be MJD Live Free or Die tool auctions. Keep in mind that tools sell for quite a bit less than they did 4 years ago.

[Zach Dillinger]

What you can get for them depends greatly on who made them and where (American tools are worth more than their British counterparts) and their condition. The low mark would be e-bay, a better bet would be at an MWTCA meet, and possibly a better route would be MJD Live Free or Die tool auctions. Keep in mind that tools sell for quite a bit less than they did 4 years ago.

David,

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably going to keep the whole shooting match together and show it off for a little while, including at the MWTCA meet in Kalamazoo, MI this Saturday.

Zach