Chris Thompson
04-06-2005, 10:24 AM
OK, I guess I'll jump in with both feet and ask the difficult question.
I've been bottom feeding rust off the auction site of dooooooom for a while now and I've got some pretty good deals. I've got a stack of #4s and #5s, most for $10-15. I've got a 6C for $20. I got an Ohio Tool #7 in spectacular shape for $25. And the one where I let the auction mentality get the best of me and blew right past my budget, I got a Type 4 Prelateral #8 that is in shockingly good condition. Of course, it cost me $50.
I'm still in acquisition mode, and obsessively search online (mostly because my weekends are so busy, I have no time for rust shops.) daily. But I've passed on a few regular 4s and 5s because, well, I've got them and I'd rather spend the money at this early stage acquiring better tools. Quality over quantity. (Quantity comes later :)
So, I have two and a half questions I submit to the creek.
1) Are Bedrock planes really so much better than plain bailey patterns to justify the extra cost that the collectors have driven into the market?
2) Are the Keen Kutter K series planes, which are ostensibly off the same foundry lines as the bedrocks, really just as good for 1/3 the price?
2.5) Any other brands like KK that are just rebranded bedrocks?
Right now on that nameless site a search of the auctions completed over the last few weeks show, say, a #604 averaging $150. I could get ten or twelve regular #4s for that.
I realize the geometry of the bedrock, with the huge bedding surface for the frog, and the fact that said frog reaches down to the sole, make for a more stable, less chatter prone plane. But, man, I have a problem with that price.
A K4C, however, just closed for $41. So did a K5C. I actually got sniped at the last second on a K8 at $47, whereas a 608 just sold for $216.
Should I be buying less often and saving up for Bedrock rust, or is it just not worth the outlay? Garret Hack spends a page in his Handplanes book gushing over Bedrocks, and mentions that a 605, I believe, is one of his primary users.
So, what's the scoop?
I've been bottom feeding rust off the auction site of dooooooom for a while now and I've got some pretty good deals. I've got a stack of #4s and #5s, most for $10-15. I've got a 6C for $20. I got an Ohio Tool #7 in spectacular shape for $25. And the one where I let the auction mentality get the best of me and blew right past my budget, I got a Type 4 Prelateral #8 that is in shockingly good condition. Of course, it cost me $50.
I'm still in acquisition mode, and obsessively search online (mostly because my weekends are so busy, I have no time for rust shops.) daily. But I've passed on a few regular 4s and 5s because, well, I've got them and I'd rather spend the money at this early stage acquiring better tools. Quality over quantity. (Quantity comes later :)
So, I have two and a half questions I submit to the creek.
1) Are Bedrock planes really so much better than plain bailey patterns to justify the extra cost that the collectors have driven into the market?
2) Are the Keen Kutter K series planes, which are ostensibly off the same foundry lines as the bedrocks, really just as good for 1/3 the price?
2.5) Any other brands like KK that are just rebranded bedrocks?
Right now on that nameless site a search of the auctions completed over the last few weeks show, say, a #604 averaging $150. I could get ten or twelve regular #4s for that.
I realize the geometry of the bedrock, with the huge bedding surface for the frog, and the fact that said frog reaches down to the sole, make for a more stable, less chatter prone plane. But, man, I have a problem with that price.
A K4C, however, just closed for $41. So did a K5C. I actually got sniped at the last second on a K8 at $47, whereas a 608 just sold for $216.
Should I be buying less often and saving up for Bedrock rust, or is it just not worth the outlay? Garret Hack spends a page in his Handplanes book gushing over Bedrocks, and mentions that a 605, I believe, is one of his primary users.
So, what's the scoop?