My wife may have found me a 608....Maybe

[Andrew Nemeth]

My wife was out poking around antique stores this morning and ran across a Bedrock 608. (Did I mention what an awesome wife I have). The question is, is she a keeper? From what I can tell from her phone pictures it looks to be in good enough shape to make a user out of. From what you all can see are there any red flags that pop up? Anything else I particular I should be looking for if I go back to pick it up? They have it priced at $85, is this a fair value?

[Charles Bjorgen]

That's a good price for a 608. If you need that size, go for it. It looks as though it will clean up nicely. I believe some collectors value that decal on the tote too.

[James Scheffler]

$85 is a decent price for even a non-BR Stanley No. 8 (I'm talking dealer prices), so I would ask what are you waiting for?

[Dan Carroll]

Nothing that I can see in the pictures that would warn me off. $85.00 is not a bad price if it is all there. That is a little hard to say. I would try to get them down another $20.00 or so and then jump on it, but I am cheap.

[Chris Griggs]

That's a good price for any user no. 8 and a very good price for a bedrock. Hard to tell, but all that rust looks like its mostly on the surface, and I see no crack or anything to suggest that it won't turn into to a very very good user. I would definitely buy that plane for that price.

[Jim Palmer]

My wife was out poking around antique stores this morning and ran across a Bedrock 608. (Did I mention what an awesome wife I have). The question is, is she a keeper? From what I can tell from her phone pictures it looks to be in good enough shape to make a user out of. From what you all can see are there any red flags that pop up? Anything else I particular I should be looking for if I go back to pick it up? They have it priced at $85, is this a fair value?

I'd keep both :D

[Dave Parkis]

I don't see any problems. Yes, it will take a little work to bring it back to full user status and we can't see what condition the japanning is in, but at $85 I'd jump on it and quickly.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Well, I went back to the store and picked it up for $65. Before doing any restoration work I thinkn I will try to date it and determine a value. My preference would be to bring it back to like new, or better, condition.

The iron has no makers mark that I can tell. I think I will probably need to add an aftermarket iron and chip-breaker as the iron looks like it may have taken the brunt of a fall as it takes a definitive bend near the top.

The plane body casting is intact, no cracks or chips. From what I can tell, most of the rust is on the surface. I would venture to say the japanning is in the 80-85% range. I would really love to strip and repaint it but I know that will likely decrease the value. The casting is marked BEDROCK, No 608 in the back, and U.S. PAT APR-19-10 behind the frog.

The knob and tote are in fantastic shape, no crackes or chips. They don't appear to be refinished. I don't think I will touch them. If I do anything I would make some new ones to match the LN stable and keep these as original.

All of the screws turned easily upon removal and I don't think any major parts are missing. It does not feel like it has a lot of backlash but it is hard to tell as it is kinda gunked up with grease.

Here are a few more pictures of what I brought home.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Jim P- I think I will keep them both. I even took her out to dinner tonight. She sure knows the way into my heart!

[Mark Baldwin III]

Wow, a nice plane for a decent price...and a wife willing to support your habit. You, sir, are living the dream! Finding either of those is hard enough :)

[Andrew Nemeth]

I soaked all the parts in a citric acid bath last night. A Stanley sweetheart logo magically appeared on the iron. I'm pretty sure this is a 603 type 7 given everything I have found. More of the jappaning is gone than I originally anticipated, it's probably in the 60% range. I decided to just strip the rest and repaint. I tried citristrip this AM, didn't seem to touch the remaining paint/jappaning. Klean-Strip KS-3 looks like it is doing the trick. I also spent a little while last night cleaning up the brass. I actually shined it up too much and ended up backing off a bit.Here are a few more photos of the post clean hardware.

[Harold Burrell]

Well, I went back to the store and picked it up for $65.

Yeah...well...you suck.

:p

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes you just find good deals around, but only if you keep your eyes open.

My wife always calls my attention to tools she sees in antique and junque stores.

Likewise my eyes are open for the things she enjoys.

jtk

[Rodney Walker]

Your wife is definitely a keeper. The plane isn't bad either.
Rodney

[Andrew Nemeth]

The paint was dry enough to put the plane back together tonight. I'm a little surprised how glossy the satin black turned out. I'm hoping it will de-gloss a little more as the paint fully cures. If not, I may try to knock it down with something. I need to lap the sole and sides just a bit, clean the wood, and drop the new LV blade and chip breaker in her (Shipped out today).

Sorry about the phone quality photos up until now. When I'm done I will break out the good stuff to post a few photos with an obligatory curly or two.

[Jim Koepke]

I need to lap the sole and sides just a bit

Its looking good.

My suggestion would be to avoid lapping the sides and sole unless there is a need. Give it some time, it is easy to make a sole worse if you are not careful. The sides look like they have a nice patina.

jtk