Question on Bailey 46 value

[Ray Bahr]

Hi All,

I have a virtually unused Bailey 46 with all the bits and a somewhat tired box. I really mean unused. What are those worth in today's market?

Thanks!

Ray

[Jim Koepke]

Ray, a picture would help. Googling and searching on ebay brings up nothing for > Bailey 46 <.

Also, does it come with instructions?

jtk

[Ray Bahr]

Sorry about that. Hope these help. The 46 is allegedly one on the best working 'complex' bailey planes made - my interpretation.

The full extant of use was that a couple of blade backs were polished as one would do for sharpening. I like and use planes, but this seems rare as hen's teeth, and may easily fund other toys. Many more pictures and more cutters...

Ray

459959

459961459963459964

[Jim Koepke]

The 46 is allegedly one on the best working 'complex' bailey planes made - my interpretation.

The confusing part of your 'interpretation' is the #46 has nothing to do with Bailey planes other than Stanley was the company who purchased Leonard Bailey's patents.

A simple way to gauge the value of many things is to see how they are doing in auctions.

On ebay you can use advanced search of completed or sold items.

jtk

[Erich Weidner]

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan7.htm

No values, but a good description.

[Rob Luter]

I used to have a #46 (I think Jim has it now). I only had one cutter. It worked well and having a complete tool like the OP has would be nice. They make a great plow plane.

[Ray Bahr]

I saw the PL description.

What I have tried to find - unsuccessfully, is a proper inventory of what came with these, kinda a 'parts breakdown'.

Thanks

Ray

[Rob Luter]

These instructions seem to detail everything


460183

[Stew Denton]

Ray,

Beautiful plane!

I have followed the 46 on the auction site on and off for a while. This because I was preparing for retirement and wanted a #46 for cutting dados, and was not planning to buy wooden dado planes or some #39s.

The Stanley 46 with cutters is reportedly a really good choice for Dados and for cross grain rabbets. (I haven't tried mine yet, but such is reported on the Superior Works site.)

The 46 with cutters is generally somewhat pricey, more than the 45, but of course a lot less pricey than the 55, conditions of the planes, etc., being equal. As pointed out in the Superior Works site, a cutter set is significantly more expensive than the plane alone. My experience has also born that out.

For what it's worth, I have never seen one on the auction site that had an original box with it. That, along with the beautiful condition, will make it very desirable to collectors.

If you have a full set of cutters I would guess the value on the auction site to be well over $350. It is hard to say what it actually would bring on that site, and given that it has a box, cutters, and is in beautiful condition, it might bring very significantly more than $350.

Check to see if you have a 13/16" cutter. If you do, then according to the Superior Works, your plane was made in or after 1925. My 45 is in the original box, and it had a box with pasteboard/cardboard construction, like yours. My 45 was made about 1914 or so. My 55 was made in a about 1925, and it came in a metal box. Thus, based on the boxes that came with my 45 and my 55, I would guess your plane was made before 1925, but do know that Stanley changed box types several times. Thus they could have gone back to the early cardboard box at some later date.

Be aware that I am not a collector, but rather a user, so my guess is based on watching things on the auction site that are completed auctions, so view my estimate with a grain of salt.

For what it's worth, if you plan to cut dados and cross grain rabbets by hand, I would would strongly consider keeping that plane for those purposes. I know from experience that if you let a tool like that go, and in the future want to do either of those, and lack another plane that can do such, that you will eventually regret letting it get away from you.

Regards,

Stew

[Ray Bahr]

Thanks Stew,

I have been bouncing around the option of keeping it for a while. I have a 45 that is also in reasonable shape, but no box, and a bunch of others more common sizes bailey 3-8. My current thoughts are probably a bit blasphemous, but I want to cull the heard and pick up several L-Ns to fill some holes, as I use these fairly often. I was planning on selling the 45 & 46 and some of the other misc planes and acquiring a couple of L-N that I don't already have. I may end up regretting the sale of this, but that won't be the 1st time I do that :), and it may not sell.

The process of selling this thing is interesting, some folks seem to be 'helping', mainly by pointing out failings, some have helped by pointing out what I was missing, one person wants to buy just the box...

We will see how this plays out, someone may end up with a nice plane, I will likely list the others on this site and I have 4 or 5 wood vises that I want to get rid of as well. Recently retired and now realizing that I will NEVER need 6 bid woodworking vises. Hmmm, perhaps I will pick up an Emmett with the proceeds of that :D

Looked up the cutters, and it does have the 13/16

460205

Ray

[Stew Denton]

Ray,

Sounds great.

Do not let the box go by itself. I think that the box makes the rest of the plane and all its parts more valuable than if there was no box, but I could be wrong on that. It is hard to say though, because again I am a user, not a collector. However, in looking at the various combination planes on the auction site over the years, it seems like the complete tools, including a box, go for well more than the planes missing some parts.

Stew

[Ray Bahr]

Hi Stew,

I agree, I would not let it go. If it were not to sell, and I were to keep it, I would put the box in a safe place.

[Mark Stutz]

I have a couple of user #46 planes and prefer them over the 45. I got cutters from St. James Bay, but don't know if they still carry them or not.

[Stew Denton]

Mark,

St. James Bay is still selling reproduction irons on the auction site. I have thought about getting a size or two that I do not have, as those sizes would be very useful if I had them. Also they have reproduction nickers for some Stanley combination planes, again I have thought about getting some of those as well.

What has your experience been with the ones from St. James Bay Co.?

A question: are the reproduction irons from them pretty comparable to the originals? Do they sharpen fairly easily, etc.?

I like the older irons of the Stanley planes, to me they have a good balance of edge holding ability versus quick sharpening time. However, I am not against ones that take a little longer to sharpen, if they hold an edge a little better.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Mark Stutz]

I got mine roughly 20 years ago. Just getting back into WW after life got in the way, but I couldn't tell much difference from other original Stanley plow plane blades. I just looked on the auction site and they are currently O-1 which is what mine are.

[Stew Denton]

Mark,

Thanks for the input. I will probably end up buying a couple of irons from St. James, because originals are so expensive if in good shape, and a couple of commonly needed sizes for my projects simply aren't available and were not even produced as an option by Stanley. Also, nickers that are in good condition for the 46, 45, and 55 are hard to find, and I want some spares.

Know what you mean about life getting in the way. I have been retired about 6 weeks now, and I still have too many "have to do first projects" that it may be several months before I get to do much of any woodworking.

Thank you for the advise, it is much appreciated. It sounds like St. James provides good quality reproduction parts.

Thanks and regards,

Stew