Things found in the wild

[Clay Thigpen]

OK two weeks ago as I was hunting our favorite quarry(rusty tools) I cam upon my first Stanley #45. It was complete with one cutter and had the floral pattern on it, asking price $139, I passed. Then today as I was coming through North Carolina on my way back from Pigeon Forge I happened into an antique store that was just chocked full of tools. ( I have pictures from my phone so be ready when I up load them.) Among the wooden plows, rabbets, and smoothers I counted no less than 6 #45's. All of them were in good shape but none were less than a hundred dollars,( not even the Craftsman).

So the question is what is a good price for a #45?

There were other things that would send you spinning ( I did) or maybe not but they all seemed high to me i.e. $75 for a #4 with the red background stanley cap. I plan to go back and see how much I can get them to come down but I don't have high Hopes. What do you think. Look for pictures today or tomorrow.

[Dave Matson]

I got mine for $40 at an estate sale. Of course that didn't include the cutters or a set of short arms. That was an extra $90 on ebay.
It all comes down to completeness or whether you can find someone who doesn't really know what they have. $100+ seems steep though for one without cutters. After all they aren't exactly scarce. Try ebay; a search of completed listings showed a complete one (with original box) went for $79.55 not too long ago. Good luck and Happy hunting!

[Jim Koepke]

I find if one has discipline and patience, one can get one in the less than the $100 dollar range with some cutters.
Just have to keep trying and accept the fact that you may not get one with the slitter blade and cam rest.

You may also want to limit yourself to the models made after 1911 or so. Can't remember the exact date. The date is not important, it is the body casting and the fence adjustments that are included. See the images:

#45 Bodies.jpg #45 Fence.jpg

The locking screw is often missing and is a difficult part to find. The earliest models do not have this fine adjustment on the fence. The first models with the fence adjustment have the locking screw above the adjustment screw engaging the threads of the adjustment screw which does nothing to keep the fence from rocking in use.

On eBay if you use a saved search, also look for Ward's planes. Theirs were the same as the Stanley, but for some reason collectors do not see them quite as desirable as the ones where the Stanley brand has not been removed.

I have one and it works just as well. The one I have actually came in a two plane deal. One Stanley #45 and one Ward's #45. It was a little over $200 for the pair. The only reason I bought the two at the time is that it not only came with all the original cutters, it had a complete set of the extra cutters for cutting flutes and reeds. So, keep your eyes open and you can get a good deal. I have seen people at flea markets with old rusty early types that have no blades and someone has used the wrong bolts to replace missing parts with price tags in the stratosphere.

Good luck,

jim

[Ryan Stokes]

I got my #45 at an estate auction for $22.50 with a Craftsman version of the #78. It came with ~18 blades, but most are somewhat pitted. The plane itself is pretty solid after heavy cleaning, but with a cracked handle.

I think I just got lucky by going to an auction where no one really knew what it was, plus all the dirt on it helped.

[Matt Rogers]

I got a model 45 from the online auction site. It was a Montgomery Wards model 45, which is identical to the Stanley 45. It looked like it had been used a couple of times and then put right back in the box. It had a complete set of cutters and all of the standard accessories were there too.

I paid $140 and that was this summer. The Stanley branded model 45s were going for about $250 to $300 on the auction.

Some online antique sellers have these for over $300.

I found the same thing that you did when I looked locally. There was one plane body, that was basically rust in the shape of a model 45, with no blades, and none of the rests for $100.

All things considered, I still think I got a good deal. I have a bookshelf made that was just a pile of pine at the beginning of the summer. (Don't laugh, I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, so I don't get much time to make sawdust....)

--Matt Rogers
Grand Haven, MI

[Matt Wilson]

I think I paid around $20 - $30 for my 45 on ebay. Its functional but rusty with one cutter. I bought a box of blades for around $50 (ebay) shortly after.

I think if you are looking for a user, there are deals to be had out there. May not need a complete set of blades either. I know I've only used about two out of my set so far.

[Tom Wiarda]

I bought one this summer for $30 with all the parts except the slitter depth stop. It was the 3rd day of an estate sale and they were about ready to send everything that was left to Goodwill. It cleaned up real nice. Tom

[Clay Thigpen]

Here are the pics I took sorry but all I had was my phone and they are a little blurry but the bench with all the tools on it is a Stanley 870.

I have a few more about another workbench that was there but I didn't get the name of the company that made it.
11-03-09_1451.jpg

11-03-09_1434.jpg

[Clay Thigpen]

wrong pics but here are the others. I was too over whelmed to take any pics of the Stanley #45s and others that were in nice condition. I really wasn't ready to see that many good tools in one place, scared me some.

11-03-09_1449.jpg

11-03-09_1435.jpg

On the back wall with the wooden planes is a Floor plane and a toothing plane as well as a bunch of Sanley Liberty Bell planes. On the side were some english router planes and shaves, as well as some stanley #3's and 4's but they were of the later type whe Stanley started putting there name on the frog , most of the bench planes there were of this vintage.

[Bob Glenn]

Clay, please let us know where this treasure trove is located. I'm down in that area often would like to browse.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Clay, please let us know where this treasure trove is located. I'm down in that area often would like to browse.

Yeah - ditto - can you hook a brother up? Both locations, please.

Kent
Atlanta

[Stan Suther]

Now you've got me all hot to visit this place. I live in the Charlotte area so can get to most NC locations fairly quickly. Please let us know where this is ( not that I NEED any more tools).