At what point down the slope do I hit..

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Will in K.C.

>Holy crap! I have been thinking the same thing. I hope we don't "bump heads" on ebay. :^)

-Will

Think in terms of the Moibus Strip :-)

Zeke in Stillwater

>

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Frank Mutchler

>It's a new virus...winds its way from the cpu into the motherboard and out the keyboard port to the plastic keypads and into your fingers. I've got it too....no known antidote ;>)!!

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Tom in Tipp

>I'd look local before I went to ebay. They are usually plentiful enough and cheap enough that you don't have to pay the shipping charges from on-line auctions.

Tom

Ps. As far as the 'when' to collect, no time like the present

Well, I hit that point a while back

John K in Hastings, MN

>and the slope is PRETTY DARN steep. What do I mean?

I started with just a few. Get some basic stuff, like a matched tongue and groove, dado planes, and some molding planes:



The wooden plow plane is a particular favorite:



But, I knew I was in a deep crevasse, filled with vicious pumas, when I found myself buying a hollow and round set:



This John Taber set is heavy on the larger sizes, so I still need to fill out the collection in the #2-#12 range. This set cost me about $275, and the plow plane was almost $200, the rest were "only" about $10-15 each except the two-way tongue and groover.

They ARE fun, though. Another fifty or so and I might have a decent collection!

John

If you're asking, it's too late

David Barnett

>I have a few shelves of moulders (not counting H&Rs), only about half which I've really used, and everytime I see a nice one I have to restrain myself. And I'm not a 'collector', either. At all. No way.

If you're buying these to use, I'd offer the following thoughts. Let the collectors have those large profiles. Look for the small and delicate profiles. These will get used much more than wide, complex profiles. Small and simple profiles work beautifully on smaller cabinetry, more to scale in today's homes and apartments. Also, simpler and smaller profiles are generally easier to use, versatile in combination with other simple profiles (mirrors, frames, and so on), and usually easier to restore. As for restoration, since many stocks shrink, irons often need to be resized to match. This is not too hard to manage on smaller planes. Look for York pitch. These will work nicely on hardwoods, but a well-tuned and sharp 45-degree pitch can perform okay on well-behaved wood.

Another way to save a few bucks is to buy Scottish and English moulders. American moulders are often more collected and may bring higher prices. Yet another good rule of thumb is to buy the profile first and the condition secondly. If it's a no-name beat up plane with a well-fitted replacement wedge and no readable marks sanded off by someone who didn't know better, but it has a profile I need (or think I need), I'm gonna buy it. My final rule: don't wait for the price to drop.

As to where along the slope 'wooden moulder lust' kicks in, it's apparently, at least in my case, between that first innocent used #4 and the zoom stereomicroscope with the swinging boom and dual fiber-optic halogens that makes it oh so easy to sharpen DT saws with diamond escapement files.

Re: If you're asking, it's too late

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>Your sliding down the mountain one sled ahead of me.

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Scott Post

>Ebay isn't the place I'd start unless you're comfortable that the seller knows tools. Chances are he doesn't and won't be able to recognize fatal flaws even if you ask pointed questions. I'd stick with knowledgeable, honest online sellers like Tony Murland and people who sell on the oldtools list. Tell them you're looking for users. In gneral, the sole must be straight and not too worn, you don't want twist in the body, the iron must be correct (match the sole), and the wedge has to fit tight.

I'd start with a few matching pairs of smaller diameter hollows and rounds. You can make a lot of profiles with these and use them to clean up profiles created by other planes. Besides general purpose planes like hollows & rounds, accumulate profiles that you'll use in your woodworking. A really good first molding plane is a side bead. They're cheap, plentiful, and reasonably easy to sharpen. You probably don't want to learn to sharpen molding plane irons on a complex profile.

As for sharpening...

Catharine C. Kennedy- Chatham Center, NY

>When I got my first molders properly sharpened, it was a real epiphany! If it's work, you're doing it wrong. I've sent all my work to Dana Mazaglia (Box 18, Groveland, MA 01834). He advert. in M-WTC and is absolutely excellant, and provides historical info with the returned SHARP planes! Well worth it, especially for starters (rehabbing)

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Todd Hughes

>With user molding planes what I look for are that they are not warped, or have areas of rot or excessive worm damage.Also if they have boxing is it present and not damaged.Loose boxing can be glued with out much problim but that is about the most you want to do.Sole shouldn't be overly worn and mouth shouldn't be opened up, somthing some prior owners would do so that chips don't clog it.Often the side escarpment will be opened up as well which probably from a user perspective doesn't affect anything. Irons and wedges should be the original ones or in the cases of the wedges at least fit like it is.I know lots of guys will make wedges, Boxing or even the irons to rehab a plane but even in the old tool hell I live in molding planes are so common and cheap,[$5-$15 mostly] unless somthing special I can't understand going to this much trouble. Don't really think one maker is all that better over another one though most of the forign non English made planes that I have seen are pretty ugly and rough looking and i would stay away from them. English planes will from a tool guy be priced at less then an American plane on average though in Antique stores they may be priced higher.

I collect 18th century type molding planes and while I am not a fanatic I do enjoy looking for them and is still quite a thrill when you find a nice one in a pile of old wooden planes.....Todd

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

paul womack

>I'd stick with knowledgeable, honest online sellers like Tony Murland

You'll certainly pay for his knowledge, though.

BugBear

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, South of Miami FL

>A while ago I made an effort to assemble a set of hollows and rounds by buying $10 planes on eBay. About half of the planes ended up having significant problems, the most common being that they were warped laterally. I cannot think of any practical way to fix that, so they will be "art". I found that a lot of sellers were unwilling or unable to give truly accurate descriptions.

I think that they are best bought "live", or from a well-known, reputable dealer.

Re: wooden planes on ebay

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>My experiences with wooden planes in general was so abysmal on ebay that I gave up, with the exception of a couple of antique Asian planes that I don't really expect to use.

Pam

Re: As for sharpening...

David Linnabary

>Catherine,

Could you share some of your experiences with rehabbing molding planes? Are there any particular texts or individuals whose methods you've found especially helpful?

David

Agree

jim_reed@marietta

>My experience is that it is hard to find good woodies on Ebay. Good looking, however, will turn up gems. Every collector NEEDS a set of H&Rs and those should come from a good dealer. The sizes are so across the board that putting together a reasonable collection from the Bay would take a lifetime. Good woodies on the bay can be had, you just have to look. Try for a set of side beads. Those are measured pretty much the same.

Re: Agree

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I decided that I'd go for the UK dealers (Tony Murland or Andy Stephens or Pennyfarthing) to buy a set of H&R's when they were needed; thus have ordered several woodies from both over the past couple of years. Mostly it's been a good experience, but sneaky little problems can still enter the equation. For example, one side rebate from Andy looked real good until I noticed the blade had been decimated, but not obviously, it was bent sufficiently to peek out the side, but not enough to cut. BTW, Andy didn't do this, I suspect it fooled him, too.

I did buy 1/4" H&R locally in Smithville just to see what they were about; but they were really expensive, $20 each, just about gagged.

Therefore, I plan to make my own and stop mucking about; or, if I inherit a small fortune before I actually need the H&R's, I'll buy them from C&W and be done with it. So, I'm now of the "make/buy it when I need it and do not worry about it before" discipline.

I've had very good luck with the Brits: a wooden chamfer, toothing (although why I have this I haven't a clue, must have been the moment), one side rebate, couple of T&G sets, a coffin smoother (although the first one had too huge a mouth), a boxwood quirk router, maybe a couple of others, piles of Addis carving chisels, Record 043 & 044, and a really cool Preston metal chamfer shave. I love the idea of side beads, which I'll probably need for the new period furniture effort if I can't just scratch them.

Pam

Re: At what point down the slope do I hit..

Scott Post

>I agree that Tony is no longer the low cost source (he used to have killer deals on "harlequin" sets of H&R's), but if you can't see and touch a plane in person like at a flea market then a reputable seller like Tony is still the best bet. I'd guess that even with good pictures and diligent questions you're rate of getting duds off ebay would be high enough that dealers like Tony are still a bargain. Getting three planes off ebay for the price of one from Tony isn't a good deal if two of those planes are firewood.

Get a jump start on your collection

Wendell @ Murphy, TX

>This seems like a bargain price:

Tony Murland - 100 Moulding Planes

Only $7.50 a plane.

All kidding aside, Has anybody ordered one of these variety packs from Tony Murland? If so, what was the generally consensus? Were they all usable?

Wendell

I agree

Roger Nixon

>I can find tons of old tools around here but not good molding planes. Even if you get a good plane off ebay it's not substantially cheaper than Tony's stuff. I'll get one of his 50 plane specials one of these days.

Re: Get a jump start on your collection

Ernie Miller Topeka

>I ordered the set of 50 Still haven't used them all yet. Rob Victor came over the week befor last and used a couple of the larger hallows & rounds. They all seemed to be in pretty good shape. I gave him an idea of what I did and he did a pretty good job of picking out some that I would use. 6-8 hallows and rounds a full set of side beads minus the 1/8" but I have picked one up sinse some bodgers and some complex molders. pretty good mix I thought. worth the $8 I paid for them only one or two duplicates and they were given to friends.

Re: Well, I hit that point a while back

Jim O'Neal

>I live in Rosemount. Where do you go around here to find the old wooden molding planes?

Re: Well, I hit that point a while back

John K in Hastings, MN

>Funny you should mention that. I'm having a "NeanderFest" at my shop and various other locations a week from Saturday- we'll be visiting two lumber mills (Cannon Hardwoods and a friend who does it as a sideline) and an antique store in Red Wing that has a big collection of old tools. Starts at 10 AM on 2/7, email me if you're interested.

Most of my stuff I've gotten from ebay or auctions.

John

Re: Get a jump start on your collection

Wendell @ Murphy, TX

>So when you ordered the planes, did they contact to you about what you wanted? Pretty good service if they did. Looks like I need to save up my allowance for awhile.

Wendell

Re: Well, I hit that point a while back

Jim O'Neal

>I can't make it, but thanks for the invitation. Do you do stuff like this on a regular basis? If you do, keep me in mind.

Jim