Small Thanksgiving gloat!
Tony Sade (Charleston, WV)
>I've recently started to get interested in lowering the electron count in my shop and have been on the lookout for some reasonably priced planes. I've acquired a few eBay clunkers that need a bit of work, and have turned my fantasies to walking into an antique store to find a trove of goodies and an owner who doesn't know what s/he has. Right!
While visiting my sister and her husband, whose deceased father was a woodworker, I asked if the old guy had left my BIL any hand tools. I wasn't expecting much, having seen the power tools in the house, but was I surprised. The picture shows what I walked away with:
Top row, left to right:
1. Craftsman beading plane (unfortunately minus all but one of the cutters)
2. Stanley #78 in excellent condition;
3. Stanley 18A block in very good condition;
4. Stanley 140-complete but needs to be cleaned up;
5. Stanley Bailey #3 (type 19) in excellent condition;
6. Really beat up Sargeant 409 that looks salvagable;
7. Vaughn and Bushnell 904 (VG) and 905 (G-tote tip is broken);
8. Adjustable auger bit-not sure of the make
"Second row", l-r:
9. Stanley "Yankee" brace-nothing fancy or rare, probably about 30 years old and in great shape;
10. Stanley marking guage;
11. Misc. Stanley SW chisels in fine shape;
12. Stanley 53 spokeshave in fine condition but "common as mud" according to P. Leach;
13. Weird Stanley mason's chisel sharpened to use on wood, it appears;
14. Stanley #77 Mortise guage;
15. Assorted Auger bits-Craftsman I think;
16. Very nice protractor-can't remember the brand.
What I could not get the BIL to part with was an absolutely pristine set of Russell Jennings auger bits in a box. (You may have seen the ebay listing mentioned on the Woodnet forum, which consisted of a rare brace and a set of these bits, and which went for over $600 (which most agreed was pretty ridiculous). The label in the box looked brand new, and the bits looked like they had never been used. The box was signed by BIL's dad. who wrote down the name of the shop the set was purchased from in 1946. I tried, but could not talk BIL out of the bits. Best I could do was to get him to agree to leave them to me in his will. (He could lose a few pounds so I'm hopeful. ;>) When I showed him the ebay listing (after he made clear the bits weren't going anywhere), you could see the dollar signs dancing in his eyes.
Not a bad haul for a decent price-having to put up with BIL. ;>) Cheers,
p.s.-Anyone have any idea where to track down a set of the Craftsman beading bits? I have no idea when I'd use this plane, but it looks like it might come in handy some day.