Learning the 12 3/4 from Ebay, etc.

Re: Learning the 12 3/4 from Ebay, etc.

walt Q

>Bob,

I picked mine up 3-4 years ago..being sold at a flea as a 12 1/2..as the markings indicate..not a lot of money..think around $45...so I know it wasn't a question of trying to pass it off as something it wasn't. the one on ebad is just funny...something just seems wrong...if you notice at no time does the buyer refer to it as a 12 3/4...

real easy to fake a 12 3/4...open up the mouth of a 12 1/2 to 1" and add the exrta thick soles...go all out and get the frog seats and screws from a few old beater transitionals and you have yourself an erzatz 12 3/4..

I set mine up with a thin blade made from an old saw..very flexible to take advantage of the larger mouth and the extra length from the pivot point to the bottom of the sole...works like a charm..especially on highly figured wood that just need a slight touch-up.

I have been known to have a scraper fetish though...probably have colse to two dozen 12 style ones (Stanley, Sargent, Union, Ohio) and a few 112's and WAY too many hand scrapers....as I said...I have a scraper monkey on my back

walt

And I thought nobody cared

woodburnbob

>Good for you, Walt. Thanks for making a comment. I was thinking no one had any interest in this intriguing question. That is, on what basis do 9 or 10 guys bid this boy up to nearly $1K. What really straightened me up in my chair was the text from Mr. Leach, which I quote below.

The first picture is from Mr. Leach's section on the 12 3/4. The second picture is an illustration in the auction at question. I guess all those bidders decided that the bushings are the same diameter. I wish I had that much confidence in myself.

"There are fake examples of this plane out in old tool land. Many can be

traced to the northeast of USofA. To the unsuspecting eye, the fakes are very

good. There is, however, one thing that the forger didn't do well - he/she/it

failed to bore the holes vertically into the wood. Look very carefully at how

the screws are oriented - they should sit flush on the main casting. If they

lean at all, even to the point of leaning away from each other, it's likely a

forgery. Also, the bushings used on the fakes are a larger diameter than the originals." (Patrick Leach)

Re: And I thought nobody cared

Ian Smith (Sydney Australia)

>I care woodburnbob. It's just that I don't know enough about these things to have contributed to the discussion. When you made your initial post I checked out the eBay listing and the description of the 12 3/4 on Patrick Leach's website. I certainly wouldn't have been confident enough in the item's authenticity to bid it up to nearly $1000 (Approx. $1330 Australian), even if I had that kind of money to spend on an old scraper.

Regards,

Ian.

Re: Learning the 12 3/4 from Ebay, etc.

Deirdre Saoirse Moen

>Well, I'm going to disagree.

I think the seller was trying to pass it off as a 12-3/4 -- indirectly.

Not every question a seller gets asked gets added back to the listing, you know? So third-party speculations about it being a 12-3/4 were added by the seller without impugning the seller's reputation. Directly, anyway.

If I wanted to keep my reputation AND not state directly that it's a 12-3/4, I'd have a third party ask me the question, state that I wasn't sure, and then publish the answer to the listing.

Re: And I thought nobody cared

Dave Thompson

>I wouldn't confuse not caring with not being able to make a constructive comment. I found it interesting, and have a new found appreciation for my #12 1/2.

thanks for the post,

Dave

Re: And I thought nobody cared

Dave Thompson

>Wait, that didn't come out right.... I have a greater appreciation for my Sargent #12 1/2 (#43). Ofcourse, I often have a problem separating functional value vs the economics of collector values.

Shrewd, crystalline analysis, Deirdre. I like it.

woodburnbob

>

Re: Learning the 12 3/4 from Ebay, etc.

Clay C in Miami

>It happens indeed ... There was a famous eBay auction a few years back, of a painting which the seller not only did not SAY was a Richard Diebenkorn, he went out of his way to poormouth it. It's from a garage sale to my garage, my wife hates it, my kid put a hole in it with his bike but you could patch it with duct tape, etc. He slathered it on pretty thick. He did just as you say - used the buyer questions to raise interest. Bidding went over $120K, turned out the seller was a childless bachelor art dealer/lawyer with no garage, I don't remember whether eBay pulled the auction or not.

One funny sidelight on that - a good friend was then a Miami Herald reporter. Before the Diebenkorn story hit the press, I proposed it to her as a feature article. She goes to her editor, who says 'Naw, that ain't news, who would care.' Two days later the story breaks -- and it breaks on page 1 of the New York Times! My friend said it was one of her more gratifying moments, refraining from that particular 'I told you so.' But, the experience did boost her batting average with that editor from then on.

Clay