Source for pricing info on wooden planes?

Re: Source for pricing info on wooden planes?

Dave Thompson


>Hi Ellis,

Generally, I think e-bay is a good place to get a price. I haven't noticed any significant difference in price between American, English or other woodies. In general woodies are pretty economical. The things that really bumps up the price might be complete sets of hollow and rounds, or perhaps large profiles (e.g. crown molding, fancy shoe molding, large bull nose, etc.)

enjoy,

Dave

Re: Source for pricing info on wooden planes?

Paul in NJ


>Hi Ellis,

There are two books, "A Guide to American Wooden Planes" by Emil and Martyl Pollack and "British Planemakers from 1700" by W.L. Goodman. These will give you the history and age but not prices. Unfortunately "British Planemakers" is out of print, I wish I had a copy. As for prices, there is "Prices Realized on Rare Imprinted American Wooden Planes 1979-1992" (printed 1993) by Emil and Martyl Pollack and "A Price Guide to Antique Tools" (2000) by Herb Kean.

You might also check Tony Murlands website for comparables, he usually has many British Planes for sale.

Generally speaking the highest priced planes by type are cornice or crown molders followed by panel raisers, plow planes, complex molders, joint making planes (dado, sash, etc.), molding, beads, rabbet, and hollows & rounds. Condition is always important. Here in the United States, American made planes bring higher prices from collectors. Collectors crave 18-century more than 19-century planes. Things like regional interest, i.e. NJ made planes to NJ collectors, can be important. As a user, I sometimes favor British Planes because they are more apt to be a higher bedding angle, better for hardwoods. Owner names don't really enter into the equation unless they are famous or they obscure or damage.

I think the best places to sell planes are at regional tool shows like the ones held by CRAFTS, PATINA, MWTCA, etc. and auctions like Browns. Both have users and collectors looking to spend money. You could probably sell them on WC too! I think eBay is tough for wooden planes unless they are rare or desirable. There are so many condition things to check for that people are wary of unless they are buying from someone trusted.

I hope this helps.

Paul Dzioba

Re: Source for pricing info on wooden planes?

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod


>Ellis -

Paul's provided a good summary of resources. In addition, Patrick Leach usually has a couple dozen wooden planes listed in his monthly sale email. That would give you an idea of the current market. Sign up at supertool.com.

Long ago I acquired, separately, two more or less intact groups of wooden planes. Both had a mix of American and British makers. Your set might be similarly mixed?

There are many factors affecting price. For common user planes condition is very important. All parts present, sole straight, mouth not hacked off, little or no insect or human damage and so on. For molders, wider = more valuable, with cornice planes at the top of the heap. Rare American makers (Chelor, Nicholson) can bring thousands of dollars. Uncommon profiles will also bump up the price. Match planes or tongue and groove planes were sold and used in pairs. The value of the pair exceeds the individual values.

Good luck,

Ed

Thanks, Paul and Ed

Ellis Walentine


>I have printed your responses for future reference.

Best,

Ellis

Thanks, Dave

Ellis Walentine


>I do think there is a fairly complete set of beading planes in this lot. I appreciate the tip.

Ellis

What I look for

jimreed@tallahassee


>Seems to me that sets of woodies do better on the 'bay. It might be worthwhile to go through the planes and sort by maker and by set.

Re: Condition, condition

thomd coralseacat@yahoo.au


>I'm a user kind of guy, and my only interest in planes is for ones of good condition. This isn't lotus land up here, in the frozen north, but I would say that a plane in Clark and Williams shape is a pretty expensive plane 50 bucks and up. Good value, for a using tool. Overall, C&W shape i have only seen in some underused molding planes. I have yet to see any jointers or jacks in an out of the box condition.

Re: $3.00 Panel Plane

Dale Stansbery


>Here's one I recently bought at auction that was obviously only worth $3.00, but the guy bidding against me wouldn't quit until $60.

Re: Source for pricing info on wooden planes?

Brent Beal


>Look up Tony Murland through Google. He gives both prices on his site. Maybe you can get a good idea from his information.

Re: Source for pricing info on wooden planes?

Todd Hughes


>I sell a good many wood planes and here is my take on them...Hollows or Rounds $10-$15 a matched pair [uncommon to find in my experance]$35-$40 , side beads about $15-$20...center beads a bit more, Rabbet planes that are not real wide...Hard to sell for $10 often, Dado planes, $20-$25 , Fillister $40 or so, Panel Raiser...I have had very good luck with these with most nice ones going for $100-$200. Most plow planes with 1 iron hard sell at more then $50 unless somthing special, handle ones go for more and of course Boxwood or other special ones can take off.Molding planes , good rule of thumb the wider and more complicated the more expensive, I would think a 2 in. Ogee is a $50 plane if not more. Most smoothers, jack and jointers are really almost what I call ONV tools [Of No Vaule] unless somthing real special and in excellent condition plus....and you don't see to many of those!Most maybe $10-$15 if in Very Good condition but I don't fool with many of these planes

In my experance most English planes sell for less then American ones and are in less demand.Don't get all excited if you have some "rare" planes that were made by some small obscure maker , these often will sell for less then a more well known and more common maker since guys may be looking to put a set together of this more well known maker while no one is interested in the obscure maker.Actually most times the makers name is not all that important though with some it is very important as is the stamp [i. white from philla for example].Condition is important, while hard to find a old wood bench plane in excellent condition molding planes are often found in this condition. Cracks, rot, pitting etc. will quickly drop the price down to about nothing.

Well maybe give an idea but as with most things what may look like a small thing can result in a big price difference. I just sort tried to give you a general avarage price....Good luck.....Todd

I cannot understand why

jimreed@tallahassee


>There is such a demand for matched H&R. For example, a #5H and #5R from the same maker will get a premium because they are matched. Of course, they are almost never used that way. For users, a #2H and a #4H are much more useful, but really sell as two separate planes. Sometimes I don't understand collectors.

Collectors ?

Todd Hughes


>I think the chances that a matched pair of H&R planes on ebay are going to a collector instead of a user is about zero unless the planes are somthing special or from a desirable maker. To believe that some collector is interested in buying that pair of Sanduskys to put in his tool cabinet is streatching it.I always get a smile when people seem to think when ever somthing gets sold higher then what they thinks it should it is because those dreaded "collectors" are buying it! .....Todd

If you got more than one...

jim reed @ tallahassee


>then you are a collector.

So....

Todd Hughes


>how many planes do you have, eh? .....Todd

How many?

jim reed @ tallahassee


>Not enough yet. I would have to take time off work to begin a census. My garage has some, most rooms in the house have some. It might be hard to find them all. Do parts count as whole or fractions? Are spokeshaves counted as planes? Do scrapers count?

Good news!

Bob Hackett


>I officially qualify as a collector of allen wrenches,bent chinese wrenches,broken drill bits and cheap screwdrivers.

Who would have thought.

MB

Got you beat

Bill Houghton, retired fun in Sebastopol, CA


>Thanks to my uncle, I'm officially a collector of spline-drive "L" wrenches (like the "L" allen wrenches) that are unlikely to fit anyting I'll ever encounter, but I hate to toss them out.

Of course, I've got a few other items, too...