Who in their right mind would pay £360 for this rust bucket?? The answer is, I did.

A company called Versatile Engineering had this plane for sale on the online auction. It just happens that this is one of the planes that I have on my wish list. After 20 years of restoring and collecting tools, I’ve come to realise that although this my look like a rust bucket too far, the chances are that most of, if not all the rust could be superficial.

This last picture show why so much. This is a type 10 Stanley 4 1/2 H.

As I’ve said in a previous post, I always like to have a couple of GTL brass planes. I always put them along with my token Norris collection, to show them at their best.

I was looking on the online auction for another project to work on when I saw this WHAT co brass plane for sale. I have seen a handful for sale in the past few years but never managed to secure one.

When I did my research for my post on GTL I also tried to find out about WHAT co, with very little success.

Anyway I put a late bid in for this one and got it for £21, which I think is a bargain.

Over the last 20 years I’ve concentrated on collecting infill planes and to date have a collection of 55. During my travels I have also bought and restored several hundred planes by other makers,mostly Stanley. I can totally understand why collectors rave about these planes, as I do about infills, to that end I’ve decided to see how long it will take me to collect a (good) Stanley No. 1, No. 4 1/2H and a No. 11.

I’ve seen a few No.1s on the online shop but none that I would consider collectable. This side of the pond Stanley No. 1s are a rare bred and to get one from the states is prohibitive due to the postage and customs duty.

Anyhow it’s good to set goals, it may take years or never, but I’ll give it a go.

I would like to thank Leading Scottish author Alan Addison for his continued sponsorship of this site. To date Alan has written 4 crime  novels which have been critically well received. Alan a former carpenter, has always taken a great interest in all things relating to his previous employment. Thanks mate.

 

Not to sure if I’m fussed about this effort, I’ll see if the paint work settles down, if not, I’ll have another go at it.

You win some you lose some!!

 

I took a chance on this late Preston No. 1014 plane when I saw it for sale on the online shop. The only reason that I considered buying it was that I already have a Spiers No.14 and 2 Mathieson No. 4s in my collection. Like them, this was a latecomer to the Preston range.

The plane was as described apart from a chunk out the front knob and the back handle being stuck fast to the plane, I think someone must have repaired the handle and left an excess of glue, which has left it stuck to the plane.

Got these two planes from the online shop, a Marples M4 and a Stanley USA No.10 The Marples cost £12 and the Stanley £46. A week in the shop and here are the results.

Not too shabby for a sympathetic restoration. I only got them for something to work on as my store of planes to do has come to an end.

I’ll have to get out more to find some projects.

One for the connoisseur.

An early, screw sided, pistol gripped plane with a very different cap screw and marked with an upside down”SPIERS AYR” on the front bun. I got this plane in Edinburgh some time ago and it is in a super condition for its age.

This one is a definite Keeper.

I received my newsletter from the world’s top carpenter. He was making it known that the routers he used and collected(he must be a collector, he has more the one of each) the Preston 1399 and the much rarer Tyzack are no better than the Stanley 71 or Record 071 and don’t compare to the modern day Veritas equivalent. “Shocker”

The Man likes to use these routers and stated so. He didn’t say “here you have to go out and buy one” He is being blamed for single handedly  causing the hype in price of these routers from £30 – to £300. These are rare planes especially the Tyzack and they are fun to use.

The same point can be made for Norris planes with adjusters. Most of the top carpenters that I’ve heard speaking about the adjuster say there is no great benefit from having it. Yet the value of these planes are hyped as well.

If you want to use or collect vintage tools, choose for yourself there are plenty out there. Most of them are fit for purpose. These tools built an “Empire” and started an “Industrial Revolution”

By choosing yourself, you can’t blame anyone else. I bought 10 plough planes 15 years ago and paid three time more for them than they are worth today, my bad. Nobody else to blame but me.

 

Here I have a low angle infill plane. It looks like a precursor to the Stanley No. 62. It is about 18″ in length and is extremely well made. The sides taper form top to bottom and front to back.

Although nearly all metal, it has small infills before and after the handle. The plane is completely functional and works a treat. This is one of the most unusual planes that I have come across in twenty years of collecting.

Any information on this plane would be appreciated.

I purchased this small infill(beech) with a job lot of planes. The bed was set about 10 degrees to low and it was non functional. Someone had added a couple of bits of packing but it still didn’t do the job.

I’ll take ti to the workshop and set the bed to a standard Spiers setting and I should end up with a dinky little plane.