What would these planes be worth? - Woodworking Talk

ScottyB · 07-13-2009, 05:15 PM

A friend of mine handed some hand planes over to me today. These planes belonged to her grandfather and were used to help build the log cabin that her father was born in. I have no idea how old they are but she is 56 years old. If there is some value to them I would be interested in selling them for her as she is in need of the money. Is there anyone here who can help value these?

ScottyB · 07-13-2009, 05:16 PM

More pics...

ScottyB · 07-13-2009, 05:22 PM

More pics...

ScottyB · 07-13-2009, 05:24 PM

Last two pics...

chevyll_1967 · 07-13-2009, 06:42 PM

Are they all the same brand? Myself I go $75 for all lot of cleaning up to do on them

ScottyB · 07-13-2009, 10:36 PM

Looking at the first picture, the top and bottom ones appear to be Winchester. The middle one is a Defiance by Staney. It looks to me like they could be cleaned up fairly easily but as I don't know anything about planes I don't want to dismantle them yet as I am not sure how to make sure they are properly aligned and sharpened.

I may go ahead and clean them up for myself anyway as that is what she really wants, but if there was enough there to help her out of a bind I would like to help her out that way.

nzgeordie · 07-13-2009, 11:21 PM

Scotty, it depends on who's going to buy. If it's a tool collector, then don't touch them. If it's a tool user, cleaning them is quite simple - just needs some elbow grease and it could add to the price you get for them. The important thing is to make sure all the parts are there and in good order.
I recently cleaned and tuned a rusty old Stanley 04-1/2. The blade and cap iron were set to soak in a solution of citric acid overnight then buffed. The body was smoothed on P600 paper glued to a sheet of glass until the worst of the pitting was gone and the sole was smooth and true, then I heated the body (in the sun) before applying a lanolin based coating to prevent further rusting. A knife-edge file taken to the mouth to clean it up (if necessary), sharpen the blade and true the leading edge of the cap-iron and a general clean and oil of the other parts and the plane was good as new (maybe better

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knotscott · 07-14-2009, 09:45 AM

I'm not sure about the others...doubt they're worth much, but the Winchester name tends to get some attention on Ebay....possibly due to their gun fame. It's definitely worth checking out. At the very least, I'm sure it could be tuned up to be a good user. It's a little rough but depending on what you plan to do with it, it might clean up nicely. Doing too much can devalue from a collector's perspective, which is why you want to check the value first, but they're not typically worth a lot if in rough shape either.

As an example of how far they can be restored...I rehabbed an old Bedrock 605 that was pretty rough when I got it. It was a couple of hours of effort but nothing major. Lots of cleaning, some rust removal, fixed the tote, repained the body, etc. As far as value...bought it for $6, sold it quickly for $85....it may have gone for more if I auctioned it, and would definitely be worth more if in original condition looking like it does now.

An interesting link.

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ScottyB · 07-19-2009, 10:29 PM

Thanks for the input. I haven't decided what to do with the planes yet and haven't had a chance to research values yet but I do appreciate the diferent ideas. Thanks again.

kapena · 08-09-2009, 06:58 PM

The block plane with FDRY on it is a collectible. I think it is somewhat rare, but I'm no expert. Be careful about cleaning it up.

The Winchester is a good one too.

phinds · 08-10-2009, 07:05 PM

knotscot, that's some nice restoration.

Paul