Posts: 528
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2004
I got my Patrick Leach December tool list today. I browsed through it and found he was selling a Stanley #62 Low Angle Jack Plane for $295. This is not a rant about Mr. Leach’s prices; I’ve found them to be a little on the high side, but fair, and you can depend on getting a quality tool from him.
![[Image: t11.jpg]](http://www.supertool.com/forsale/dec/t11.jpg)
I looked at eBay, and vintage #62s are being offered for anywhere from $225 to one optimistic soul who is asking $500.
The thing is, if you want a low angle jack, you can get a brand new Lie-Nielsen for $245, or a new Lee Valley for $240. Both of them, I feel quite sure, are higher quality than Stanley ever made. The modern Stanley #62 looks to be about $165; I don’t know about the quality. I can only assume that the people buying the vintage Stanleys are collectors, rather than users, although I don’t think the Stanley plane is all that attractive.
I don’t really have a point here, or a moral, I just thought this was kind of interesting.
Hank Gillette
Posts: 13,389
Threads: 4
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: New Jersey
One word, collectors. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but users are not buying that plane, they are buying the LV and LN versions.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
Posts: 12,456
Threads: 0
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: Kansas City, MO and International Falls, MN
There are a few folks who genuinely enjoy using vintage tools over even the modern day versions of the same basic design. Most Stanley's other than the basic bench planes, chisels, and a few specialty tools, are mostly collectibles, although they may get a swipe or two on a board occasionally also.
I have a vintage Stanley #62 Sweetheart. I also have a LV Veritas Low Angle plane which is a dream to use. Sometimes I like to take the vintage tool down and let it play across the wood fibers, and allow myself to feel like a woodworker of yore. Yeah, it's in my imagination, and hokey as well, but fun nonetheless.
I would sell my vintage Stanley #62 with sweetheart iron for about $250, because while I am wistful occasionally, I am not stupid.
" The founding fathers weren't trying to protect citizens' rights to have an interesting hobby." I Learn Each Day 1/18/13
www.RUSTHUNTER.com
Posts: 3,017
Threads: 1
Joined: Aug 2009
If they're collector's tools, I suppose a hanging hole would reduce the value a lot, eh?
Posts: 6,562
Threads: 2
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: North Florida
(12-05-2016, 10:55 PM)Bill_Houghton Wrote: If they're collector's tools, I suppose a hanging hole would reduce the value a lot, eh? Hey! Some of my best tool bargains have hang holes. Most of them are well done and certainly provide another option for storage.
As for the Stanley #62s, I have a few of them. The original blades are a little thin for me. They languish on a shelf because the LN #62 sees all the action. It is one of my go-to planes. I just used it this week making a raised panel. It was competing with a skew woodie jack rabbet and a LN #140 and held its own. The blade is thick and the action has very little backlash.
Original collector version Stanley #62s are rare. I doubt they sold many to start with. And there is that mouth crack fever that took many down. The front knob assembly is fiddly and prone to breaks and loss--esp the front adjuster lever cam. I guess this means lots of collectors fighting over a limited number of survivors. Just wait until the Minecraft and YouTube generation grows up and the price for a pristine #62 will probably come waaay down. Most vintage tool collectors are vintage themselves.
===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---
Please visit my website
splintermaking.com
Posts: 13,389
Threads: 4
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: New Jersey
Hang holes mean little to users, a lot to collectors, as its not "original" due to the modification. I've always wondered why Stanley didn't make them with hang holes; makes a lot of sense to me.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
Posts: 3,017
Threads: 1
Joined: Aug 2009
And imagine - the diameter of the hang hole, which would have changed over time, would be yet another indicator of plane type.
Posts: 6,562
Threads: 2
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: North Florida
And all collectors would swoon for those Sweethart planes with the teardrop hanghole.
===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---
Please visit my website
splintermaking.com
Posts: 257
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2004
I few months ago I sold a Stanley 62 for about $170 on an eBay auction. The mouth showed a bit of stress but was not cracked. I doubt even a pristine model would go for much over $250.
Posts: 428
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2002
(12-05-2016, 06:32 PM)hankgillette Wrote: I got my Patrick Leach December tool list today. I browsed through it and found he was selling a Stanley #62 Low Angle Jack Plane for $295. This is not a rant about Mr. Leach’s prices; I’ve found them to be a little on the high side, but fair, and you can depend on getting a quality tool from him.
I looked at eBay, and vintage #62s are being offered for anywhere from $225 to one optimistic soul who is asking $500.
The thing is, if you want a low angle jack, you can get a brand new Lie-Nielsen for $245, or a new Lee Valley for $240. Both of them, I feel quite sure, are higher quality than Stanley ever made. The modern Stanley #62 looks to be about $165; I don’t know about the quality. I can only assume that the people buying the vintage Stanleys are collectors, rather than users, although I don’t think the Stanley plane is all that attractive.
I don’t really have a point here, or a moral, I just thought this was kind of interesting.
Just bought my wife's Christmas gift to me and it happens to be a new Stanley 62 from the orange box store, $134.00 shipped.
|
