# Question for vintage hand plane collectors (block planes particularly)



## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

Here's a plane I currently have for sale on ebay:



























You can find the listing here.

The first time I listed it I had only a handful of watchers but nearly 500 views!

Lots of curiosity but not much interest. I had looked for some information about SoJo and just found the one line on a site for Millers Falls tools.

A few days later I decided to look more diligently and I found more information-a link to the ebay listing! (See, this is how "facts" get disseminated on the web!)

So my question is, why all the visits but so little actual interest? I can accept that the little beauty may be worthless, but the great number disparity has my mind confused.

The weight, just recently discovered, is a curiosity as well. Though this plane is a half inch shorter than a Stanley 220, it weights .6 lbs more! 43%! (1.4 - 2.0).

Any historical insights will be much appreciated.

Kindly,

Lee


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## Dcase (Jul 7, 2010)

My opinion is your starting price is way to high for this plane. The plane is probably not worth that much. There may be a lot of people viewing the auction just to take a closer look but thats just a really high starting price.


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

Thanks Dan-I trust your assessment. I lowered the price to seventeen bucks, and that includes shipping. I hope that's more in the realm of the realistic. I shoulda asked you first!

Kindly,

Lee


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

I think the lever cap screw might be throwing some collectors off. If you're still offering free shipping and don't get any bites, I'll give you $25 for it. It's a nice little plane. I don't know if this is insulting or not, as I didn't see the original price. Good luck!


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

Thanks Al. We'll see if my instant humility on the price point has a positive effect on the general bidding public.

And gosh no I'm not insulted. I just want to see the little guy appreciated!

Kindly,

Lee


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## Dcase (Jul 7, 2010)

Lee, that new listing amount is a lot easier to swallow then the previous. However if you don't get any bites on it I would take Bertha's offer.

It does look like a nice little plane.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

^heavy, good brand, adjustable mouth, and plenty of iron; what's not to like!!! I'm sure you'll get a few guys fighting over it and end up pleased. I've got an English 220 that's much heavier than my other 220's. The heft really makes a positive difference to me.


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

Yes, it was this plane, and this model alone, that received the special "Inertio Centric Modularical Avoirdupoisossity amendment to the molten iron as it was stirred by young cheerleaders there at the Monongahela Foundry many years ago.

Very rare, and the weight distribution, man oh man. Like the Pontiac Tempest with the motor in front and the transmission in the rear for perfect vehicle balance.

The SoJo block planes were tested in the same wind tunnel as the Tempest.

How, I ask, both redundantly and rhetorically, How can you go wrong?

Kindly,

Lee

And don't tell Al, but if he bids now, he could get it for $17.00.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Too late, lol. A bid gets people interested, as they're wondering what I know that they don't


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## Roswell (Jan 20, 2012)

Just a thought: most plane collectors are probably looking for specific items for their collection. I think we all harbor a secret hope that someone will post a gem they don't know the value of. So, we cull through anything that returns from the 'block plane' search…just in case.

That being said, most the time I offer up my two-cents worth I get change back.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Lee, I have had similar experiences with ebay, and usually try not to sell on ebay if i can help it. It's so unpredictable. I've sold numerous #5 Stanley's on ebay, all restored so they were about the same condition. Anything really vintage I keep, so its mostly later model stuff I pick up. They ranged in sold prices from$18 to $48. It baffles me.

I had a beautiful Millers Falls #10 I was hoping to get about $80-$90 for. I put a starting price of $55 on an auction and never got a bid. I said screw it and listed it for buy-it-now at $95 and sold it the day I relisted it. Go figure.

I don't know what your original starting price was, but it seems you've found the sweet spot. Now lets see if it goes for $17 or shots up to $50. Its a great looking little block. If I didn't already have to many, I'd think about it.

I just had a nice restored 220, with a starting bid of $6.50, and it didn't sell.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Roswell, I don't think you're off at all. I'll look at anything that catches my eye in that little thumbnail. Even if I simply can't tell what I'm looking at. I think from the thumbnail, I would have been turned off by that lever cap screw, but that's just me. You see all manner of replacement lever cap screws and I usually breeze right by them. MF is enjoying an increasing popularity, for good reason. I closed my eyes and the Buck Rogers have shot up to astronomical levels. 
.
Don, I think the problem might be that everyone owns at least a 1/2 dozen 220's. Before I forget, I went to look for your 60 1/2 parts and when I got out there, I forgot what I was looking for. I'll try to remember tonight. I also think some people filter BuyOnly. It's a trick that Wayne taught me. He'd snag stuff for dirt cheap before people had a chance to relist it, once they realized what they had. You may recall, I offered a guy $100 for his #8 frog and he declined, letting the auction continue. I ended up buying it for less than $20, if I remember correctly. Guys like me with little delay of gratification skills will often impulse a BuyNow, thinking that it'll get away


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

not a problem Al, I actually walked in yesterday to send you a reminder email. Did you get it? No! I forgot why I came back to the house!


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

^it happens, Don I'm only 40, so this is as good as my memory's going to get


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I think that is an interesting little plane and it does have features
which would make it useful.

I'm restrained in buying planes these days… got that mostly out
of my system some time ago. But if I was still "collecting" it
would interest me enough to pay a bit more than what it is 
going for now.


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