Replies

1. 
   Segil | Jan 30, 2006 03:33pm | #1

   Malcolm,
   Displays like that are indeed few and far between. The last time I saw a collection like that was in England 20 years ago, and I emptied my budget and my pockets real quick. Glad I did too, because the prices I paid were about a tenth of those that I just saw on your link. Just the sight of a collection like that sets your heart racing, doesn't it?! Its nice to know there are still fine tools like those out there.

2. 
   Troy | Jan 30, 2006 08:52pm | #2

   Looks like a very very bad store:) I would get in all kinds of trouble there.

   Troy

1. 
   Malcolm | Jan 31, 2006 02:49am | #3

   I told Mr Plowman the prices seemed high, but I did a quick look on the Bay last night and noticed a Stanley No 1 for $US2,000, so may be the Oz dollar prices are not so untoward!

   Does anyone here use a Stanley No 1? I'm about to make a York pitch infill version with a Norris adjuster in stainless and brass (and rosewood or desert acacia infill).

   Malcolm

   Edit - using a Lie-Nielsen iron and a new improved L-N backiron. The only thing I haven't sorted out is the miniature cap iron!

   http://www.macpherson.co.nz

   Edited 1/30/2006 6:51 pm ET by Malcolm

1. 
   pzgren | Feb 01, 2006 06:40am | #4

   Malcolm, What a toy store....it's a good thing I don't live anywhere near it...I'd be destitute! I have and use a LN #1. Great little plane for small work and edges. An infill Yorkie #1 would be really cool!! I hope you'll post pics when you have it done!!James

1. 
   John_D | Feb 01, 2006 10:46am | #5

   Just out of curiosity, what do you do with a #1 that makes you glad you don't have to make do with a block plane?My goal is for my work to outlast me.  Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.

1. 
   pzgren | Feb 01, 2006 07:13pm | #9

   John,

   <<Just out of curiosity, what do you do with a #1 that makes you glad you don't have to make do with a block plane?>>

     It's really handy for narrow edges and for smoothing small work (like small boxes, name plates, etc) and for smoothing small parts. It's also very useful for trimming (long grain) edges to fit. A block plane would certainly work, but all of my block planes are low angle, so the #1 gets used where I get tear out from the low angle BPs. (I know about putting a higher angle on LA irons, but don't have any spare irons for my LA BPs at the moment and don't want to alter my current irons; the #1 works well for planing where a SA BP would often normally be used.)

     A standard angle BP or two are on the future purchase list, but for the time being, the #1 works well enough. Yeah, I know: a couple of real nice SA BPs could be purchased for the same $$ as the #1.... Besides.....

     I think it's just a too-cool, fun tool; I just like it. No accounting for taste, eh?... :-)

   James

   Edited 2/1/2006 11:15 am ET by pzgren

   Edited 2/1/2006 4:42 pm ET by pzgren

2. 
   John_D | Feb 01, 2006 09:59pm | #10

   Hey, no arguments or objections here!  Just wondered about any practical advantages you might point out that might make such a purchase particularly useful for me.  Thanks!My goal is for my work to outlast me.  Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.

3. 
   pzgren | Feb 02, 2006 12:32am | #11

   John,

     No intention to convey that I thought you had any objections or arguments: it appears that my self-deprecating and rather dry sense of humor can be taken in ways other than intended. I'll have to be more careful about that in future posts.

   _____

     Some of the advantages I see:

        Very useful for small/tight spaces, smoothing smaller pieces of wood/smaller work, and trimming;

        It can be used 1- or 2-handed, just like a block plane;

        The #1 has a front knob that you can "wrap" your hand/fingers around quite a bit better than on most block planes, although the size of the knob precludes you from wrapping your hand/fingers around it to the extent that can be done on a #3 or larger bench plane;

        It's a light-weight, bevel down, standard pitch bench plane in a block-plane-sized package, combining the best features of both types of plane for small/detail work.

     At any rate, this is probably more of a nice-to-have tool than a necessity, unless you're building musical instruments or making small jewelry boxes or doing similar type work.

     I originally bought it simply because I thought it was a really cool tool; I didn't have any specific need for it at the time. From a practical view point, it -- initially -- was not really a very good buy at all, nor was that a very good reason to buy it. But, in the couple of years since getting it, I've found that it is very useful for doing small-scale and detail work, and so it has turned out to be of good practical value, as well as just having that "desirability" factor (at least for me). And, realistically, since I don't have a spare-mortgage-payment-plus to buy a Stanley #1 that's in decent shape, the LN #1 is the next best thing; at $200 vs $1200 - $2000+, I don't have any qualms about using it.

     Hope this is of some use to you.

   James

   Edited 2/1/2006 4:42 pm ET by pzgren

   Edited 2/1/2006 4:46 pm ET by pzgren

   Edited 2/1/2006 4:47 pm ET by pzgren

4. 
   Malcolm | Feb 03, 2006 03:30am | #12

   My need (or, to be true about this, my want) is for an intermediate tool for fine-scale work, and the sensitivity you don't get with a bigger, heavier, plane.

   Most of my woodwork is small in scale, and finely detailed. Small and quality don't often go together when you're talking about tools and machines, in this business!

   I envisage getting a lot of use out on a No 1 sized infill with a Norris adjuster and a L-N iron and back-iron. I hope Philip Marcou is going to make me a lever cap. I'll have to cut down a standard adjuster (I could get one made to size, but the cost is sky-high!).

   Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz

2. 
   philip | Feb 01, 2006 12:42pm | #6

   Malcolm, that U.S$2000 is about right for a reasonable #1-am going on what I have seen on the internet, and what figures I have heard bandied about here. In fact there is a sheep farmer(!) right here who has a beauty-it just sits on his mantle-piece.
   Do you mean to say you didn't buy anything from the Australian shop?
   "I told Mr Plowman the prices seemed high".....ROFLPhilip Marcou
   P.S I have always thought the #1 to be an oddity-just too small.

   Edited 2/1/2006 4:44 am by philip

1. 
   Malcolm | Feb 01, 2006 01:09pm | #7

   > Do you mean to say you didn't buy anything from the Australian shop? <

   Actually, Philip, I did seriously think about two planes: one was a nice pre-war Norris; trhe other was one of the early Stanley No 1s.

   But there's no way I could justify the prices - I'm not an investor, and for 'users', 2 to 3k is way too much.

   Hence - 'I'll make one!'

   Why a No 1? I already own 3 little one-handers. Photos at the web site. I use these tools for probably 80% of my hand tool work. The next size up is a full-size Stanley or the big Shepherd smoother. Lovely - but too big sometimes. What I want to make (not 'need') is an intermediate tool, a two-hander, with the bevel down and a York pitch. I'm going to buy the metal in Dunedin tomorrow, and have my local engineer doing the milling for me!

   Watch this space.

   Malcolm http://www.macpherson.co.nz

3. 
   lamadriver | Feb 03, 2006 10:36am | #13

   For those of you close to Temecula, CA, vist old town. One of the antique stores there has one of the best assortments of old tools I have ever seen. They are not dusty,rusty, dirty and jumbled. They have been carefully cleaned of dirt and are arranged very nicely. Good store and good prices.

   "If there ain't no woodworking in Heaven, I ain't going"

    

3. 
   Malcolm | Feb 01, 2006 01:17pm | #8

   > in the (usually) vain hope of finding tool bargains <

   I did buy something! Not at Mittagong, but at another great antiques store, in Berrima, NSW. A set of marking punches, A through Z plus & (no numbers), English-made, well-used, but really sharp letters that cut sweet with light pressure, in a nice Victorian mahogany box. $AUS85.

   Malcolm

   http://www.macpherson.co.nz