So what did you expect for $100

[Arron]

Quite a lot, actually. There is weekly flea market near my home in Sydney. I have been visiting it over the last few weekends buying tools. Last weekend I hit the $100 spent mark. This is what I got for $100.

The reason I am putting this post up is to show newcomers that it isnt just the powertool addicts that have it good right now. The world is awash with old handtools which are being discarded because people no longer know how to use them. This might seem obvious, but then I drove past this market for 9 years before it occured to me to stop and see what they had to offer.

Most of these tools look pretty grotty when you see them at the market. You need to understand what is and isnt good value - most of what you see is rubbish and/or overpriced. I have listed below what is in the photo to give people an indication of fair value.

Stanley no 4 plane - $17 - mod. rust and needed a part replaced.
Pope no 4 plane - $20 - perfect condition, just needed re-varnish
German scrub plane - $10 - needed new wedge and re-varnish
Stanley no 151 spokeshave - $10 - light surface rust
Carter 6" vice - $4 - no work needed
Vernier caliper - $6 - no work needed
Silex sliding bevel - $2 - no work needed
Titan mortise chisels - $6-7 ea - great old chisels - revarnished and polished
Rosewood handle square - $5 - re-varnished and re-squared with file
Mortise gauge - $6 - re-varnished and polished brass

After buying each tool, I spend some time restoring it, but nothing major as these are 'working tools'. I find it extremely satisfying to rejuvenate an old quality tool. Some of these tools are quite old (the Pope is 1953, the Carter is similar age) but are of much better quality then what people are buying today.


Also, I would like to know what type of wood was used for the handles on the Titan chisels. Anyone know ? Looks like a local hardwood.

Arron

[silentC]

Arron,

Where abouts in Sydney is the market (if you don't mind telling us)?

I get up to Sydney every now and then and would love to find somewhere like that. We have a monthly market down here and the last time I went, there were two stalls selling tools - one was selling all that Medalist stuff (obviously someone with a hardward shop) and the other had a couple of hand planes and a box of screwdrivers and chisels, all over priced.

[Arron]

SilentC, check PM.

Arro

[arose62]

I've made a bit of a hobby out of getting socket chisels (without their handles) for less than $1.00, and turning up new handles for them.

A bit of a grind, a bit of a polish, and viola! (Who does the spellchecking on foreign and foreign-derived words??)

This is from the Tuggerah Sunday markets, and the markets at Morrisset.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Steve_DownUnder]

Aaron


Any chance of getting the location of the market ? I live in western Sydney and would love to get hold of asome older planes and bits and pieces.


Thanks

steve

[kenmil]

A bit of a grind, a bit of a polish, and viola! (Who does the spellchecking on foreign and foreign-derived words??)

Cheers,
Andrew

You rang ?........Correct spelling is VOILA, pronounced "WA - LA".

As this is your first call, there will be no charge for this service. :D

[kenmil]

Arron,

I am not a lover of handtools where a power tool will do, but I must admit that is a fine collection of tools for $100. Well done.

[Arron]

These are from the market at North Rocks Deaf and Blind Childrens Centre, North Rocks Road. Every Sunday, starting at 6:30 am.

Sometimes it is good - sometimes not so - it depends upon whether one of the guys who specialises in tools turns up. Interestingly, the guys who specialise in tools seem to sell cheaply, while those who sell just a few always seem to want way too much.

cheers
Arron


ps Andrew, I didnt quite understand your message. Is there meant to be a photo - if so I would love to see it. I sometimes admire those socket chisels too - but dont have a lathe so usually dont buy them (yes, usually $1-2). How do you attach the handle - I'm assuming just glueing them in would not do because of the repeated bashing. Also, is Tuggerah market any good - I often go up that way so am wondering if it is worth a visit?

thanks

[Wayne Davy]

Arron,

Fantastic pick up!! Wish I could find gear at those prices. I was up at Toowoomba (in QLD for you mexicans) at the weekend for a big collectors/junk market. It was supposed to be very promising as lots of stall holders were from the country but the prices for old tools were way too high for my taste. Old planes started at $40+ when they had lots of bits missing so you get the idea. As you said, all depends on who is there.

[Evan Pavlidis]

Gooday Arron,

very good pickup for $100; I was tempted not long ago to pick up a Pope no.4 smoother at a Melb. Sunday market but the seller was asking for $100 and would not accept haggling. The plane was brand new in the original box but still I wouldn't folk out that much. About your question re Triton chisels; I've just completed turning handles for mine which I bought and accumulated over about 2 years from several Sunday markets. All up I have 47; couldn't believe it when I layed them all out on the bench. I still have about 15 handles to turn and not in a hurry to do them; need a change.
Several are socket type, registered mortice, sash and bevel. I've sharpened and used about half of them and personally I prefer them better than Stanley or Marples;they keep the edge longer and there is more metal on them.
The old handles were mainly ash and sometimes oak. I threw all mine out because the shellac finish was finished and cracking had set in but kept the ferules. The new handles I made are from blue gum, ironwood, gidgee, leftover fencepost, mulga. I gave them a good workout (with a mallet of course) to see if they would crack and none of them gave way. So far I'm a happy chappy. Some people collect planes others handsaws; I'm into chisels of all things and loving it but I won't be buying any more for a while; running out of room to put them. One day I'll post a pic.

Cheers,
Evan

[Arron]

Post the pic Evan, I'd love to see it. I'd love to see 47 Titans all lined up. I think they are way better then the mediocre brands you mention and seriously rival some of the top of the line imported brands - although they probably varied through their years of manufacture and some of the more recent ones I saw looked decidely dodgy in presentation so probably in steel too.

Something that interests me about these old tools is that they are a witness to Australian manufacturing history. The popes, for example, came from that period after WW11 when virtually anything made overseas was in short supply so a number of Aus manufacturers stepped into the void, which was facilitated by the fact that they had geared up for war production with. Their products were virtually straight ripoffs of the UK/US brands but no-one cared about patent because there was so much opportunity to be had for all. Then by the mid 50's things had returned to normality and the locals like Carter and Pope stopped production - I guess they never could really compete without the shelter of the postwar shortage.

When you say 'Ash', I assume you mean imported ash, not the local stuff. Correct ?

Arron

[paul.cleary]

Hi, thought I'd pass on an observation about this comment in an earlier reply.
Tool specialists know that the big $$ comes from selling things that collectors want so they spend their time on this; however, in the course of picking up collector-grade tools a specialist will also pick up lots of associated low-value tools, e.g. they buy a box of 10 tools to get the one tool that is worth the $.
Their profit comes from that tool so they are quite happy to get some extra $ for not much hassle on the other nine tools.

A non-specialist doesn't know the difference between a collector-grade tool and a low grade tool so they price them all the same, i.e. as high as possible. Antique dealers are the worst, they sell junk with borer holes for high prices.

We get this all the time in the Antique Tools section of New Zealand's eBay (www.trademe.co.nz). An ordinary punter put up 3 planes for sale but one was a Matheson infill panel plane so the bidding from the specialists went up quite high and the 3 planes sold for around $300NZ for the lot. An observer who did not know their tools would conclude the average sale price of a Stanley Number 5 plane is $100 and put theirs up for sale at this price, then wonder why it didn't sell!
Another reason could be that the sellers who don't know their tools are worried they could be selling a collector item for a bargin so price high just in case.

Paul

[Evan Pavlidis]

Gooday Arron,

Titan stopped manufacturing in the late 60's. They were bought out by BHP surprisingly but the brand name remained Titan. Production stopped because mass produced cheaper brands (Stanley, Marples) flooded the market and consumers obviously turned to them without giving thought to quality.
It doesn't surprise me when I sometimes stroll through Sunday markets I find dozens upon dozens of Stanleys and Marples brands which have had the living daylights belted out of them. Only occasionally I'll come across the odd Ward, Mathieson, the old Sorby and Titan which are much older than the Stanleys and Marples and in better condition.
All Titan chisels were manufactured in Tasmania and the first time I ever used one was in woodwork class in 1974. Our teacher at the time said they are the best chisels you can own but aquiring them new was impossible. I've read an article from a tool site that mentioned in Hobart at the Salamanca weekend market you can sometimes find boxes full of Titans that have never been used for a reasonable price. Too bad I'm in Melb. One day I may take a boat ride over to see what Tassie looks like and return with a shipload of timber as well. The handles are of imported ash.

Cheers,
Evan