Old planes

**mspil** · 26th March 2012, 08:41 PM

Those who read the 'Monday night show and tell' would have seen the Stanley 4 1/2 that I bought yesterday. The friend that was with me at the time was speaking to me today, and mentioned that he had a couple of old planes he bought new and has never used. He purchased them at a hardware shop that was going out of business in Coburg around 50 years ago. He had no interest in woodwork at the time, but bought them because they looked good. I prevailed upon him to show me, and the results are in the photos. First up was a Stanley No. 45 with a full set of cutters, never been out of its box.
Then he produced the other. A badly beaten up box, but that was what it was like when he got it. Price on the side was 6 pounds, 14 shillings. (That's $13.40 for you youngsters). He got it cheaper because the guy was closing down, but can't remember exactly how much. Inside the box was a mass of waxed paper wrapping, and inside that a Norris A5. Only been out of the box twice in the last fifty years, and has never cut wood. It still has a coating of some type of protective grease, which accounts for the brown marks showing in the photo. The only flaw I could see in the short time I had available was what appears to be a very slight shrinkage of the wood at one side of the bun. There is a very tiny gap between wood and metal. I did not have a decent camera with me, and just grabbed a couple of shots on my phone. I will try to get some better shots later in the week. He wonders what it might be worth. I could only hazard a guess that, like Mastercard, it's priceless.

**seanz** · 26th March 2012, 08:52 PM

Good Grief.........the stories are true.

Thanks for sharing.

**NCArcher** · 26th March 2012, 09:56 PM

Very nice. I wonder how many more are tucked away in the back of a wardrobe.

**Scribbly Gum** · 26th March 2012, 10:11 PM

Very nice planes.
However, just to put things into some perspective, 6 pounds - 14 shillings was more than a week's wages for me 50 years ago.
An unused Norris would be very rare indeed I should think.
Cheers
SG

**firemedic** · 27th March 2012, 12:14 AM

That's just incredible! Truly remarkable. That Norris has got to be the best Norris find I've seen. Is the guy interested in selling them or is he only curious as to the values of them?

The 45 there is the basic set and there were a lot of additional irons and doohickies to be had. I'd still be really interested to see it all laid out though if he'll let you when you go back for more pictures!

**Christos** · 27th March 2012, 12:33 AM

All I have to say to this is bugger.

**mspil** · 27th March 2012, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by firemedic

That's just incredible! Truly remarkable. That Norris has got to be the best Norris find I've seen. Is the guy interested in selling them or is he only curious as to the values of them?

The 45 there is the basic set and there were a lot of additional irons and doohickies to be had. I'd still be really interested to see it all laid out though if he'll let you when you go back for more pictures!

I think he will sell them if he can get the right price. He has looked on the internet at my prompting, and has a fair idea of what they should be worth. (I offered twice what he paid for the Norris, but he was not interested).
I have arranged to see him on Thursday, when I will take some better photos with a real camera, rather than those I made with the phone camera yesterday. I will post some here in a couple of days.
We did approach a guy who runs old tool auctions in Australia. He assured us that he could probably get around $1000 for the pair, and would charge 15% commission for the favour. Needless to say, he is not on the list of possibilities if a sale goes ahead.

**mspil** · 27th March 2012, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Christos

All I have to say to this is bugger.

Thats exactly what I said when he produced them!

**mspil** · 29th March 2012, 09:40 PM

I have managed to get some more photographs of these planes, for those who are interested. This post has the Norris pictures; the next will have some of the Stanley. As far as the Norris is concerned, there are two imperfections that I could find. A couple of small rust spots at the front corners of the sole, and some slight shrinkage of the wood at the front of the bun at the right side. Other than those, the protective grease appears to have done its job very well. There may be other slight marks, but without cleaning off the grease, (which isn't going to happen), they will remain hidden. I found it interesting that the iron has the Norris mark on the front, and 'Robert Sorby, Sheffield' on the back.

**mspil** · 29th March 2012, 09:48 PM

Herewith, photos of the Stanley 45. It has no protective covering at all, but the nickel plating appears to have kept it in perfect condition. I do not know if all the bits are present, nor how they should be assembled. I do know that when we took it from the box, it was assembled with the knob at the right rear instead of the left front. It was simple logic to work out that that was wrong. I also found out that the cutters are very sharp, but I did not photograph the evidence of this. (Too busy keeping the blood from getting on those immaculate nickel bits).

**NCArcher** · 29th March 2012, 10:14 PM

Thanks mspil. The 45 appears to be complete. I think most planes are considered to be complete without the screwdriver because they are almost never present.
A pair of gems.

**ian** · 29th March 2012, 11:07 PM

mspil

both those planes are collector's items, not users

make sure your friend knows this and gets a fair price

**firemedic** · 29th March 2012, 11:13 PM

Wow, like a step back in time! I sure enjoyed looking at the Picts! Thanks for sharing!

**pmcgee** · 30th March 2012, 02:42 AM

mspil, just for what it is worth, I paid about $750+freight to Mr Patrick Leach for the newer Norris in this pic. It is in very good but still used condition. I've observed that the little 'machining' swirls along the sides start to disappear pretty quickly under hand-grip pressure and some perspiration, so yours is obviously very much in near mint condition.

With the condition + the anti-rust + the box etc I'm thinking your Norris might value at $1000+ ... but I am no expert. I don't know how much the rarity factors in.

BTW the bolted in front-bun puts it in the post-WW2 era. The pre-war Norrisii with rosewood infill go for (much) higher sums again.

The 45 I wouldn't have a clue about

All the best,
Paul McGee

acmegridley · 30th March 2012, 06:28 AM

Bonanza!

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