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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
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    South Africa
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    Default Rusty Infill Plane - should I go for it or walk away?

    I just noticed this plane

    https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/4398...and_PLane.html

    I am considering putting a bid in tomorrow if the price hasn’t gone crazy by then, and thought I’d post the link here in the hope that someone more knowledgable than I am might comment on the plane. I use my phone for accessing the internet and it’s a pain to try to zoom into pictures on that website, so I can’t always see what I want to either.

    As far as I can see, the rust seems to be on the surface, and it shouldn’t be too difficult a job to clean that up and make it look a lot better and hopefully work quite well too.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Hobart
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    5,107

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Colin62 View Post
    I just noticed this plane

    https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/4398...and_PLane.html

    I am considering putting a bid in tomorrow if the price hasn’t gone crazy by then, .........

    Good Morning Colin

    That is a rather cute little smoother, with prospects of becoming a superior user. Wood patina is particularly nice.

    I blew up the photos onto a hi-res screen and this did not reveal anything more - initial photography is not sharp.

    My risk assessment is that a bid of up to about A$50 - or R500 - would be worth the punt. Might be a nice win, or an affordable loss!


    Fair Winds

    Graeme

  4. #3
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    Oct 2009
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    South Africa
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    Default

    Thanks Graeme, that’s pretty much what I was thinking, good to have a second opinion.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
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    10,810

    Default

    Get it! That's a Spier!!

    I would spend easily R3000 on it.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  6. #5
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    Oct 2009
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    South Africa
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    At this stage it’s more a case of what I can afford rather than what it’s worth. The leading bidder typically knows his stuff and if he really wants it, he’ll probably outbid me. If he’s just put in a speculative bid, and no-one else comes along, I’m in with a chance.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Somerset, UK
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    445

    Default

    I picked up a Speir's plane recently see
    Spiers Plane
    After a clean up and sourcing a blade & cap iron it is now a user, better than all my other bench planes.
    This plane was dusty with some surface rust on the sole and sides but was not pitted and after some careful treatment cleaned up nicely.
    Generally these old planes can take quite a bit of neglect and abuse but still be restored back to being a joy to use rather than put in a cabinet and looked at
    Mark
    Attached Images Attached Images
    What you say & what people hear are not always the same thing.
    http://www.remark.me.uk/

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    South Africa
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    Default

    I’ve managed to have a better look at the pictures, and from what I can see it looks like it used to have a handle, which I suspect may have broken off (or a previous owner didn’t like the handle), and the back bun was made using a lighter wood.

    Probably not ideal for a collector, but should still be a good user.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    Brisbane (western suburbs)
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    12,095

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Colin62 View Post
    I’ve managed to have a better look at the pictures, and from what I can see it looks like it used to have a handle, which I suspect may have broken off (or a previous owner didn’t like the handle), and the back bun was made using a lighter wood.

    Probably not ideal for a collector, but should still be a good user.
    Colin, I see what you mean, it looks like that ligher-coloured piece has been spliced in to fill the void after the handle broke off. It's remarkably well done for a repair, the person what dunnit knew what they were doing, if that is the case. I can see why they might have chosen to do it that way, replacing the whole piece on an over-stuffed plane isn't a job for the faint-hearted. A handle cost a whole extra shilling in one very old ad I've seeen, somewhere. But I would have assumed the factory would just use a solid chunk for the rear buns and only do the two-part stuffing for the handles (or at the least you'd think they'd match the woods!).

    It looks to me like it has good bones. I wouldn't be as confident as Derek that it's a Spiers. Without a genuine brand somewhere you canna be sure, there were a lot of lookalikes kicking about in the latter 1800s, from what I read. Old catalogues aren't that good a guide, the pics are seldom terribly clear.

    Nevertheless, I reckon I'd be happy to pay a bit more than 50 bucks on the chance it'll be a good user. I'd even add a few more dollars just to assuage my curiosity about that rear bun. It would be a fun project to have a crack at replacing the missing handle if there really was one, once - they were typically made as a separate piece that slides into the stuffing.

    OTH, nothing wrong with small rear-bun smoothers, they can be just as comfy to use as a handle. I've developed a bit of a thing about them over the last year... :Variations on a theme.jpg

    Cheers,
    IW

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Somerville
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    50
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    295

    Default

    On a related note - I recently acquired a bunch of tools (both hand and power), most of which have a rust patina. Nothing too serious, from what I can tell, but what's the best way to clean/restore them? Things like planes and squares, plus some heavier things like bandsaw table and drill press table.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
    Posts
    4,882

    Default

    As to the rust it usually looks worse than it is. It will still clean up to be a good user. It's also what puts infill planes in the hands of us mere mortal woodworkers at a sensible price.
    Regards
    John

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    South Africa
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    950

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    It looks to me like it has good bones. I wouldn't be as confident as Derek that it's a Spiers. Without a genuine brand somewhere you canna be sure, there were a lot of lookalikes kicking about in the latter 1800s, from what I read. Old catalogues aren't that good a guide, the pics are seldom terribly clear.

    Nevertheless, I reckon I'd be happy to pay a bit more than 50 bucks on the chance it'll be a good user. I'd even add a few more dollars just to assuage my curiosity about that rear bun. It would be a fun project to have a crack at replacing the missing handle if there really was one, once - they were typically made as a separate piece that slides into the stuffing.
    I’d be happy to keep the bun as is, as I’ve already got this one with a handle. Spiers no. 30 Handled Infill Coffin Smoother

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    Is it a Spier? There are lots of copies around. Look at the lever cap screw ...



    There were two shapes made, this being the earlier type ...



    The shape of the lever cap ...



    Look under the lever cap for a number ...



    I restored one of these planes from a shell: Renovating an Infill Smoother

    This ...



    ... became this ...



    During the process, I got to know the planes well.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  14. #13
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    Oct 2009
    Location
    South Africa
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    Default

    Well, I put in a bid for what I thought was a price I could live with, and told myself that I was done, if someone outbid me, it was theirs. That auction site has a feature where the close of the auction is delayed by a couple of minutes if you bid just before the end, it’s supposed to stop sniping, but it actually encourages people with no will power to keep bidding. With a couple of seconds left someone outbid me, so I popped another R100 on and waited. Got outbid again. Put another R100 in, and the previous guy came back. At this point I made a guess that he’d bid over R1000, so I thought I’d just put in a bid to push the price up and see what he had bid.

    Long story short, I paid R1000 for the thing. We’ll see what it looks like when it arrives. If the worst comes to the worst I can always send it across to Derek...

  15. #14
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    Apr 2001
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    Perth
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    Colin, I’d happily give you R1000 for it. That’s about $100 in our local currency, for the information of my fellow Aussies. You did well.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  16. #15
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    Oct 2009
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    South Africa
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    Default

    Thanks Derek, i agree - I’m happy with what I’ve got and what I paid. There’s a possibility that my lathe purchase could be delayed a little, but that’s OK, these things don’t come around all that often, and if you can, you need to grab them when they do.

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