Thread: There should be a warning ...

Well, one thing leads to another... I looked at the site in your signature and found out that you are an expert in fixing tools ( and fixing kids, but it's too late for me to ask your help in that capacity ). Then, googling ECE to see what you were talking about, I saw that they sell a replacement blade for their jointer. Which brings me to the full story of Santa's gift.

The Santa in question is my daughter, who went around country "antique" shops to find me a present, and in one such place not far South of Adelaide found two. They asked $10 each for them and she happily bought both.

The funny part is that, she being mechanically minded as her gender generally is and the shopkeeper being probably a bit devious , she did not even realise that the second one did not have a blade, so for all intents and purposes she bought 3 pounds of firewood, not a plane. Which is still fine, because I would happily have paid $20 for the good one, which is all complete and in working order.

So here is my question (and my apologies if it drifts away a bit from pitying your fingers ): would it be worth buying the ECE replacement blade, grinding off 2 mm each side to fit the old body? Given that all the old planes I have seen had prices under $20, I wonder about the wisdom of doing so instead of just dumping it and finding another one. Do you have an explanation for this apparent paradox?