Scarcity drives the prices and because some tools were not very popular during the hand tool heyday, their prices today far exceed those that were more popular. The Stanley No. 1 plane is a very good example of this. While cute, a term that should never be able to describe a tool, the reality is, very few woodworkers wanted one.
In 1934, a brand new, shiny No. 1 sold for the incredible price of $2.95. Most, back then, chose to purchase its bigger brother, the No. 4, even though it sold for a whole lot more at $4.20. This, of course, brings up the question; if just about everyone thought a particular plane wasn’t worth the money in 1934, why would I want one now?
The answer, of course, is obvious - because I can.
Because the average worker didn’t want one of these way back when, today a collector would have to part with over $1500 for a good example of one. That is a huge amount of cash for an unusable plane, its value putting it in that “never-touch-wood” category, rather than the fact that it is just not a comfortable tool to work with. Its big brother, though, is now the poor relative, selling for less than $150 a pop because good examples of them are a dime a dozen.
So if I am having these issues over paying that kind of money for the actual plane, image how I felt when I came upon this in jimbodetools.com’s offerings today...
In 1934, a brand new, shiny No. 1 sold for the incredible price of $2.95. Most, back then, chose to purchase its bigger brother, the No. 4, even though it sold for a whole lot more at $4.20. This, of course, brings up the question; if just about everyone thought a particular plane wasn’t worth the money in 1934, why would I want one now?
The answer, of course, is obvious - because I can.
Because the average worker didn’t want one of these way back when, today a collector would have to part with over $1500 for a good example of one. That is a huge amount of cash for an unusable plane, its value putting it in that “never-touch-wood” category, rather than the fact that it is just not a comfortable tool to work with. Its big brother, though, is now the poor relative, selling for less than $150 a pop because good examples of them are a dime a dozen.
So if I am having these issues over paying that kind of money for the actual plane, image how I felt when I came upon this in jimbodetools.com’s offerings today...
I can pretty much sum up what I am talking about here using the old credit card company's advertising catch-phrase:
The plane - $1500.00
The box it came in - $2700.00
The ability to justify the cost of both to your wife – Priceless
Peace,
Mitchell
The plane - $1500.00
The box it came in - $2700.00
The ability to justify the cost of both to your wife – Priceless
Peace,
Mitchell
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