# Estate Sale Planes



## PPBART (Oct 7, 2011)

This morning I discovered that we were out of coffee (totally unacceptable!) so I had to go to the store for resupply. On way back I noticed a sign that said "Estate Sale -- Final Clearance", and since it's a rainy morning and I was in no hurry, I decided to stop. 

There was a lot of the usual junk left, but the first thing I really noticed was the butt end of a block plane sticking out of a small cardboard box. I picked it up and was surprised to find a nearly-new condition Stanley 9-1/4 (with the added attraction of a dirt-dauber nest<g>). It had no price marked, so I asked the lady how much and was pleasantly surprised when she replied "would $10 be too much?". I was even more surprised when she said there were a couple more old tools left if I was interested. She pulled a box out of the closet and in it were a Stanley #27 (complete) and a Bedrock #605 (minus front knob; looked like it has been repainted). I paid her $20 for all three planes. 

I've got a few other old Stanley planes, guess I now officially have a "collection".


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## joesbucketorust (Dec 13, 2011)

Congrats. The two metal planes should be easy to get working like new. That's not a bad style block plane so it's useful when sharp and the 605 is their best version of plane in a middle-of-the-road do-all size. If you're careful with the citrus strip you might find the original black japanning beneath it - sometimes they were painted to cover rust but a lot of times it was just to identify a tool as belonging to a person/company/school etc.
The transitional is common enough that if the wood is in bad shape you can replace it completely with something new - pick your length etc.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

joesbucketorust said:


> If you're careful with the citrus strip you might find the original black japanning beneath it - sometimes they were painted to cover rust but a lot of times it was just to identify a tool as belonging to a person/company/school etc.


The blue one? I thought Stanley Bailey did that for several years, no?


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## joesbucketorust (Dec 13, 2011)

The newest ones were blue, I don't recall ever seeing a blue bedrock though.

PS: Here's the blue you're thinking of. It's more of a dark royal blue:
http://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/typing/typing.htm

PS: And just because I always wanted to edit a post twice...
The bedrock was made until 1942. Stanley went blue in 1962.


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## PPBART (Oct 7, 2011)

joesbucketorust said:


> ...If you're careful with the citrus strip you might find the original black japanning beneath it...
> The transitional is common enough that if the wood is in bad shape you can replace it completely with something new...


Tell me more about the "citrus strip"(?). The wood on the other is in good shape, so what treatment would you suggest?


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## joesbucketorust (Dec 13, 2011)

citrus strip is just the paint stripper I use. It's one of those "green" products that strips paint without all the chemicals, you can find it anywhere that sells paints and strippers. It;s like a gel and acts fast, but not so fast that it eats to bare metal real quick. Japanning and paint are different compositions, so with some work you can take off the paint and leave the black japanning intact. 

I don't usually try to clean woodies that much. It's a bit of a pain when you soak one in oil and the wood swells up and wedges that used to fit just right are now welded on. I have cleaned/sealed with a mix of turpentine and wax but only if there is a lot of crud. I know some people will use BLO on a plane, I just don't like wiping the excess, and rewiping, and wiping some more etc. If you google the subject you'll find a dozen blogs showing how to clean them, and each one will have a bunch of responses saying "you're crazy for doing it X way, you need to do it y way."


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Nice score, got some sweet rainy day projects there.


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## cellophane (Oct 6, 2009)

Record made blue planes - is the blue one marked Bedrock? If not it may be a Record. Hard to tell from the picture and I don't know enough about shapes to ID it from that.


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## PPBART (Oct 7, 2011)

cellophane said:


> Record made blue planes - is the blue one marked Bedrock? If not it may be a Record. Hard to tell from the picture and I don't know enough about shapes to ID it from that.


Yep, it's a Bedrock.


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## KatHelms (Feb 16, 2012)

Wow, awesome find. I keep hearing stories like this, but I have yet to stumble on my own treasure. Maybe this spring will be the one!


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## ntrusty (Feb 21, 2012)

Thats a fantastic find. I had one myself not to long ago but I didnt find anything near as quality as bedrock or bailey. These three are a Dunlap (sears i think) it was new in the box, still wrapped in packing paper, a Sargent Hercules and a Stanley Handyman. Ive got the Stanley flat and sharpened, its not bad on softer stuff. I havent had a chance to get to the others yet.


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