buying advise

[Harlan Barnhart]

Hi People,
Last night my work van was broken into and most of my hand tools were taken. I am starting this thread to ask for advise on buying replacements. Unfortunately many were vintage and irreplaceable. Its amazing how fast the cost of replacing a toolbox of layout tools/chisels adds up. So watch your tools folks.

First question:
Has anyone tried the Super Stones by Naniwa? I had norton before and was satisfied. Recommendations? I am thinking of the 1000,5000,8,000 set carried by TFWW.

[Jim Koepke]

Harlan,

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I would be more likely to go 1000, 4000, 8000 for the stones.

Norton would also be one of my first brands to consider.

jim

[Joe Hardesty]

Has anyone tried the Super Stones by Naniwa?

I replaced my Norton stones with Super Stones and very glad I did. In my opinion, the Super Stones are far superior and create a lot less mess because they don't have to be soaked. Just a splash of water and you are ready to sharpen.

[Casey Gooding]

Sorry to hear about that. What was stolen?? We could certainly make recommendations with a list of what needs to be replaced.
I hope insurance will cover some of it.
Which brings another thought. Anyone looked into insurance on vintage tools?? I know mine couldn't be replaced at the cost of a new tool by the same name.

[Richard Niemiec]

Sorry to hear about your loss, especially tools...

Depending on your state, you may have a claim under your homeowners'/renters policy, or even your auto policy; call your insurance agent and find out.

Otherwise, make a list and tally up the cost of what your lost, you can deduct it as a "theft loss" on your federal, and likely state, income tax return. It would be wise to have that list appended to a police report so if the deduction is questioned you have the backup.

[Wilbur Pan]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. FWIW, one thing I did a while back was to take a photo inventory of all my tools, so that it would be easier to figure out what I lost should something like that happen to me in the future. Digital cameras make that easy to do.

As far as your waterstone question, I have Shaptons, but the Naniwa Super Stones that TFWW carries are very nice as well. My Shaptons go 1000, 5000, 8000 as well. My feeling is that whether the middle grit is 4000 or 5000 is really a pretty minimal factor in sharpening with this type of sequence.

[Harlan Barnhart]

What was stolen?? We could certainly make recommendations with a list of what needs to be replaced.
I hope insurance will cover some of it.
Which brings another thought. Anyone looked into insurance on vintage tools?? I know mine couldn't be replaced at the cost of a new tool by the same name.

I made an inventory within several hours. I mentally checked each corner and pocket of my tool carrier but I continually keep remembering more things. Its very sickening. They got all my marking and layout tools (four machinist squares of various sizes (starrett, browne and sharpe), full set of london pattern sorby chisels, two mortise chisels (ulmia), two disston backsaws (crosscut and rip) sharpening stones and veritas guide, seven sliding bevels, fractional caliper, all three sizes of North bros yankee screwdrivers, marking knives, several awls, 6' lufkin folding rule, a boxwood four fold 24" rule, feeler guages, six inch and twelve inch flex rules. And the list goes on ....) The saddest thing is I chose each of those tools carefullly to be just what I need. I wouldn't have sold that set for full replacement of new tools even though I bought most of it used. Still I figure replacement at $1,500 to $2,000.

I am hoping for some insurance money but you know how that goes. They are called "adjusters" because they adjust payouts down. The question of how to insure such things is worth thinking about. How do you value things that aren't available anymore? I lost some power tools as well but I'm not shedding any tears there as that can be easily replaced.

[Jim Koepke]

This may be something for all of us to consider. I am thinking I should call my insurance agent tomorrow and see how I am covered for such a loss. I also for the first time punched my monogram into the screw and a planes chip breaker. I am thinking of doing this to more of my tools for identification purposes.

jim

[Harlan Barnhart]

As far as your waterstone question, I have Shaptons, but the Naniwa Super Stones that TFWW carries are very nice as well. My Shaptons go 1000, 5000, 8000 as well. My feeling is that whether the middle grit is 4000 or 5000 is really a pretty minimal factor in sharpening with this type of sequence.

Thanks for the input. I would often sharpen without a middle gradient, straight from 1,000 to 8,000. I could produce a shaving sharp edge that way so it makes sense to me that the difference between 4,000 and 5,000 might be not so important.

[David Keller NC]

"I am hoping for some insurance money but you know how that goes. They are called "adjusters" because they adjust payouts down. The question of how to insure such things is worth thinking about. How do you value things that aren't available anymore? I lost some power tools as well but I'm not shedding any tears there as that can be easily replaced."

Harlan - there's a way to do this. One convenient method is to look through dealer's lists. Unless you had something that was quite rare and valuable on the collector's market, you should be able to find a replacement tool of the same make, vintage and condition. Lee Richmond's site - The Best Things, would be a good place to start, because each item has a complete description and purchase price together with a picture. You could simply download a particular item for the insurance company.

Another is Patrick Leach's SuperTool list. He sends these out every month by e-mail. The e-mail contains a link to a web page with a description, photo, and price. It's a little more difficult than Lee's site because the pictures are separate from the description/price, but it's still much easier than looking up things in books.

There are also a couple of UK sites that would offer you a similar replacement value estimate - Old Tools UK, Inchmartine Tool Bazaar and Tony Murland's Antique Tools.

Finally, if there's something you can't find that is fairly rare and has a lot of value - like a Norris infill plane, for example, you can look through auction listings that have closed. In the UK, that's typically the David Stanley auction. In the US, that's Martin J Donnelly's Live Free or Die Auction. You can also purchase copies of past catalogs with the selling price of each item at the Brown auction (there are 2 each year - spring and fall) from Clarence Blanchard at The Fine Tool Journal.

Particularly if it's Stanley, you might want to call Clarence - he's a nice guy and might have the time to assist you with a couple of items that are otherwise hard to find in the online listings.

Generally speaking, most auto theft policies have an upper limit for re-imbursement of personal property inside your vehicle, so you only need to itemize the things that get you to that limit. If the car was in your driveway, it's typically covered by your homeowner's policy, and the limit is usually far higher than your automotive policy.

[Bill Keehn]

I made an inventory within several hours. I mentally checked each corner and pocket of my tool carrier but I continually keep remembering more things. Its very sickening. They got all my marking and layout tools (four machinist squares of various sizes (starrett, browne and sharpe), full set of london pattern sorby chisels, two mortise chisels (ulmia), two disston backsaws (crosscut and rip) sharpening stones and veritas guide, seven sliding bevels, fractional caliper, all three sizes of North bros yankee screwdrivers, marking knives, several awls, 6' lufkin folding rule, a boxwood four fold 24" rule, feeler guages, six inch and twelve inch flex rules. And the list goes on ....) The saddest thing is I chose each of those tools carefullly to be just what I need. I wouldn't have sold that set for full replacement of new tools even though I bought most of it used. Still I figure replacement at $1,500 to $2,000.

I am hoping for some insurance money but you know how that goes. They are called "adjusters" because they adjust payouts down. The question of how to insure such things is worth thinking about. How do you value things that aren't available anymore? I lost some power tools as well but I'm not shedding any tears there as that can be easily replaced.

Keep an eye on Craigslist.