There's what looks like, at first blush, a nice wooden jointer at a local antique shop. I passed, because I didn't have any cash in my pocket, and was killing time before an appointment, and didn't have the time to give it a better look. I guess I figure, for 25 bucks, if it's still there next time I'm in that part of town, I'll bite. I do remember thinking it was quite a find, in that the mouth was largish but not gaping, and the wedge was in excellent condition (still nice crisp chamfers, not bludgeoned to heck, and with the fine points quite intact.) Double iron with the business end in seemingly good shape. A bit larger than I'd like, but the handle was really well shaped and tight, which seemed like it spoke to something of the work that went into the tool. The body itself was decent, but didn't have the crisp eyes and chamfers and details of a perfect plane, but didn't seem like the rough-shod work of say an Auburn prison tool, either. Interesting detail were two iron strike buttons, (on on the toe, one on the top of the handle) like chamfered diamonds. The only big issue I was was a rather tight crack on the sole along-side the mouth - the body had shrunk enough in width that the blade would get stuck and not protrude, and I assume this led to the crack. Is this a deal breaker? There were also a couple of checks in the body along the top, but nothing large or that overly concerned me.
Honestly, for the price, I'm figuring it's worth it for an iron and cap iron (if they're decent) a really nicely shaped handle, and big chunk of seasoned beech. Honestly, the only downside is the thing seems to be a little bigger than I'd like, but at the size, I almost think you could three coffin smoothers out of it if you wanted to junk it. I think it's too nice for that - but it occurs to me, I have absolutely no knowledge about wooden bench planes, just the idea that I'd like to try one.
Anyway, I guess I'll probably bite on this one if it's still around this weekend, but I was wondering if there's any danger danger signs I should be looking out for before plunking the cash down? If I get it, I'll certainly post some pictures here . . .