Bedrock Planes

[lowell holmes]

I was thinking about my plane collection, it includes 604, 605, and 607 planes. They have Veritas irons and breakers.
I am not thinking about selling them, but in case my heirs wanted to, is there a demand for them. They are aged, but
not at all rusty. The japaning is intact.

What do you think and how would you set a value on them?

[Stew Denton]

Lowell, price depends on a few factors. One is whether it is a round side or a flat side bedrock. The later Bedrocks, the flat sides, sell for more than the round sides, significantly more. The round sides sell for more than the Baileys, but not for a great deal more. The flat sides, however, sell for 50% more than the round sides. (This is just an estimate on my part, based on following them on that auction site.)

Condition is another big factor. In my experience, the better the plane looks the more it sells for. It is often not like a lot of antiques in that the buyer wants it to look "non-restored," the planes that look lots nicer bring more money generally, and the restored nice looking planes sell for more than the "original" condition planes that don't look as nice. (However, I have no experience with the high end collector market.)

Price also depends on the size.....there are a lot of Bed Rock Jack planes out there, so the #5s usually bring less money than the #4s, and the #7s bring a lot more than either the #4s or #5s.

Finally the prices seem to go up and down over time with seemingly no rime nor reason....wish I knew why.

That said, my guess is that the 607s flat sides will bring 150 to 225 depending on condition and how badly someone wants it but at times you see them go for quite a bit less. The 607 round sides ought to bring 110 to 120 or more, but again you see them go for a lot less, and sometimes signficantly more, so go figure.

I would guess the 604s flat sides going for 100 to 150, but sometimes much less and sometimes much more. It varies a lot and again, prices go up and down over a period of time. The round sides again go for less.

The 605s are the most common, and they go for less. I see them from 75 or so to 150, again sometimes more sometimes a bit less, I would guess the average of around 100, and again the round sides for less.

The high dollar ones are the pretty rare ones. The 602s, 605 1/4s, and the 608s go for the most money, with the 602s leading the pack in price.

A truly rare plane in great original condition goes for the most, as much as I have been able to see. I saw a #8 Bed Rock (this was a type 1 made before 1900, before Stanley changed the numbering system on the Bed Rock planes from single digits like the Bailey planes (ie: 5,7,4, etc.) to the 600 numbering system (ie: 604, 605, 607, etc.) go for more than $400. I think a #2 Bed Rock (again before Stanley changed the numbering system to 602) in nearly mint condition would go for a LOT of money....well healed collectors would give top dollar for it. (One guy one this site had a 602 corrugated that appeared by all you could see, to be original, and Stanley supposedly did not make corrugated 602s....consequently, that one should have also gone for a LOT of money.)

My opinion only. This is not a definitive opinion.

Stew

[Patrick Chase]

I was thinking about my plane collection, it includes 604, 605, and 607 planes. They have Veritas irons and breakers.
I am not thinking about selling them, but in case my heirs wanted to, is there a demand for them. They are aged, but
not at all rusty. The japaning is intact.

What do you think and how would you set a value on them?

Contact a reputable tool dealer, and ask how much they would charge for a similar plane and how much they would offer for yours. You can think of these as the equivalent of the Kelly Blue Book "high" and "low" numbers respectively. That will give you a direct answer as to how much you can get from a no-hassle sale to a dealer, and will allow you to infer a range of prices for a "private party" sale. A single dealer might not want to give you both numbers for obvious reasons :-).

I work with Patrick Leach (you can find his Email on his website, supertool.com) though there are plenty of others out there.

[lowell holmes]

There is no rust, the japanning is shinny and intact, thanks for the info.
They are flat side planes.

Thanks guys.

[Frederick Skelly]

Lowell, another good dealer I have used is Lee Richmond at The Best Things. I've found him knowledgeable and honest.
Fred

[Patrick Chase]

Lowell, another good dealer I have used is Lee Richmond at The Best Things. I've found him knowledgeable and honest.
Fred

+1 to Lee. I've never transacted used tools with him, though I've bought plenty of new equipment from him. He's always been fast, professional, and pleasant to deal with.

As an added bonus, if you go batsh*t crazy and decide that a Holtey would be just the thing to improve your woodworking then he'll have you covered. Amazingly for someone who traffics in the ultra-high-end like that, his prices on "routine" stuff are pretty good.

[lowell holmes]

If you were to sell several hundred dollars worth of planes, what is the protection for both the buyer and the seller?

[Dave Parkis]

The best protection for the buyer is to either buy them in person or use Paypal. PayPal will protect the buyer. The best protection for the seller is to sell them in person or wait to ship until after the check clears. As an aside, I buy/sell tools and have sold a lot of tools here. If you want a ballpark estimate of the value of these Bedrocks, I would be happy to look at some is and give you my opinion.

[Paul Sidener]

If it helps you, I have a Bedrock 604 type 6. I bought it in an antique store, for $75 about two years ago.I though I got a good deal, at the time. I had to put a couple hours in to clean it up, and it still has the original iron. E Bay inflates prices. Most of the super clean ones, sell for around $200. I don't know what the Veritas irons do to the value, probably would keep the collectors away from them. To me the planes should be used anyways.

[lowell holmes]

I don't collect planes, I use them. All of my old planes are rust free, have nice patina , and are shave your arm hair sharp.

I value them at $200 each. They leave translucent shavings.

[Nathan Johnson]

Hard to put a dollar value on a good, comfortable tool you use often and well.

Becomes more than dollars at that point.

[Mike Henderson]

If you were to sell several hundred dollars worth of planes, what is the protection for both the buyer and the seller?

You'd probably sell to someone not in your area. PayPal is a good payment system and protects both the buyer and the seller.

If you were to sell to someone on this forum you would have some additional protection because any long term poster does not want to be branded as a cheat.

Mike