Dunlap Planes - Are they worth it?

[Glen Canaday]

That KK 4 was listed as $40.....just to give an idea. I think the DE 5 was about the same. Place was the Labor Day Tractor Fest in West Liberty, OH. pictures were from 2 years ago. Had a few "better" planes this year....
Attachment 350041
Except someone thought these were Gold plated...
Attachment 350042
That Ohio Tool Co. 0-8c was listed as $110..firm.
I did manage to get a decent brace, though..
Attachment 350043
Keen Kutter 6" brace(nee Millers Falls) I think I got it for...$25 or so...

I have one of those in 12". It's a Zenith, but I don't know for sure who made it. I have a Bonney's patent hollow auger that only fits in it, because it's got that Fray chuck with its giant jaws and the shank on the auger is right around 1/2" thick, maybe a tad bigger.

So my pricing had me leaving the meet empty-handed. Not the first time. But it also likely left the seller dragging the planes in tow behind him on HIS way home I was more curious if I missed a decent plane!

I don't have a 3DBB, but I do have a Fulton 3709, which is identical save for the name and the paint. I love that thing, and they've both got that Millers Falls steel. No worries of dulling that iron on the first pass, nope.

[steven c newman]

Of all the planes I had come through the shop...I have never had one by MIllers Falls that ever chattered. Just something about them, making them chatter free.

That set of auger bits near the 0-8c......he wanted $40 for them.

In the first picture, that #5 was @$45, the other two were around $25, as was the drawknife. Mostly the same vendors show up each Labor Day. I walked almost 4 miles, while doing a two day shopping trip there...look closely...you might spot a Stanley #80 sitting nearby...
3 tent store 1.jpg
Would one of these fit?

[Glen Canaday]

I've never had any quality plane chatter. The only planes that ever did are the Sears planes with the U-shaped bent lateral adjusters. The steel on those is garbage, and the bottom of the frog can be up to an inch from the sole of the plane which prevents a user from narrowing the mouth any. Incidentally that brings us back full circle - the offending planes were a grey and red Craftsman and a Dunlap #3.

With a Stanley iron in it, the Dunlap at least made two shavings in a row, but the Craftsman jointer and jack that I have are pig iron for when I have time to learn to cast. The steel actually TURNED when I tried to square an edge on construction pine! No wonder power tool sales took off in the 50s and 60s.

[george wilson]

"When the stranger walked among them,no one gave him any lip. For the stranger carried a PIG IRON in a holster on his hip!!!" A slightly modified version of an old Marty Robbins Western song. "The gunfighter,I think"

But,really,would you mess with a guy who had a 500# pig iron on his hip????

[steven c newman]

Yep....All the planes sitting out there those days...were either way too over-priced, or not worth the effort to even pick up to look at. I knew that a certain brace would be there, so I went after it. Wound up with a few other small items, too. The fellow had a stash of hammers sitting around, and even an anvil or two..
tool tubs.jpg
But, like a lot of the items there, there was always something wrong..
barrels.jpg
Nice wood barrel, but..it was EMPTY!
Vise.jpg
Nice vise, but they forgot the bench...

I plan on going there again, next year...

[Glen Canaday]

An empty JD barrel? I suppose it's cheaper to ship that way...