Market for new wooden planes

[JohnPW]

I've been wondering about this, why do people pay £200 and more for a new wooden plane when you can get old ones for £1 to £10, at least in the UK you can.

Another thread has got me to start this one specfically about this.

It's good when people review old methods and come to realise they represented a peak before the advent of accountants taking over.
I can't see him selling many in the UK as originals are ten a penny.

No indeed, too many old ones still around. But a lot of these are pretty worn out. So if someone wants a brand spanking new one, at least now there is a choice. I don't think he is going for a large output, so I think he'll be happy with just a few customers.

I have long since ideas to make a few myself. Allready collected irons and beech, now just need to collect a bit of time.

Oddly enough the US is the main market for things like traditional hand planes. I use the word odd because the US also has a reputation for having woodworkers who use nothing but machines!
I suppose it's a large enough country to have both types of woodworkers. . . and some inbetween :?
Well the antique traditional wooden plane is hardly scarce in the UK or the states. Which kind of begs the question why anyone would buy one from a maker operating today, especially given the price that needs to be charged for folk to make some sort of living from it. The answer does not lie in the function of these objects. If it did no one would ever have bought a Holtey, a Bill Carter or perhaps even a LN. People buy them because they can. They are craft products made by people working today. Mostly you are buying from a lone craftsman and it fits into the aura of a 'handmade' item. You could almost refer to them as being lifestyle purchases. Personally I don't see anything wrong with that. Folk spend all sorts of money on all manner of things. Quite often those items end up in landfill within a few years, the value and function of the product down to zero. If I was a bit richer I would certainly buy one of Bill Carters planes, yes the one with the wobbly stamp made from an old saw. Unfortunately I'm one of those struggling craftsmen who can just about afford to eat.

Even the ECE hornbeam smoothing plane with awooden wedge "ony" cost 70 Euros.

So I agree it's not about function, they are luxuary items, it's people who have lots of money and are looking for expensive things to buy.

My guess is old wooden planes are less common in the US than here, because they went over to machines and the metal Bailey planes much earlier.

 

[MIGNAL]

It's nothing to do with wooden planes being scarce in the US. Just go on Ebay.com, they have plenty of old wooden planes. They have plenty of transitionals too, cheap.
It's partly to do with the reasons I outlined in my previous post. Folk don't buy on price/value alone, although those two considerations are obviously extremely high on the agenda for most people.
Don't forget that people have different interests and priorities. I wouldn't buy a dress (I'm not that way inclined, honest) for £5,000 but some people do. I wouldn't pay £150,000 for a motor car but some people do. Even if you gave me that very car for free it would have zero value to me. None, other than the money I could obtain from reselling it.
It's quite simple really. Some people like buying 'nice' things, whatever you perceive to be nice. If you have the dosh there's not much point putting it in the coffin at your very side. May as well spend some of it whilst you have the chance to enjoy the power that it has. Life is pretty short when you think about it.

 

[CHJ]

Get yourself along to a Wood Show where Philly has samples on display and demonstration and I think you will find it's not all about 'Men with Money'.

Like all tools you more often than not get what you pay for on the quality stakes and if you are serious about quality output of pieces with the minimum of tool fettling agro to slow you down and can rake up the cash to get the best you rarely regret it.

 

[Trafalgar]

Larry Williams and his partner apparently did pretty well selling their wooden planes and single-iron ones at that.

http://www.planemaker.com/

Their waiting list grew completely unmanageable -- "It will take several years to work through our backorders."

If a person is making these things essentially one at a time it doesn't take much of a market to keep oneself busy. No doubt it's a micro-niche.

 

[deema]

The trouble I have found with buying wooden moulding planes is that often they have in their history come into the hands of those with little regard or knowledge of either how to store or use the beautiful tools. They are therefore often on need of much tender loving care to restore them back to the magnificent tools that they were once. Changing bits of box wood, repairing splits, re-shaping irons, making new wedges is for some a craft that eludes their interest. I myself would rather spend my time making stuff than restoring the tools necessary to produce the work. If I had the funds and their was an opportunity to buy for instance a set of Snipe Bill planes I would be in that queue.

I keep doing the lottery and hoping! Equally I don't envy those who can afford to buy the new tools, I respect the fact that they are actually keeping a craft alive. After all we all have to eat!

 

[Trafalgar]

You can order snipes bill planes from this gentleman:

http://msbickford.com/

He's also written a book about making moulding using hollows and rounds (which he also makes):

http://lostartpress.com/products/mouldings-in-practice

This book is published by Chris Schwarz's company and it is excellent.

 

[custard]

He's also written a book about making moulding using hollows and rounds (which he also makes):

http://lostartpress.com/products/mouldings-in-practice

This book is published by Chris Schwarz's company and it is excellent.

+1

And you don't need a huge number of hollows and rounds to produce a massive variety of mouldings. The full size range covers everything from architectural mouldings down to jewellery boxes, for mid sized furniture a pair of No 6 hollows and rounds on their own will take you a long, long way.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Many of us will attest to the pleasure of buying and reviving old tools, but there's also pleasure in buying something brand new and unsullied. It may not be too difficult to get an old, well-worn jack plane working provided it's got a reasonably decent iron and capiron, but more complex and precise planes can be a different matter. Moulding planes with out-of-straight soles, pitted and badly mis-shapen irons and 'replacement' wedges can demand many hours of work before they'll perform satisfactorily, and some people would rather work wood to make things they need (or make a living) than fiddle about with the tools.

On cost, it may be less justifiable for a bench-plane than for a joinery plane or moulding plane. The cost of a two or three pairs of hollows and rounds is not far off comparable with a decent router, router table and a selection of good quality cutters, and a new moving fillister is about the same sort of general price range as a new premium rebate plane.

I think it's great that there are people out there prepared to take the commercial risk of offering new wooden planes. That they all seem to end up with a waiting list indicates that there are people willing to buy them. More choice in the marketplace is better for all of us!