Should antique tools be cleaned before selling

[keithh]

A 75 year old neighbour who recently lost his wife is having a clear out of possessions to raise money for Diabetes Research. Amongst the things are his grandfather's and great grandfather's carpentry tools which, as you can see from the pictures, are very dusty. Firstly, should they be cleaned up or left as they are? Secondly, what's the best pace to sell them and finally roughly what are they worth? (Should they be sold individually or as a collection)? They have been stored in a dry loft for 10's of years so should clean up pretty well.

They comprise:

Jack plane x 1
Smoothing plane x 1
Trying planes x 3
Moulding planes x 13
Plough planes x 2

assorted blades and other tools

 

[adidat]

hi and welcome,

cant see any pictures, if your using a image hosting website then you need to make two more posts before they show up

adidat

 

[AndyT]

There's no picture visible. To post links to externally hosted pics you need to have made at least three posts, but I think a first timer can upload pictures to the forum provided they are small enough - use the 'attach a file' box below the editor.

Ebay is good and will also give you an idea of values.
If you manage to show us some pictures there are plenty here who will give you honest identifications and values.

You can remove dust, but especially if the tools are historical or collectable, don't try and clean them. Never use sandpaper on wooden planes and never polish brass adjusters etc.

 

[keithh]

I tried to upload photos that were too large - they should be there now

 

[adidat]

hi Keith they seem to working now, the tools look a bit damp and mouldy in places (pardon the pun :lol but there is about £40 - £60 worth in the pictures. but the boxes are crammed full making it hard to tell what's there. so maybe laying them all out on the carpet and taking a picture might help to see the wood from the trees.

adidat

 

[keithh]

hi Keith they seem to working now, the tools look a bit damp and mouldy in places (pardon the pun :lol but there is about £40 - £60 worth in the pictures. but the boxes are crammed full making it hard to tell what's there. so maybe laying them all out on the carpet and taking a picture might help to see the wood from the trees.

adidat

My friend lives a distance from me and my wife and I try to get to see him every 2 weeks. I know he is off to Devon to see a relative so I guess it will be about 2 or 3 weeks before I can arrange to photograph everything individually. I will phone him tomorrow and tell him not to attempt to clean them just yet. Just how should they be cleaned/restored?

 

[AndyT]

In eBay terms, the wooden try planes are very hard to sell - not many people appreciate them and they cost lots to post.
The brass faced marking gauge is the one that jumps out as popular and will sell on its own for £20 - £40 but please don't polish it.
With the other planes and the moulding planes it's impossible to say without seeing them better. If any are 18th century then definitely don't touch them. If they are among the thousands of good used tools, you could get the best price by carefully cleaning with turpentine and taking good clear individual pictures - but all that extra work might just mean getting £5 each instead of £2.50.

Btw, I should have said that the Marketplace section rules are strict - it's only for forum members to sell their own things - not on behalf of relatives, friends etc.

 

[CHJ]

..... Secondly, what's the best pace to sell them and finally roughly what are they worth?

Might be worth you contacting Bristol Design, 14 Perry Rd,
Bristol BS1 5BG in the first instance with some of your pictures.

 

[keithh]

In eBay terms, the wooden try planes are very hard to sell - not many people appreciate them and they cost lots to post.
The brass faced marking gauge is the one that jumps out as popular and will sell on its own for £20 - £40 but please don't polish it.
With the other planes and the moulding planes it's impossible to say without seeing them better. If any are 18th century then definitely don't touch them. If they are among the thousands of good used tools, you could get the best price by carefully cleaning with turpentine and taking good clear individual pictures - but all that extra work might just mean getting £5 each instead of £2.50.

Btw, I should have said that the Marketplace section rules are strict - it's only for forum members to sell their own things - not on behalf of relatives, friends etc.

Thanks for the advice - I will get back to you when I can get everything wiped down with turps and individually photo'd

 

[keithh]

Regarding your rule about not selling on behalf of others I am now a bit stuck. This is a 75 year old man who has recently lost his wife and several years ago lost his only son. He doesn't have a computer and has no desire to get involve in owning one. I have helped him clean up and sell things or give them to charities where appropriate

If I may, I will still put photos up and ask for advice about worth and where to sell. As long as both you and he are happy about it I will put his name and address up so that he can be be contacted by post. Would that be acceptable?

 

[MickCheese]

I don't wish to offend but sometimes rules just cannot cover every eventuality.

In this case I would suggest the rules could be relaxed.

This would benefit a charity and someone on here too.

Just my twopenneth worth.

Mick

 

[CHJ]

.....I will put his name and address up so that he can be be contacted by post. Would that be acceptable?

I respectfully suggest that you do not put the address up on an open public forum, never a wise move and may put the individual concerned at risk.

 

[keithh]

A very good point CHJ. Let me help him clean them and take some more photos and then, with the members help, I can advise him as to what is the best course of action

 

[keithh]

Having superficially cleaned them, my friend bought all his old tools to my house to be photographed. There turned out to be 22 moulding planes, about 8 of which had what I suspect you won't want to hear and that is woodworm. I dowsed them with woodworm treatment and have kept them separate from all the others.

Several of the moulding planes had suppliers names stamped on the end, namely:

John Moseley & Son, 64 - 66 Broad Street, Bloomsbury, London

Moseley & Son 16 New Street, Covent Garden

Geo. Davies

Gough & Bowen

Sheply T. Watts

J * W (with another W underneath)

NT in a zig zag square design (with G Todd underneath)

The Stanley No. 50 Combination Plane looks as though it has never been used. It has a rosewood handle but there is no clue to the date. The box lid is missing but the instructions booklet has CPL/3/57/M printed on the back. Does that mean March 1957? I obviously didn't take a very good photo but it looks pristine apart from some rust on the spare blades

So we come back to the original question, where do I recommend him to try and sell them and what are they worth. As Michael is 73, we have worked out that his great great grandad would have been using some of these in the mid to late 1800's

 

[richarnold]

Hi there. some of the planes look quite interesting from a historical point of view. The photo of the plane you have described as a rebate plane is a sash fillister, and looks to be 18th century. There also appears to be a moving fillister in one of the images. This looks as though it's wooden depth stop is missing, but is proberbly also 18th century. The plane marked "N T" also sounds interesting, as some early 18th century plane makers used this style of mark.

 

[keithh]

Hello richarnold, thank you for your comments. Can you tell me which is the moving fillister please? I know absolutely nothing about WW tools. Any thoughts / advice on selling any of these pieces would be welcome. Michael has given me these tools and I will only accept payment direct to Diabetes UK for any or all of them. I have been in touch with them and I am waiting to hear back to see if there is a mechanism whereby I can check that funds have been transferred before I ship.

 

[Wildman]

Hi richard, no idea on prices as a newcomer to woodwork myself. I have taken on the woodwork builds and repairs for the local animal rescue centre. This lot look to be handy so based on the average valuation I would be prepared to offer £50 for the lot.

 

[keithh]

Hello Wildman,

Thank you for your interest but I am told that the No.50 Stanley combination plane on its own is worth more than your offer.

 

[richarnold]

Hi there. The moving fillister is the plane on the far right of the middle row of the moulding planes. It is missing it's wooden depth stop which fits in the slot in the side. these often dry out and come loose, but it may be floating about in the bottom of a tool box, so it's worth checking. Are there any names stamped into the front end of this plane?. This sort of thing makes a big difference to values. if there is no recognizable makers name it would only be worth a few pounds, but if it was by an early 18th century maker, it could be worth a few hundred pounds. A good photo of the front end of all the planes would make giving you a better idea of value easier.
richarnold

 

[AndyT]

Hi there. The moving fillister is the plane on the far right of the middle row of the moulding planes. It is missing it's wooden depth stop which fits in the slot in the side. these often dry out and come loose, but it may be floating about in the bottom of a tool box, so it's worth checking.
richarnold

That's proper detail spotting by a proper expert that is!