Japanese plane valuation

[matzner]

Hi:

I acquired some Japanese planes as part of a larger purchase and am requesting help with valuation.  I know very little about these planes and would appreciate help with pricing for sale.  Please let me know if more or better pictures are needed.  Of course I'm open to offers.

Thank you
David

   

   

   

   

[Admiral]

Wilbur...... Wilbur...... you are neeed!!!!!

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Those are nice planes that look hardly used. They probably work well and do nice work. My limited experience selling Japanese planes shows that they have a very limited market. A likely selling price would be about $10-20 each, or $50-100 for the lot of 5. Good luck with your sale.

[Howard Pollack]

My experience with buying Japanese planes is all over the map.  They can be dirt cheap or cost a small fortune.  It all depends on the blacksmith who made the blade.  To get a proper idea of a right price someone will have to identify who made it (probably from the engraving on the blade).  -Howard

[Wilbur Pan]

Hi:

I acquired some Japanese planes as part of a larger purchase and am requesting help with valuation.  I know very little about these planes and would appreciate help with pricing for sale.  Please let me know if more or better pictures are needed.  Of course I'm open to offers.

Thank you
David

What are the widths of the blades of the first two planes, and how long are the bodies of those planes?

[matzner]

What are the widths of the blades of the first two planes, and how long are the bodies of those planes?

Both blades are 2 7/8" and the bodies are 15 1/2" and 11 1/4".

Thanks very much for your help Wilbur.

David

[Wilbur Pan]

Both blades are 2 7/8" and the bodies are 15 1/2" and 11 1/4".

Thanks very much for your help Wilbur.

David

Here's what you have.

   

The shorter one is a standard Japanese plane, which can be used as a smoother. The longer one is a Japanese jointer plane. Japanese smoothing planes come up pretty regularly on eBay. Jointer planes are rarer, and tend to go for more.

   

The good news is that these blades are pretty decent. The bad news is that whoever used to own these planes didn't do a great job of flattening the back. See the shiny areas at the left top area of the blades? It looks to me that someone got too aggressive with flattening the back, and went much further up the back of the blade than they needed to. This is a cosmetic defect, which will affect the selling price. In addition, the flat areas around the sides and cutting edge of the left plane blade are much wider than they need to be, which will make further work on the back more difficult.

   

From top to bottom:

1. A plane designed to plane a groove. This plane has a moveable fence.
2. A scraper plane used to condition the sole of the first two planes. Seems to be in decent shape.
3. A gotoku plane, or five-way plane. It's called a five-way plane because it can be used in 5 ways: as a smoother, as a left and right handed rabbet plane, and to plane the left and right sides of a groove. More info here: http://giantcypress.net/post/21708578799...-five-ways

These are more specialty planes. The Japanese scraper plane is fairly common. The other two are less common, but you also need to find someone who's interested in buying this sort of plane.

[matzner]

Here's what you have.



The shorter one is a standard Japanese plane, which can be used as a smoother. The longer one is a Japanese jointer plane. Japanese smoothing planes come up pretty regularly on eBay. Jointer planes are rarer, and tend to go for more.



The good news is that these blades are pretty decent. The bad news is that whoever used to own these planes didn't do a great job of flattening the back. See the shiny areas at the left top area of the blades? It looks to me that someone got too aggressive with flattening the back, and went much further up the back of the blade than they needed to. This is a cosmetic defect, which will affect the selling price. In addition, the flat areas around the sides and cutting edge of the left plane blade are much wider than they need to be, which will make further work on the back more difficult.



From top to bottom:

1. A plane designed to plane a groove. This plane has a moveable fence.
2. A scraper plane used to condition the sole of the first two planes. Seems to be in decent shape.
3. A gotoku plane, or five-way plane. It's called a five-way plane because it can be used in 5 ways: as a smoother, as a left and right handed rabbet plane, and to plane the left and right sides of a groove. More info here: http://giantcypress.net/post/21708578799...-five-ways

These are more specialty planes. The Japanese scraper plane is fairly common. The other two are less common, but you also need to find someone who's interested in buying this sort of plane.

Wilbur:  

Thanks for the detailed description/analysis.  Given the condition, would you be willing to estimate a fair price for the lot?

Thanks
DM

[Wilbur Pan]

Wilbur:  

Thanks for the detailed description/analysis.  Given the condition, would you be willing to estimate a fair price for the lot?

Thanks
DM

I always feel that the best way to get an idea of what Japanese tools are selling for is to go to eBay and look at sold listings, and go from there. You might want to try that.