This is a chance for all you proper Neanders to tell me I got ripped of and/or what an utter piece of crap I just bought. :)
My first eBay plane (second plane in all) arrived today.
It's a blue Stanley with a cheesy looking two-piece depth adjuster fork thingie. Nickel hardware, black laquered knob and tote. The paint is
99.99% perfect, and everything was in excellent condition. There was a slight hint of rust on the cheeks and sole, and some paint on the bottom. The irons both had the original lacquer. Someone had boogered up the bevel angle in an aborted attempt to sharpen the iron. Other than that, this thing might as well have been brand spanking new.There are no markings to indicate what number it is. It's 14" long, so I take it to be a #5. Is that right?
Oh, um, I paid $25 for it in total, including shipping.
I spent the day lapping the sole and the cheeks, and sharpening up the iron, then I closed the mouth way down. I stopped shy of getting it completely flat because I ran out of patience after six hours of sanding the damn thing. There are still minute hollows in the heel and toe area where it looks like the tote/knob screws have pulled the casting up. Other than that, it's slicker than a baby's ass.
My other plane is a current #4, which has been tuned to the same degree. I was proud of my thin shavings. I used to show off how I could occasionally get really fine, almost translucent stuff out of walnut with the thing. Now I'm going around showing everyone how the thinnest shavings from the #4 are about five to ten times thicker than the brown cotton that my new old plane can shoot out all day long.
Comments? Did I get ripped, or should I just be happy? I have a very, very low budget, and these blue planes don't seem to sell for much. They're obviously inferior to the planes everybody collects, but I couldn't be any happier with how this thing is shaving my wood. I'm inclined to keep an eye out for more of these to try to round out the minimum collection I need in order to be able to plane more effectively (surfacing semi-rough lumber with nothing but a modern #4 until now has really seriously sucked!), and then start replacing them with primo planes as time and finance allow. Is that a bad plan?