Plane collecting - Valuing broken planes?

[Andy Dingley]

For the less common Stanleys (the #10 family, #2 etc.) how much does a repaired break affect its value ? A large proportion of the #10s in particular show the classic broken mouth with a braze or weld to at least one side.

I've just been trying to put a value on a #2C Sweetheart with brazing to both sides of the mouth. Now that's a valuable little plane, even as a "user" grade tool

In similar vein, how about English infills that have suffered shrunken infill blocks, unsupported sides and the resultant lengthways sole cracks ? Again it's not a hard repair, but you have to take the cross pins out to dismantle it and they don't easily (shouldn't ?) go back without leaving a visible repair.

[Patriarch]

Andy Dingley wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I have no answer, except to point you to a potential resource.

There are a whole bunch of folks at

in the hand tools forum, who might be able to offer an opinion. Some of them hang out here, too, or used to. And you can post a picture or two, if you have one.

Patriarch, thinking a #2 might be a nice addition to the tool shelf, IF he were a collector...