..of intrigue, greed, desire, and misinformation (no sex, sorry).
There was a posting on the 'bay for an early Japanned Stanley #141 plow
plane that was missing its filletster bed. I replied to the seller that
I thought it was a nice plane but I would never be able to find the
filletster bed for it.
The seller offered he had a filletster bed that would fit but it was a
Stanley model shop item and was more expensive than usual. I looked at
the posted filletster bed and then asked to see pictures of the
filletster bed attached to the plane.
The posted filletster bed was advertised as a Stanley model shop item
that has provision for three spurs and its provenance made it very
valuable. I studied it and commiserated with some knowledgeable folks
and we concluded and agreed the original location for a spur was broken.
A second location was attempted and was made too big. A third slot
was made and the spur fit correctly, thus making the filletster bed
usable again.
I explained my(our) opinion to the seller and made an offer for the
plane with the damaged/modified filletster bed. My opinion and my offer
were derisively rejected.
In the mean time, the filletster bed, on auction had received one bid.
The listing was subsequently canceled and reposted. This time the
filletster bed had attached tags purported to be Stanley model shop
tags. The tags looked, to me, like they were written last week and in a
very shaky hand.
To end this tale, I discussed the situation with a Millers Patent expert
who was able to convince the seller he was, as a minimum, the victim of
a myth and he should not be perpetuating it. The listing has since been
taken down, once again.
I saved a couple pictures. The filletster bed:
http://billwebber.galootcentral.com/M1.jpg
Close up of the repair, or damage, three spur positions:
http://billwebber.galootcentral.com/M2.jpg
Supposed Stanley shop model tag:
http://billwebber.galootcentral.com/M3.jpg
I thought this was an interesting exercise. I offer this as a reminder
that even the sellers can be victims in some of the misinformation that
flies around. Ya'll be careful, eh?
Bill W.
Nottingham, PA
Woodworkers visit me at http://billwebber.galootcentral.com/
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