Stanley No. 1 Bench Plane – The Most Collectible Stanley Plane Ever Made
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Here’s my story about how I managed to win an auction for a Stanley No. 1 Plane on Ebay.
I’ve been working on a page about Stanley No. 1 Planes for my website (www.oldwoodworkingtools.com) and ran across these old photos. I’m fortunate to have acquired three No. 1’s over the past forty years… one of them was a five dollar find at an estate sale.
This isn’t that one, but there is an interesting story to how I got this. It was advertised on an Ebay auction about ten years ago along with several other old miscellaneous tools and a small gas blow torch in the same listing. The seller had all five pieces for auction with a one dollar starting bud and obviously didn’t know it was a Stanley No. 1 they were selling. There weren’t any close up pictures or anything. It wasn’t even labeled Stanley or a Stanley No. 1 Plane. The description simply said old tools. I could not be absolutely certain that I was bidding on a No. 1, but because of the relative size in the photos compared to the other tools shown, I was pretty sure it was a No. 1, and of course, I thought I might be able to get a bargain on it.
I was the first bidder for one dollar on day one. Unfortunately, it was a seven day auction and clearly some other collectors were able to figure out the same thing I did and bid it up. After five days, it was up around $300 and I’m sure everyone was just waiting to jump in at the last second to bid on this. Finally, day 7 arrived and I was able to get the final bid in at the very last second for just under $900.
I thought I did pretty well. Several days later, I received it in the mail. After cleaning the plane, I was pleased to discover it was s Stanley No. 1 Sweetheart version and I thought I had done pretty well. It’s become one of my all time favorites in my collection of Stanley tools.
