A comprehensive guide that describes and illustrates over 700 of the most important antique tools, covering all categories from wooden and metal planes, braces and measuring devices, to axes, saws and wrenches. Included are over 250 original photographs, plus many line drawings that show these tools in use. Also covered are: where to find antique tools; how to buy and sell them; valuable tips on cleaning, restoring and displaying; books to read; clubs and organizations to join; common and not-so-common pitfalls to avoid; materials used in tools. A complete and conveniently organized reference guide for anyone concerned with antique tools.

Collecting Antique Tools

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Kean, Herbert P.

Pollak, Emil S.

Antiques & Collectibles

Astragal Press

This new, completely revised and fully illustrated second edition of the indispensable Price Guide to Antique Tools has what every collector, dealer, or user looks for when trying to price a tool: a picture of the tool and an easy-to-find estimate of its current value. The prices in this edition are averaged from recent auctions, eliminating the "fluke" high and low sales to give the reader an accurate and up-to-date handle on current values. They cover tools from top-of-the-line treasures to common flea market pieces. All chapters have been expanded to include tools that have become more available in the marketplace, with explanations for each tool group to help the reader classify that most critical of all factors, "condition." The chapter on American wooden planes has been both enlarged and simplified, covering over 400 makers, each graded with a single value number. The book includes illustrations of approximately 1,000 different woodworking tools, easy-to-find current prices-a total of 12,000 individual and chart combinations, chapters on buying antique tools, tool wood identification, clubs and organizations to join, reference books, and a complete index for easy use. An indispensable volume. 160 pages. Fully illustrated. 7" x 10". Soft cover.

Price Guide to Antique Tools

Astragal Pr

Here, at last, is a price guide for the 21st century! It stands out as the only price guide for tools to factor in prices realized from tool sales on the Internet. The prices in this third edition (a total of over 12,000 individual and chart combinations) are averaged from recent live and electronic auctions, as well as from the author's knowledge of general market trends. The prices cover tools from top-of-the-line treasures to common flea market pieces. They demonstrate that tool collecting is reaching its maturity, where condition, signature, and provenance reign supreme and top condition and/or rare pieces bring increasingly higher prices. The prices cover tools that are available in the marketplace, with explanations for each tool group to help the reader classify that most critical of all factors, condition. The chapter on American wooden planes is at the same time simple and comprehensive, covering over 400 makers, each graded with a single value number. New to this edition is a section on Internet auctions, where the author explains the mechanisms of electronic auctions and shares some of his secrets for successful bidding. In this edition you will find illustrations of approximately 1000 different woodworking tools; easy-to-find current prices - a total of 12,000 individual and chart combinations; chapters on buying antique tools, tool wood identification, clubs and organizations to join, reference books; and a complete index for easy use.

A Price Guide to Antique Tools

Here is the book that finally unlocks the secrets that professional restorers have been using for years. It explains critical (and previously closely-held) restoration techniques in a way that even the most uninitiated can understand and follow, giving the reader confidence throughout and making the art of restoration not only extremely remunerative for the collector, but satisfying and fun as well. There are chapters covering all the categories of tools, as well as a general chapter on cleaning and refinishing. The author explains how to make a bow for a bow drill, how to tighten loose heads on Sheffield and Ultimatum braces, how to make wedges for planes, how to replace vials in levels, how to repair chipped or missing threads on a plow plane, and literally hundreds of other such invaluable instructions.

Restoring Antique Tools

Storytelling is an ancient art. At their best, stories provide a very personal and engaging way to pass information, experience, insight and imagination from one group to another, from one generation to another. Tool Tales is full of such stories. Its author, Herb Kean, is a noted tool collector, dealer, restorer and author (as well as renowned raconteur). Here, he has culled from magazines, journals, newspapers and encyclopedias 50 of his best stories and "tips" columns, written over the course of his long career. These stories range from whimsical tales of trips taken in search of old tools to more technical pieces detailing the "how-to’s" of solving many a knotty tool-related problem. Full of valuable information to help the reader in buying, selling and restoring antique tools, they are also full of wit and good, old-fashioned fun.

Tool Tales, Stories and Tips for the Antique Tool Collector

Literature & Fiction

Essays & Correspondence

A price guide is only as helpful as its prices are current. With this in mind, we offer a new fourth edition of Herbert Kean's A Price Guide to Antique Tools, its prices taken from the latest live and internet auctions as well as from private sales. As before, there are over 12,000 prices (individual and chart combinations) that represent extraordinary tools, as well as those found in flea markets. There is an explanation for each tool group that allows the reader to judge the condition of a tool, the most critical of all factors when determining price. The chapter on American wooden planes covers over 400 makers, each graded with a single value number, a system that is at the same time simple and comprehensive. To help even more, almost every tool is illustrated with a photograph or line drawing. The section on internet prices explains the mechanisms of electronic auctions and gives tips for successful bidding. If you have ever wished that you could consult with an expert before investing in a tool, this is the book for you. It puts at your fingertips the knowledge and expertise of noted tool collector and dealer Herb Kean, both in determining current prices and in evaluating condition. Altogether, an invaluable book.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kean, Herbert P.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kean, Herbert P.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kean, Herbert P.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Collecting Antique Tools

Price Guide to Antique Tools

A Price Guide to Antique Tools

Restoring Antique Tools

Tool Tales, Stories and Tips for the Antique Tool Collector

A Price Guide to Antique Tools