The Cumberland News
Friday, 08 May 2009
Cumbrian man's labour of love
Last updated 10:57, Tuesday, 14 April = 2009
John Rogers can spend hours locked = away in=20 his garage at his home restoring vintage tools. His fascination with old = planes,=20 saws and chisels is a hobby he has devoted his spare time to over the = past 20=20 years.
John Rogers
But this passion is not driven by money, as much of the items he = collects and=20 sells are worth pennies.
It is a hobby from which he gets pure enjoyment, knowing that he has = played a=20 part in bringing an old tool back to life.
For John, who lives at Bowscar, near Penrith it=E2=80=99s a hobby = that he says has=20 got out of hand.
As a mechanic by trade he has always been interested in mending = things and=20 his passion for collecting and selling old joinery tools really started = to take=20 hold in the late 1980s.
As a governor at Plumpton School near Penrith, where his two children = were=20 pupils at the time, he helped to raise funds for the school by = organising car=20 boot sales and when some tools were donated for a sale and they sold = easily he=20 realised the potential.
=E2=80=9CI have always been interested in and enjoyed tools,=E2=80=9D = he said. =E2=80=9CI hate waste,=20 even if it=E2=80=99s not economic viable to reuse or restore it. We live = in such a=20 throw-away society where it is seen to be easier to buy a new item than = to try=20 to repair it.=E2=80=9D
John, who has worked as a salesman for Carlisle Glass for 26 years, = then=20 started to go to car boot sales himself to look for old tools and it was = at an=20 antiques fair at the Shepherd=E2=80=99s Inn, Carlisle about 20 years ago = that he=20 realised old tools were highly regarded among like-minded people.
He now buys old tools such as chisels and saws and in most cases he = will have=20 to restore them before they can be sold on. This involves cleaning and = polishing=20 the tool and getting it back to working order.
John, 62, said: =E2=80=9CI only buy things I like.
=E2=80=9CAbout 90 per cent of the things I sell need work on them and = I will try the=20 items to see if it works.
=E2=80=9CThere is great satisfaction in converting something that is = rusty and hasn=E2=80=99t=20 worked for years.
=E2=80=9CSometimes I might have a tool that I think is beyond repair = and might put it=20 to one side but then go back to it later and realise that it can be=20 repaired.=E2=80=9D
John says he does try to use traditional tools when he can but when = he=20 doesn=E2=80=99t have enough time he admits he uses more modern = tools.
He said: =E2=80=9CI might have to use an electric plane for = something. There are some=20 people who still use traditional tools, such as Andy Blundell of Phoenix = Furniture Restorations in Temple Sowerby.=E2=80=9D
John mainly buys things to sell at antique fairs but he does collect = wooden=20 planes made by John Cockbain, who worked in Portland Place in Carlisle = from 1858=20 to 1862, and has a collection of about 23 Cockbain planes.
=E2=80=9CThey are not worth anything anymore,=E2=80=9D he said. = =E2=80=9CTools tend to stay where=20 they were made.
=E2=80=9CCockbain planes usually sell for a few pounds but you might = get one that is=20 unusual and could sell for =C2=A330.
=E2=80=9CThe majority of wooden planes that are joiner=E2=80=99s = tools are worth a few pence=20 although I have sold planes for up to =C2=A3700 but I usually have tools = that are=20 worth less than =C2=A3100.
=E2=80=9CIf you have a particularly rare plane then it will be worth = more and I have=20 seen one sold at an auction in Suffolk for =C2=A315,000.=E2=80=9D
Norris planes are the Rolls Royce of planes followed by Edward = Preston, which=20 went out of business in 1932.
John=E2=80=99s stall at antiques fairs, Tools-n-Things, has become = known as the =E2=80=98lost=20 husband=E2=80=99s corner=E2=80=99. He explains: =E2=80=9CWhen men come = to antiques fairs with their=20 wives they look bored as they wander around with them so they are = relieved to=20 find my stall because it is something they are interested in.
=E2=80=9CI have my regulars who sometimes come for a chat, but there = are many people=20 who are interested in old tools =E2=80=93 men and women.
=E2=80=9CI do see quite a few women looking for and buying old = tools.
=E2=80=9CWomen can have a good practical head on them and will use = traditional=20 tools.=E2=80=9D
John attends Colin Caygill antiques fairs in Carlisle, Kendal and = Penrith and=20 will sometimes travel to Alnwick, Gateshead and Durham. He has also = appeared on=20 the television programme Bargain Hunt three times.
He said: =E2=80=9CWhen they are filming they seem to like to use my = stall as an=20 interesting backdrop.
=E2=80=9CAs it is just a hobby I just do the fairs that I feel I = can.
=E2=80=9CWhen I retire I think that I will step it up a = bit.=E2=80=9D
Sometimes a person may decide to sell tools that have belonged to a = deceased=20 relative.
John said: =E2=80=9CIf a husband has died and his wife is going = through his things=20 and wants to sell his tools it can be difficult because there is a lot = of=20 emotion involved.
=E2=80=9CPeople can be quite protective of tools if they have been = used by their=20 husband or grandfather for many years.=E2=80=9D
While John picks some of his tools up locally, he attends tool = auctions in=20 Stowmarket and Burton-on-Trent where he has got to know like minded = people,=20 including one man who travels from America to the auctions.
John said: =E2=80=9CI am not profit-orientated, I just really enjoy = collecting old=20 tools.
=E2=80=9CIf I wanted an item that has rarity value I would look for = things with ebony=20 and brass in them.
=E2=80=9CPeople collect all sorts of things for all sorts of = reasons.
=E2=80=9CMost people will have collected something at some point in = their lives.
=E2=80=9CHopefully one day I will come across that item that will be = worth a lot of=20 money, I think every collector secretly hopes for this.=E2=80=9D
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