Dear Friends,
Perhaps you can help me, and all of us who are looking to buy an inexpensive jointer on eBay. I just bought a Sears plain Jane jointer from the early 1980’s, model # 113.206931, for $143, what I wanted to afford at present. It is just old enough that the tables and fence are nice heavy cast iron, and the instructions are only written in ONE language! Imagine that!
Here’s the problem, and tell me if I’m mistaken. Ebay is miscategorizing jointers as “joiners”. This is playing havoc with the listings, as you might imagine. First of all, all the people trying to sell biscuit joiners are inserting the word “jointer” into their titles. Secondly, some of the people trying the sell jointers are inserting the word “joiner” into THEIR titles.
Am I right or wrong, joiners and jointers are very different machines? A joiner cuts a pocket into which a biscuit is inserted to join two boards together. A jointer makes a flat edge to join two boards go together with a flat joint. Right?
I have written to eBay with no luck in changing their policy so far. Perhaps a few words from some other concerned woodworkers would be useful? Am I off base here?
Thanks
Replies
AJ ,
While it is true a jointer is a machine that can create flat surfaces on edges or faces of boards , what is misleading is the fact that a joiner according to British jargon I believe is a person who joins boards or a cabinetmaker / type of furniture maker and a biscuit joiner is quite different .
dusty
I would say for maximum results on your searches you are going to have to put in both spellings.
You will find even on this forum many common misspellings of tool names ie. planners, planers . Added to the fact that many otherwise skilled americans are illiterate there is the complication that the same tool is called by a different name in other parts of the world.
Regardless of what's right in your neck of the woods, sometimes you have to go with what gets you the result you are after.
Getting e-bay to change is likely to be an exercize in frustration, if you are using proper nomenclature you may well be in the minority.
------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
These folks need a dikshunairy. Kind uv lyk fun, funner,funnest.
Our wonderful trillion dollar educational system at work here. Good luck. We're just shoveling against the tide.
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
It's not an Ebay decision, I don't think. Beyond the broadest of categories, Ebay doesn't categorize anything, they just list them as given, and you create a category by your search parameters. It's just that some sellers screw up the name in the listings and that's what the search engine brings up.
It's a good plan to search for items using mispellings since if it's uncommon enough you can bid on an item with very little competition.
No way eBay is going to tackle that one. I've even seen Knots members mix the terms up (what?!).
The easiest thing is to use the search functions properly, for instance to search for both joiner and jointer in the search block type (joiner, jointer) that way it will search for either word then you can start eliminating some of them by using the minus sign for example (jointer, joiner) -biscuit -plate -cable -cables -network -antique or jointer -biscuit -network -plane. Be careful not to minus such words as manual because the ad may say "jointer and manual".
Jack
It's something you'll just have to work around. Try adding something to your search, like , 6" or something like that. You may get the result you want. Look under mis-spellings also; any you can think of are probably there. You used to be able to find a good deal or two under "Stanly" instead of "Stanley" but most everyone knows that one now.
Good luck on E-bay!
Mack
"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Indeed, you can find much better deals on "saxaphones" vs. "saxophones."
-Steve
Ebay categories border on anarchy. I gave up on searching for a wood lathe as page after page of turning blanks came up. These should have their own category as well as scroll saw patterns. I now search with brand names such as Delta, Grizzly etc. It's even worse in tools, hardware and locks looking for hand planes. There are so many sellers that don't have a clue what they are selling, and too many think because it's old it's worth a fortune.
I buy most of my machines locally. That way, I can inspect them. I bought a Craftsman 6" jointer and I have been happy with it. Like yours, the manual is English only and the tables are cast iron. The only Ebay machine I have is a 12" parks planer that was about 90 miles from my home. At $250 it was a bargain.
Perhaps some programmer will come to the rescue and create a sorting program. Don't hold your breath. Probably not enough money in it.
"E-bay categories border on anarchy"
No more accurate statement has ever been made!! LOL I love the ones that show a picture of a rusted, cracked, broken, worn out and dismembered #30 transitional plane and it says "rare"!
Thanks for the chuckle!
Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Yeah, and when tool sellers misuse them ya begin to wonder: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/NTESearch?storeId=6970&N=0&Ntk=All&Ntt=joiner&Nty=1&D=joiner&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial
A search from the same WEBsite for jointers displays the same list, not a handplane in site!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Old Dusty has it right. Joiner is a person who joins wood. Jointer and Biscuit jointer are two different things but the "jointer" part is the same. Then with biscuit jointer you have biscuit, bisquit or even plate jointer.
And it gets even more complicated if you want a planer. I see lots of folks selling planners. Then there's the jointer/planer, joiner/planer, etc for jointer. Ebay has enough to keep track of the shady sellers and buyers.
I don't expect ebay to police the bad spellers and bad terminology. Let the buyer beware. It's up to you to figure out what the seller is talking about. Lots of folks are selling things they know nothing about and try to sound like and expert. I've seen broken rusted #3 Bailey plane bodies being sold as if some rare exotic antique.
Edited 1/31/2008 1:18 pm ET by RickL
Rick,
I've broken rusted #3 Bailey plane bodies being sold as if some rare exotic antique.
That could depend on the Type. There are some #3's that ARE worth a considerable amount of money.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I'm well aware of that but this was a broken #3, as in the front part of the body was broken off, and it was completely covered in rust. It was being peddled as some rare bullnose plane which anyone with a small bit of plane sense would know otherwise.
It was being peddled as some rare bullnose plane
Too funny.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Your best bet is to try and look at the item that you want to buy and see if there is a picture attached to the auction, that way if you get the wrong item, look into the mirror and see who's fault it is.
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