DragonflyRacing
Member
Saw this on my local craigslist and thought it was pretty cool.
http://austin.craigslist.org/atq/3869769469.html
http://austin.craigslist.org/atq/3869769469.html
Cool Antique Workbench Found on Craigslist
- Thread starter DragonflyRacing
- Start date
thinktwicez71
Well-known member
that's pretty neat for sure. I cant see spending 1000.00 tho , but to each his own
OP
DragonflyRacing
Member
Yeah, no kidding, I think they are dreaming a bit on price. Just thought it was a cool piece. Hell, it would be cool to have as a piece of furniture in the right house. 
Outlawmws
Well-known member
How the heck do they know it's French? Does it have an accent? Or is it just an a$$ hole? 
oldldh
Well-known member
Old bench from "somewhere"...
Ludicrous price...
Ludicrous price...
How the heck do they know it's French? Does it have an accent? Or is it just an a$$ hole?
It's hairy in the pits.
To all those french folks on here. No I did not mean that.Bellaireroad
Well-known member
It's a fake..made out of various pieces of old wood...
skeletonizer
Well-known member
How the heck do they know it's French? Does it have an accent? Or is it just an a$$ hole?
Just look at it. It's obviously French, possibly Alsatian. Which some think is still French but is only not German because of some treaty, much like the rest of Europe.
It's hairy in the pits.
Yes you did.
He said, "wood".
B17E1943
Well-known member
softailgarage
Well-known member
And ....?
rockchucker
Well-known member
It is so when the Ad goes down this thread won't be completely useless.
Posting a thread with a link to a CL Ad without rehosting the pictures makes for a waste of space within the Forum. Worthless thread with a dead link. Now at least the pics will be here until B17E1943's PhotoBucket account goes **** up! =)
Cool old table, not worth a grand.
Posting a thread with a link to a CL Ad without rehosting the pictures makes for a waste of space within the Forum. Worthless thread with a dead link. Now at least the pics will be here until B17E1943's PhotoBucket account goes **** up! =)
Cool old table, not worth a grand.
softailgarage
Well-known member
Ah, good idear!
Theres no way in hell I'd lay out a $1,000.00 For that, if anything at all.
Theres no way in hell I'd lay out a $1,000.00 For that, if anything at all.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
50-100 for the cool patina and working wood vise; they are hoping for some ****** Yuppie type to want it desperately for a bar...
TCAS
Member
Because of the Roubo vise. If it is a genuine Roubo antique bench then it is worth the price and somebody who knows what it is will gladly pay the price.
PCO6
Well-known member
Thanks.
Most people don't do what you did ... and that's aggravating.Outlawmws
Well-known member
You mean the very common vise screw and the shaped chunk of wood it was attached to? I could make one of those vises this afternoon (I have one of those screws) and while the bench may be similar to a particular French style, they have not represented that they have ANY substantiating evidence, about it's origins or it's age.
It fact there description is ambiguous at best...
French (Really? How did it get here?) Farm Work Bench from the 1800's. (Dated by whom? Any proof?)
This is an incredible piece. (It may be cool. but without proof far from incredible)
Huge Wooden Vise with Metal Handle.
Three Drawers and Bottom Shelves.
So that is a damn big if.
If they actually knew what it was they would name names and some history. it's another person that has watched one too many Antique Roadshows or American Pickers...
Sorry, lacking any evidence, I'll stick with my assessment
Last edited:
could you elaborate? or are you just messing with us? I have been proven a non-expert on here many times
, but I'd bet money that that vise handle boss is not from the 1800's or probably even close...It is a super cool bench in my opinion though
Last edited:
How the heck do they know it's French? Does it have an accent? Or is it just an a$$ hole?
heeheehee!
could you elaborate? or are you just messing with us? I have been proven a non-expert on here many times
I'm no expert either -- but likewise, I see way too many sellers
posting that sort of unsubstantiated claim, and I think the statement someone made is bang on --
That seller is clearly hoping for another of PT Barnum's famous uneducated townies with more money than common sense.
Reminds me of something I saw happen once:
At an antique auction one time, I watched an overdressed person from out-of-state in a big Caddywhack pay $8,000 for an old dresser with a hole in
one side. The seller, an old grizzled farmer, said that the dresser had belonged to his grandmother, and the hole had been there for as long as he could remember, and the house dated to the Civil War.
That was about all the seller needed to hear to decide for herself that the hole was from Sherman's cavalry.... not that the farmer confirmed or denied any of that.
She handed over the cash, put the dresser in the Caddy, and drove away.
The farmer said something like "Never knew I'd get that much for the dresser my grandfather shot a hole in cleaning his shotgun"...
MikeF2316
Well-known member
How the heck do they know it's French? Does it have an accent? Or is it just an a$$ hole?
Obviously it thinks it's superior, with a $1000 price. Therefore it must be French!
oldldh
Well-known member
The French think that they're still important...
They do parade well, however...
They do parade well, however...
Shameless thread hijack (for a minute, anyway..)
Outlawmws, you've got my attention ---
I'd like to add one of those to my workbench sometime or another -
What exactly am I looking for? Don't know the right word for the
metal parts you'd need to build one of those.
There's various guys at our local flea market selling large chunks of rusty arn
which they often don't know much about....
what would I be looking for to know I've got a complete setup sans the wood I'd need?
thebeekeeper1
Well-known member
Obviously it thinks it's superior, with a $1000 price. Therefore it must be French!
It may have just been draped with a white cloth when they found it.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Shameless thread hijack (for a minute, anyway..)
Outlawmws, you've got my attention ---
I'd like to add one of those to my workbench sometime or another -
What exactly am I looking for? Don't know the right word for the
metal parts you'd need to build one of those.
There's various guys at our local flea market selling large chunks of rusty arn
which they often don't know much about....
what would I be looking for to know I've got a complete setup sans the wood I'd need?
Google Image "Vise Screw" for more images
Outlawmws
Well-known member
It may have just been draped with a white cloth when they found it.
If white cloth was involved, wouldn't it have also involved a flag pole?
smschriefer
Well-known member
I realize that I can't see the wood details too well, but the back legs appear to have less patina and sharper edges than the front legs and that 2x4 connecting the front to rear still looks yellow - indicating yellow pine and probably southern yellow. I might not be an expert on antique furniture, but the bottom appears to use modern 2x4, 2x6 and 4x4 lumber dimensions and at that time, a 2x4 would have been 2" by 4".. The top might be old, but even that is suspect.
lowbucktruck
Well-known member
I don't get it. A thousand bucks for that piece of driftwood???
John in OH
Well-known member
Definitely a cool looking bench. I suspect that it is legitimately old and would not be dissuaded by what appears to be some newer components. There is an old woodworking workbench in one of my barns that has been there forever, but it does have a few "newer" parts that were added/replaced years ago due to dry rot, groundhogs, whatever. All of which would, of course, reduce its value as an antique.
The price does seem outrageous and I sure wouldn't even consider paying that much without a pretty thorough hands-on inspection. However, as already said, some town yuppie will probably jump on it as a furniture piece. It would also look really neat in a woodworkers shop as a conversation piece ... but not for $1k!!
The price does seem outrageous and I sure wouldn't even consider paying that much without a pretty thorough hands-on inspection. However, as already said, some town yuppie will probably jump on it as a furniture piece. It would also look really neat in a woodworkers shop as a conversation piece ... but not for $1k!!
neophyte
Well-known member
How the heck do they know it's French? Does it have an accent? Or is it just an a$$ hole?
Must GarageJournal members pick on the French during the July 4th weekend.
France helped the colonists during the revolutionary war, and the French helped the United States during the war of 1812, and the French made the Statue of Liberty and gave it to the USA. A number of areas in the USA were also settled by French colonists before they became part of the United States.
50-100 for the cool patina and working wood vise; they are hoping for some ****** Yuppie type to want it desperately for a bar...
Yeah it might make a cool bar, or side table, which is probably the type of buyer they're hoping for.
Outlawmws, Your right, the seller didn't list much in the way of specifics. This doesn't seem to be that uncommon with Craigslist listings though. If the seller is a legitimate antique dealer, they would likely be able to explain why they made the claims they did, through documentation, materials, dimensions, or other features found on the piece. If they do have this information they may not want to publicly post it for various reasons. If they're an irreputable dealer they would probably keep any claims vague. They may just be some person who has the bench and is trying to get whatever they can for it, and to do so making guesses at what it is.
Other than the pictures this is their description.
"French Farm Work Bench from the 1800's"
"This is an incredible piece.
Huge Wooden Vise with Metal Handle.
Three Drawers and Bottom Shelves.
Pricing is $1,000
Delivery any where around Austin."
If you just go by the pictures, it appears to ba a Roubo (French) Pattern workbench, with a lot of wear to it, and a certain amount of age. If the owner doesn't know anything about workbenches, they may have just gone to the library or done an internet search, found a bench that looked like theirs, and made a claim about country and age based on their bench looking like one in a picture they saw. So yes, they may have watched too many episodes of Antiques Roadshow.
As far as price goes I can see an architectural salvage place, or general antique shop in Philadelphia charging that much for something like that. I presume the Austin, TX markets may be similar. If one of the legitemate, well respected antique dealers in Philadelphia was selling it, they would likely be able explain exactly why they thought it was from the 1800s, and French. The explanation would probably include references to the wood, joinery, dimensions, wear patterns etc. The price would also ikely be far higher.
I'd also like to point out that there are plenty of furniture stores, including major chains, that sell contemporarily produced furniture that's been aged, finished and "antiqued" to look something that came out of ones ancestors French barn. One of the chains goes by *********** hardware. Between a modern "antiqued" piece of furniture and this bench, you'd be better of with this bench.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Way too many if's; Speculation does not provide facts. Facts speak for themselves.
Fact: they did not provide any but the most vague information.
Your right, it's CL, and it happens all the time. That does not justify asking a ridiculous amount of money for something with no support for your claims. Heck they didn't even provide L X W X D...
And in my experience dealers rarely do te piss poor descriptions unless they have something to hide.Fact: it's posted in "antiques - by owner" Means nothing, dealers often cheat the CL rules.
Fact: It's the only listing with that phone number in the Austin CL FS sections. Supports that they are a private seller
Fact: The pictures do nothing to support it being a dealer. (One outside what looks like a shop another looks like it's inside someone's house, even a pet bowl behind it?
John in OH, makes good points about the use of dimensional lumber. None of it looks hewn or even rough sawm, more like the planed wood you get today. Heck, the back legs and even the back side of the front legs look new. Even the inside shelf looks to be made from 1X4's and machine planned off
Fact: The vise screw is all steel down to the torque handle. I've rarely (never?) seen a steel bar used for a wood workers vise screw. That indicates the screw was not really intended for a wood workers bench. Moreover for a bench of the claimed 1800's vintage, it would have likely have been a wood screw, not steel. The chain on the pin for the lower jaw positioning looks fairly modern compared to the claimed age.
Maybe there are some old components in the bench, like maybe the top and the outer vise jaw, but I would not bet anything on even that.
Is it somewhat old? Sure. Does it have old patina characteristics? In some places, but that is simple to get on anything. You should have seen the bench top we too out of my mom's house some years ago. It was put in soon after we bought the house from brand new lumber. 20-30 years later when we removed it, it looked a heck of a lot like that top, if thinner. (Laminated/lengthwise "butcher block' top from a popular home improvement store)
Do I think this bench is anything like described? Heck no! YMMV.
Dale Leeds
Banned
$1000.00? Ouch!!
Bellaireroad
Well-known member
Hecho en Mexico
rick carpenter
Well-known member
could you elaborate? or are you just messing with us? I have been proven a non-expert on here many times
It is a super cool bench in my opinion though
It's definitely "Roubo" or "French" in style. The massive benchtop provides the main part of the rigidity, not the leg structure. See http://lostartpress.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/plate11_full.jpg . I doubt Andres Roubo invented this style, but it's commonly named after him. And it doesn't look as if this one was made by Roubo, as his benches used the through joinery of the legs to the top seen in the link. In the old days the French generally used benches of this style, the English generally another, etc.
OP
DragonflyRacing
Member
Damn, didn't think this would spark such a mass response. Just thought it looked kind of cool.
PCO6
Well-known member
Agree ... or any weekend for that matter. As for the bench, it's for sale. If you're interested follow up with the vendor. If not, move on.