parts or restore as-is Rockford No R6 R6C wood plane part of Marsh in Illinois

Description

You are bidding on one as-is Rockford Number R6 wood plane as pictured. There are some condition issues, so please keep reading.
The plane is marked "R 6" behind the rear handle, and "2 3/8" on the underside of the frog and on the underside of the lever cap.
The iron is marked "LAKESIDE", which is not the original iron. That was a brand name used by the Montgomery Wards department stores. It is a proper replacement in terms of size.
The sole is corrugated.
Overall length of the body is very close to 18". The iron is about 2-3//8" in width, and about 7-9/16" in length.
The plane weighs 6 pounds 2 ounces on my postal scale.
The Rockford Tool Company was located at the same address in Rockford, Illinois, as the H C Marsh Tool Company, and was apparently part of Marsh. They both produced planes that were nearly identical except that the Marsh version of this plane would have been an "M6". Rockford was in business from 1915 to 1924, and then briefly a part of Stanley after that. Please see the book Patented Transitional and Metallic Planes in America Volume II by Roger Smith, pages 310-311 and pages 342-347, for more information about Marsh and Rockford.
Besides the replacement iron, there are other condition issues. One is a "I don't think I've ever seen this before" issue -- about a third of the front knob has been neatly cut or split off and is missing. See the 1st picture. Two, the body has been repainted with a very matte black paint. The frog has very little paint or japanning remaining, and doesn't appear to have been repainted. Three, the bottom and sides have quite a bit of faint pitting, and the sides have some areas with lots of odd little dings.
Condition would otherwise be good, and much better with a cleaning. The rear handle is unbroken, has a few chips and dings, but is stained and very dark in color at the base. The iron and chip breaker have some areas of pitting, as does the front of the lever cap. EXCEPT as noted, t
here are no cracks or chips or chunks missing from any of the castings, and everything operates properly.
SHIPPING: 7 or 8 pounds when boxed, insurance is included.
No International shipping.
I sell what I enjoy, and I collect antique woodworking tools and I enjoy photography!
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ETHICS IN DESCRIPTIONS: I also buy for my collecting on eBay, and I have been burned too many times by misleading (duh did I forget to mention .......) descriptions, and auctions with pictures only of the left side because the right side was trashed. Life is much simpler for me if I disclose what I know or see about an item before you bid, and especially before you receive it in the mail. I come from the handshake school of doing business, and hopefully you are like me and understand what that means. What goes around, comes around.
RETURN POLICY: I believe that if you give honest descriptions, and include enough pictures, you shouldn't need a return policy. However, that doesn't mean that I won't make an occasional mistake. Please bid with the assurance that if I have made an error in my listing, I WILL take care of you. And if you have made an error, and bought the wrong size, for example, I will still take care of you (but I’ll let you pay the return shipping!).
SALES TAX: Interstate sales tax is rapidly becoming a reality in more and more states. If I ship to a state where eBay is required to collect sales tax, eBay will charge you the sales tax for that state.
There is lots of information available from eBay that explains it in much more detail. The sales tax is completely out of my hands -- I don't have anything to do with deciding whether to charge tax, I don't have anything to do with deciding the tax rate, and I never see any of the funds that are collected, they go directly to eBay.
SELLING OUTSIDE OF EBAY: Why would I risk my lengthy good standing with eBay to save you a couple of dollars? Especially when you ask on an email that is sent through the eBay email system? Please don't ask, the answer is no.
SHIPPING IN THE US: I would rather that you spend your money on my stuff, and not on shipping.
I package well, and have a great track record
of getting everything to each buyer, and getting it there in one piece.
I try to pick the best shipping option for each listing, based on what is the least expensive, and based on what I think is needed to protect the item. I use the US Post Office for everything. If the value is 0 or over, eBay requires your signature at the USPS delivery for the buyer and seller protections to be in effect.
USPS POSTAGE RATE INCREASE AS OF January. Every year the US Postal Service raises rates in mid to late January, and this year is no exception.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: I no longer ship Internationally.
AUCTIONS: I won’t end an auction listing early to sell it to you directly. As a bidder, I really dislike going back at the end of an auction to bid, only to discover that the seller had ended the auction early. So I won’t do that for you, or to you.
PACKAGING: Please check my feedback -- I package well. I figure if you take the time to purchase from me, then I can take the time to package it well, and not just throw it into a cereal box with a scrap of newspaper.
I hope someday I will meet some of you as we trudge the happy road of tool collecting!