That introverted approach common among collectors all changed when Sindelar met Roger Phillips, a long-time collector in La Jolla, Calif. Phillips also came up in the trades his woodworking enterprise had a reputation for outfitting the interiors of banks, corporate offices and casinos. Phillips had been collecting since 1945. Sindelar was struck by his collection and couldn’t help but think: WOW. I want this.
With Phillipss guidance, Sindelar kicked his collection into high gear. He started to buy tools. He began to buy unique tools in Europe and sold his Stanley tools collection.
He says it is an obsession. I need to get into an AA program.
Other tool collectors travel to Europe to find old tools. They share their secret spots with no one. But when Sindelar told Phillips he was going to Europe, Phillips handed him a list of all his favorite haunts.
Roger is just so open about everything, Sindelar says. It truly changed my life.
Phillips was also a model for Sindelar when he opened his collection to inspection and joined other tool collectors. Sindelar also gained a reputation for being a collector who collects unusual tools and has an artistic flair. Sindelar is often approached by fellow collectors who say to him, “Hey, I have something you need to see.”
Sindelars has become a collection that includes some of the most well-known vintage tools as mentioned in books on tool collecting. It also contains new tools such as a fleet made by Jim Leamy and Bill Carter’s infill planes.
A lot of vintage tools have tall tales behind them antique collecting is like that but Sindelar says that he stays focused more on the form of the tool than its particular provenance or the myth behind it.
He shows off a tool chest that is covered in handplanes that look like nothing else that has ever been manufactured. The planes are ornate: brass sides, steel soles, shapely totes and knobs. Some of these planes are extraordinary for a work tool.
Where did they come from? Sindelar claims that they come from Germany. They are bought from a man who got them from another. And that guy says they came out of a school for blacksmiths and silversmiths. When the students left the school, they would leave one of these example tools behind, where it would be displayed on the wall.
Is Sindelar a believer in the story? He shrugs. He says that tool collectors are full of stories. I like the planes. These planes are beautiful tools with odd labels like A. Stohr & Son and Schuhstopsel.
Not all the tools are so mysterious. Theres a shapely French marking hatchet in a leather sheath. The sawyers initials are cast into the poll of the hatchet so he could mark the felled tree as his own. Theres a Phillips Plow Plane, patented in 1867, with an ornate cast iron frame. An English staircaseaw has a depth-stop that acts like a depth-stop on a dado or fillister plane. Theres even a Stanley jointer plane thats painted gold. Thats a private joke I have with another collector, Sindelar says.
A place for the Past and Future
And now Sindelar wants to show it all to the public. He envisions a museum that will also have a woodworking school. His initial plan was to build it near Williamsburg, Va., to take advantage of the history-seeking tourists there. He began to consider Harrisburg, Pa. as an option. And since his plans for his museum have gotten out, hes been contacted by officials in North Carolina who think the museum, the school and the states furniture-making history would be a good combination.
Sindelar believes the museum will be a success because it appeals to everyone, not just tool collectors. Most tool museums and collections focus on made tools. Patented tools are very popular. Collectors love old Stanley tools.
Sindelars collection is about the artistic design of the tool. Hes more interested in buying something that will take your breath away rather than a collection of all the patented tools from 19th-century Connecticut. He believes the museum will succeed because of that.
Sindelar regularly escorts people through his collection and even opens his doors to the public on occasion to benefit a charity. He shows people around his collection and they become overwhelmed, regardless of whether they are collectors or woodworkers.
He says that he has been particularly amazed at the way women like tools. They are all unique. Theyre, and Sindelar stops as he searches for the right word. They are just beautiful. PWTo contact John Sindelar to provide ideas or donations for the museum:
Sindelar Fine Woodworking
69953 Section St.
Edwardsburg, MI 49112
phone: 269-663-8841
Warmans Tools Field Guide Values and Identification is a great resource for anyone who is interested in collecting tools. Its
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