A VAR dishing tool is sells for how much?
 

Howdy,
I spent about ten years working as a wrench in bike shops so when at a yard sale this last weekend I happened to spot a VAR 143 dishing tool I jumped on it. A couple of the better shops I worked in had this tool, and I really liked using it, but I've only had a Wheelsmith dishing tool at home for lo these many years. Anyway, once I got home I checked ebay's completed auctions (you never know), I found that two "vintage" VAR 143 dishing tools had sold in the last month, each for around $300. WOW! This one I just picked up appears to be newer so I doubt it's worth anywhere near that much, but I have to wonder: what is it about a vintage dishing tool that could possibly be worth that kind of money? Also (just in case), I wonder what this one is actually worth?

Any ideas from anyone who is familiar with this dishing tool? A Google search yielded one place that listed this tool for $150 new but was "out of stock", which makes me wonder if it's even available any more. And a Google Shopping search yielded nothing useful.

Oh, and at that same yard sale was a dirty but barely used Park TS2 truing stand, which I also bought. I already have one, but I'll clean up this one and sell it for a fair bit more than I paid. That was a good yard sale.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

John

Congrats on your find. I'm into yard sales too. Keep watching Ebay, one like yours will show up eventually.

Luxury... I'm only used to flipping the wheel to assess dish.

Which got pretty damn complicated with my last bike; the DS dropout is a couple of mm further from the centreline... much head-scratching ensued; I'd be pretty interested to find how close to perfect I got it.

It is a nice tool. I don't own one, but I borrow one from a friend. I don't think his is vintage, it's probably over 12 years old. I don't think it's $300 dollars nice. I think the price is high because they are often out of stock, the exchange rate, and it is well made and regarded. For $300 I'd be looking at the EVT dishing tool, even though that one is overkill.

edit: Wow, the EVT is going for $459! I could have sworn they were going for $300 not too long ago. I haven't seen one in the flesh, but I do know that the faces are milled after welding to ensure accuracy. A VAR is cast (maybe forged) aluminum, and the faces on the example I saw weren't especially flat, thought I don't think it matters much for the dishing tool to be accurate.

It's amazing what old tools will bring. I found a Stanley "Bailey No. 4" wood plane in decent condition at a flea market for $3 last year and bought it only because I needed a plane for one job. After I cleaned it up I did a bit of internet searching and found them on Fleabay for anything from $50 to $300!

Functionally, the only thing that a dishing tool does is to provide you with a reliable place to measure from.

Beyond that, there's art value. I'm thinking a $300.00 VAR dishing tool must include some of that. What did that painting of "Scream" sell for?

I've always had access to one, but surely you could improvise one. All you'd need is a a board that hits the rim sidewall at 180 degrees from itself and a gauge to the locknut. I can't think of the perfect something off hand, but... how hard can it be?

Edit: Sometimes I wonder why the "new thread" button doesn't just link to a search field- It's already here.

Making an improvised dishing tool is easy and good quality commercial ones are relatively cheap too. The VAR in question is way expensive for reasons beyond its functionality.

About 127 million.I dropped out at 120 million!

The VAR #143 is nice, but it suffers the same limitation as Campagnolo's "N" dish tool: it doesn't really work with wheels smaller than 26". I have a ~$15 Minoura dish tool that is more versatile:

http://www.os2.dhs.org/~john/minoura-dish-tool.jpg

In an Auction, something is worth what the highest bidder is willing to pay.:roflmao2:

I have a vintage Minoura dishing tool that'd be worth a small fortune if that little blue ball hadn't broken off.

True and the seller and auction house both hope for a feeding frenzy that drives the price way above what any individual would be willing to pay in the absence of the excitement.