Thread: Which plane to choose?

Thanks for the info guys!

Yes I'm defiantly interested in knowing more, I will just need to wait till I get home to take some photos. I will get a heap of them for you guys, from all angles of all parts.

The no.7 feels to be high quality to me compared to any other planes I have used (new stanleys, groz, and another brand I can't recall, it was new and had a blue top and poorly lacquered wooden handles). And i'm just happy that in its current state it works a dream. So I am very pleased with it.

The history side intrigues me. But even if it turns out that it isn't so old, or was cobbled together from various parts, and is worth virtually nothing, I would still be happy with it, because a new bottom of the barrel cheap no.7 would have cost a fair bit more than what I paid for the both of these, and I know it wouldn't work near half as good.

That's good to hear! I've been following this thread with interest as I am reasonably au fait with US Stanleys; but UK & Aussie ones are a bit of a mystery to me. I thought that they only started manufacturing UK Stanleys after the US Type 19's and up but not long ago I saw one on Flea-bay with an earlier frog and base casting to match but marked "England". What we'd like are photos showing:

The front of the frog
The back of the frog detailing the adjuster wheel and the yoke
A bird's eye view of the base casting showing the frog receiver
A bird's eye view of the entire base casting
A picture of the back of the lever cap
A picture showing the top of the lateral adjustment lever

That should cover every area that Stanley would have changed over the years.

I have taken some pictures, however I forgot about the top of the lever. I will get those soon.

No.7

IMG_3978.jpgIMG_3989.jpgIMG_4012.jpgIMG_4031.jpgIMG_4039.jpgIMG_4045.jpgIMG_4059.jpgIMG_4067.jpg

You can see the evidence of repainting here.



No.4

IMG_4073.jpgIMG_4082.jpgIMG_4092.jpgIMG_4102.jpgIMG_4115.jpgIMG_4118.jpgIMG_4132.jpg




I will get the lever pics, and some birdseye shots as well in a moment.

Well, the 7 looks like a very early post-WW2 as per Vann's earlier post. The frog is of type 16/17 and the adjustment knob is black plastic/hard rubber which was used in the US during the war and they would have been using up all the old bits. The clincher for me would be the frog receiver; if it looks like the third one from the left. This picture was copied from Patrick Leach's "Blood and Gore". The 4 will have a frog receiver shaped like the forth one.





The 4 is of a later vintage as it has the type 19 onwards frog. The yoke appears to be a casting and I've seen them in cast iron (early), chromed cast iron/steel and a cast alloy which is still used today. It has wooden parts so it pre-dates the plastic ones. I would say this is a sixties/seventies plane as I'm pretty sure the plastic handles came in around 1980 but hopefully someone else knows when they made the change.

Here are some more pictures I took on the way out to the car this morning. But it looks like I will need to remove the hardware so we can get a look at the full casting am I correct? If so I can get those pictures tonight.

No.4

IMG_4136.jpgIMG_4166.jpgIMG_4180.jpg


No.7

IMG_4190.jpgIMG_4200.jpgIMG_4246.jpg

This is not a contest. Go to the Sunday Markets around where you live. Some of them will have an old man selling old Stanley planes. The Beenleigh Markets near me always have a heap of old Stanley no 4 and 4 1/2 for about $50. Some markets are hopeless when it comes to old tools and some are much better. The smaller ones tend to be better, in my experience. Anyway, somehow get an old Stanley or Record and do the thing up. If you wanted to spend a few dollars you could get a PMV 11 blade and a new chip breaker from Lee Valley for not much money. These two additions will make a big difference to the performance of the plane but are not essential. Then you will have 3 important things.
1. A really good plane
2. Experience at doing up a plane
3. A whole lot of fun. Looking about in markets and old shops for old tools and doing them up is one of life's great pleasures.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Well, the 7 looks like a very early post-WW2 as per Vann's earlier post. The frog is of type 16/17 and the adjustment knob is black plastic/hard rubber which was used in the US during the war and they would have been using up all the old bits. The clincher for me would be the frog receiver; if it looks like the third one from the left. This picture was copied from Patrick Leach's "Blood and Gore". The 4 will have a frog receiver shaped like the forth one.





The 4 is of a later vintage as it has the type 19 onwards frog. The yoke appears to be a casting and I've seen them in cast iron (early), chromed cast iron/steel and a cast alloy which is still used today. It has wooden parts so it pre-dates the plastic ones. I would say this is a sixties/seventies plane as I'm pretty sure the plastic handles came in around 1980 but hopefully someone else knows when they made the change.

I have had a look, and the number 7 receiver looks the closest to the 4th picture here. Although the pads that sit rearward of the screw holes are squared and don't have a angular cutout in them.