Millers Falls Block Plane

[kiwioutdoors]

I am thinking of purchasing a Millers Falls no. 16 with adjustable mouth are these a low angle plane or not? Are they any good?

[pond-jumper]

The bed is 20 degrees. Toss in a cutter bevel of 25 degrees, and you have a cutting angle of 40 degrees. So no, it's not a low angle plane.

The No. 46 is, though. Roughly the same size as a No 16 with a 12 degree bed.

Quality depends on several factors. For the No. 16, it was made up through the early 70's. It's quality went downhill fast in the 50's and stayed there, as many manufacturers' quality did. So a pre-war, or just a little after, No. 16 is a good starting point.

The No. 46 ended production during the war, so no fear of getting the cheaper stuff, here.

As to usability, a lot depends on how well the previous owner(s) have tuned it. Millers Falls was cranked out like Stanleys and Records and a lot of others. They weren't ready for use out of the box. In particular, the bed and mouth usually needed to be filed flat/square. The cutter usually needed to be lapped a lot on its back side as the stamping caused it to bow, unable to rest fully on the bed.

That said, most owners never bothered. Just like today, people will buy a table saw or something and assume it's ready to use out of the box. They don't bother to align a darned thing, then complain about the saw. Owners of hand tools did the same, but usually just tossed them into a box in the attic and forgot about them. Chances are good you're looking at one of these.

But if the previous owner tuned it well, you'll have a very good block plane. Check the bed several places to make sure its flat. Check the mouth to make sure its square. In particular, check the corners of the mouth where bits of casting usually fill them in. And examine the back of the cutter to see its been lapped properly and fits tightly against the bed, at least from the bottom of the cap iron down to the mouth where all the pressure is applied.

Finally, check all the adjusters for backlash and lateral play. If it all works well, you have a good plane.

Cheers!