Are there Counterfeit Stanleys out there?

[steck]

HI,
I was browsing in a local discount tool store when I noticed some Stanley planes on the shelf.
The prices were great - a no 4 for $35.98 and a no. 5 for $45.98.
A closer inspection showed pretty shoddy quality. The blades have no makers mark stamped on them and have a thin chrome? coating that is peeling off at the edge.
The handles are red plastic. I am suspicious. Has any one heard of counterfeit Stanley planes around?

[ian]

I don't think so
as part of their retreat from quality, Stanley introduced a line of "Handyman" planes numbered 12-00n marketed towards the DIY / hobbiest
I've seen reference to the "Handyman" line in catalogues
here is one such from 1985 http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f152/174408d1309134198-stanley-12-030-12-052-12-250-13-030-13-052-13-050-plough-combination-planes-stanley-1985-price-list-aus1-lo.jpg

I've seen 12-004s in heat molded plastic packaging on the shelf beside #5s in cardboard boxes

I suspect with the reintroduction of "quality" Stanley planes -- the new Sweetheart range -- the packaging and pricing of the "handyman" line has been revised

[seanz]

There are genuine counterfeit Stanley/Bailey planes around here. They were made years ago at the railway workshops.....so the story goes.
No identifying marks on a #5 sized plane.
I want one.
:)

[Master Splinter]

I like that - their own product has declined in quality so much that it is mistaken for a counterfeit product!!!!

[gnu52]

With the older Stanleys the #1 and #2C have been copied/ faked apparently with the intention to deceive. The #1's are a slightly off copy, the #2's have corrugations milled into a smooth base, which is too thin so the corrugations tend to be shallow.
Agree with the above comments concerning new stock.
Regards from Bill

[Scribbly Gum]

Actually, those are about one third of the price charged by Bunnings for the Stanleys that they stock.
Maybe some factory in some country that doesn't give a rat's elbow about copyright or intellectual property rights, has done a knock off of the current - poor as they are - Stanleys.
What a hoot!
A lousy copy of a lousy copy.

Reminds me of my watch purchasing fun in Saigon.
I was after a Breitling.
Genuine question: Do you want original copy, or copy of original copy?
Not wanting to appear cheap, I asked for the original copy.
Nothing but the best for me.

Ha ha - we have come this far .................:doh:

[acmegridley]

Why would you bother, an imitation of an imitation,both crap!!:no:

[Kyle]

Don't know about the plane, but a few years ago at one of those dodgy tool stands at a market I found a chalk line.

Looked like a Stanley one, the packaging looked real, even the logo looked the same, but it was spelt 'Stan Lee'. Don't know if it was bad translation or a way around copyright, but I regret not shelling out the $5 just for a piece of shed art.

[pmcgee]

Maybe it was used by Spiderman! :o

[steck]

Perhaps I could start collecting "lousy copies of lousy copies"?
Might be a new Niche market?
I think I will go back and read the box for any tell tale spelling errors. Even the box cardboard felt like it was soft and inferior!

[seanz]

Maybe it was used by Spiderman! :o


Awwww....you beat me to it. :D:D:D

Bet it was a Marvelous stringline.

[andrewr79]

Sadly those look real enough. I saw the same models out of their boxes at the local bunnings and it's what the others have said - the quality has declined so badly they look like rubbish. At least your store has the sense not to charge $120 for them.

[Vann]

There are genuine counterfeit Stanley/Bailey planes around here. They were made years ago at the railway workshops.....so the story goes.I did my apprenticeship at a railway workshops (Otahuhu) - unfortunately we didn't have a foundry, and I never saw a workshops Stanley clone.

However, later in my career I spent some time at another workshops (Hutt) that did have a foundry. In the pattern shop they had patterns for every part of a Westinghouse brake pump (steam powered variety). Apparently during WW2 they couldn't get parts from the States, so they made their own to keep the trains running.

I guess the same would have applied to tools such as planes.

I don't know what happened after the war, when patents would have applied again, but I saw those patterns in the 1980s.

Cheers, Vann.

ps Isn't "genuine counterfeit" a contradiction in terms? :U:U