Thread: Brass No4 smoothing plane.

I am not personally familiar your plane however from the photo it looks OK.

Are you sure it is brass or bronze?

If you look on the Lie Nielsen website they have the following comment in their FAQ section about the LN Bronze planes.

"Though Iron has been the material of choice for mass-produced tools, we use Manganese Bronze, which is a very hard, strong alloy which wears very well, unlike brass and softer bronzes. We prefer this bronze to iron for small planes because it's heavier, it doesn't rust, won't crack if dropped and has wonderful warmth in the hand. We use iron when the extra weight is not welcome"

I have a couple of LN bronze planes and I like them very much.

Hopefully Derek will see your post and pass on some further information for you.

The plane is described on e-bay as brass, but i know of the bronze LN planes and was hoping for the best lol.

It still has 2 days to run, the current price is £15 ($37 AUD), so might check it out tommoz and have a bid on it.

Matt.

Originally Posted by Wood Borer

I have a couple of LN bronze planes

Bit of an understatement there WB

Originally Posted by craigb

Bit of an understatement there WB

Well some then

Think i'd have to sell swmbo's body to afford a few new LN planes. Now there's a thought......that No8 jointer looks might fine.

GTL are copies of Stanley. I have seen a few on eBay before. I suspect about 1960s vintage. I have no idea what they are like in practice but bronze would certainly be more durable than cast iron. Prettier too.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by matt1245

Think i'd have to sell swmbo's body to afford a few new LN planes. Now there's a thought......that No8 jointer looks might fine.

In that case post a few pics of SWMBO and see if you get some offers.


Peter.

Cheers guys.

Would do Sturdee, but she slapped me last time i tried something like that lol.

Just had another look on e-bay, and still no one has bid (fpr the plane that is, not ma girl).

Why is the adjusting nut stuck up int the air like that, more like a norris plane than a bailey. What purpose would this serve, if any?

Matt.

Hi Matt,

just found this forum, did you buy the plane?

I inherited exactly the same from my Great Grandfather, and i have to say that manufacture has (predicatably) come a long way since the GTL was produced. On the +ive side it's a nice weight and is relatively ductile (vs iron).
Having said this, and assuming you got it for the right price, if you are prepared to put in some time fettling it would be useable.
Tim

Hi Tim,

Welcome to the forum.

No didn't end up buying that plane, decided i have enough to fettle at the moment (2 stanley No4 and No6 and a record No4) and didn't want to waste my money on the unkown, just in case. It went for a pretty cheep price if i remember correctly.

Matt.