Thread: A use for the hole on a Stanley 78 fence.

Well there you go, Jim -mystery solved!

You did well to score a complete example - I also got a complete one in the clean-out of FIL's shed. However, it didn't come easy, I had to search through several boxes of stuph to find the little parts. When I saw the bare plane on a shelf over the bench, I just assumed the other bits had been lost/thrown out years ago, as is all too often the case. It was only because I spotted the thumb-screw for the depth-stop in a tin of old nuts & bolts that I started a serious search. Each bit was found in a separate box, one of which was full of all sorts of foundry tools. It was a large (very large, he says, with a strong tinge of envy!), shed and the various parts of the 78 were so randomly scattered, I wondered if the old bloke had deliberately set up a treasure-hunt!

I've never thought of using a 78 as a scrub, but now you've mentioned it, why not? I use mine mainly for finessing the faces (but not the shoulders!) of large tenons, a job it does very well. I added a front knob on mine too (after seeing a picture of an old Woden example), which I find makes it much more comfy to use. I usually make rebates on the tablesaw & at most, I will give them a lick or two with the 78 (minus fence) to tidy up the corners. I think I've used it with the fence to actually cut a small rebate once in all the time I've had it, only because the saw was set up for something else at the time & I thought I could do with a bit of exercise.

Judging by the number of 78s & 778s out there without fences & depth stops, I think very few ever get used for rebating.....

Cheers,

I must have been lucky when I picked mine up a few years ago at the TTTG sale in Sydney. Still in the original box wrapped in the Stanley waxed paper. From memory I paid around $60 for it.

No 78.jpg

You win a detective badge. What a simple solution, and judging by all the 78's out there missing parts, a solution not widely known. Well done! I added to your reputation, but made a typo "detective star, not detective stat. 😥

Originally Posted by jimhanna

the front handle didn’t come with it, I added that to make it easier to hold

brilliant! I just got a beat-up 78 to use as a scrub plane, and was thinking to add a front handle. How did you attach the handle? Does it use the original screw? A longer screw? I assume it rests against the body on the front, right and "frog", is that correct?

Mystery solved!

Great minds think alike!
I did the same with mine, but my handle wasn't as nice as yours.
In the end, though, I found it easier to keep the plane stable without the handle. Less comfy in the hand but mode accurate results!!

Ian, I actually only use my 78 with the fence for rebates. So perhaps I'm bucking the trend??

Originally Posted by teemhapp

.......How did you attach the handle? Does it use the original screw? A longer screw? I assume it rests against the body on the front, right and "frog", is that correct?

Not sure if the question is addressed to me or the OP, but this is my effort at fitting a front knob:
Knob2.jpg Knob1.jpg

I rebated the base of the knob so it could sit over the curved toe to centre it over the screw hole (left hand pic.). I could've just made the base dimensions a bit smaller, I suppose, but chose to do it this way for reason(s) I can't remember.

Woden angled the base of their knob so it sits perpendicular to the sole whereas mine is fixed square on the frog surface & sticks out at 45 deg. I tried it this way first because it was the simplest, and found it perfectly comfortable to hold, so that's how it remains. IIRC, the thread of the blade-retaining screw on mine is 1/4 NC, which made life easy - no hunting about for an odd size/thread bolt, just a standard hardware store item. I did make a brass barrel nut for the top because it looks better and the flat base doesn't tend to split the knob the way a counter-sunk screw would....

Cheers,