Thread: What planes to keep

Don't ask me. Over 30 at the last count.

If you don't use them, why keep any at all?

If you do want a working plane, I'd start with the two Records. All of your 'collection' are post WW2 models, so none are from the classic era, but Record seemed to pay attention to seating their frogs properly for longer into the era of declining care in manufacture than the competition. Any one of your planes, with the probable exception of the Carter, is potentially a good plane given the right attention, or potentially a dud - you won't know until you try to get them working. I would predict the Carter is going to be a major challenge with its warped frog. )

The fact that the blade is almost used up on the 010 I'd take as a good sign; at least you know the plane once worked well enough to be very useful to someone. Blades are still available for these, & it's of a size that makes a very handy general-purpose bench plane, with the added bonus of being able to cut up to a shoulder or trim rebates, though I'd rather have a straight #5 for general bench work myself. The #5 is the same size but is more solid than the 10 models with half their bodies chopped away & the blades cantilevered over the edges of the frog.

The Bailey #4 and its clones are the most common planes in the known world - a small proportion of folks prefer the 4 1/2, but there are probably more #4s in existence than all the other models of bench plane put together...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by kenny177

.....
Aust Stanley No4. .. rusted lever cap.. has an alloy frog with no fore and aft adjustment ! ...unusual ?
......

I had one of those. It was from their "economy range" - lower than their crap range.

Not worth five minutes time, in my opinion. I wasted 10 hours on one - slow learner.

Thanks Ian and Graeme..
It was the Falcon that had a warped frog.. apparently due to the diecast material they were made from, but it has been fixed now...and as the Stanley has the same frog, it will suffer the same probs..I always wanted a Turner, but they have the alloy frog as well..
And yes, The 2 records seem the logical choice.

If you wanted to keep the Falcon - being an Aussie plane - you could try the iron frogs from the Aus and UK Stanleys. It's likely one will fit, with some fettling.

Cheers, Vann.