Thread: Record 50C

Alf and her boat anchors...

Just before she gets here and puts that up herself.

There's nothing especially strange or difficult about them that isn't on Alf's page, or hasn't been mentioned by Jake and his #43(s).

Just another plough/combination plane, and will give trouble at some stage. How much trouble is decided by how much attention you direct to the article od concern.

(Lucky sod. Given a nice plane by someone. Only thing anyone gives me is a &%&#$%$& cold...)

Originally Posted by Schtoo

Alf and her boat anchors...

Just before she gets here and puts that up herself.

Jeremy's already found it and I'm in the dog house for descriminating against the modern abominat-, er, versions by not including them.

Cheers, Alf

Dog house? Hmmm...

You know, if you made the dog house look like 'The Thunderbirds' little island retreat, with Millers Falls' Buck Rogers planes surrounding the swimming pool, and a bunch of #50C's hanging on the walls and making their fence rods light up when they make a call and, err, well...

I just think it looks a lot like one of those Thunderbirds planes.

Um, I think I just said something I may regret there. But anyway...


(But on the other hand, you could always say these modern incarnations don't warrant your valuable attention since they aren't worth the effort.

Case in point, they are being given away by people of sound mind. Obviously completely worthless, but that situation may change if someone wished to dispose of one in your general direction for, umm, reasons that are difficult to clarify by mere words alone?

Will that work? Or do you think he might catch on?

Or am I missing something here? I do own a newish Record #4, and have a feeling I should know better somehow since it was not exactly a precision instrument...)

As I mentioned in my e-mail to Alf, my concern in relation to cutters was misplaced. A bit of fiddling at home last night revealed that all of my #45 and #55 cutters will fit very nicely. So all I lack really are the metric cutters that Record issued with the C series.

I wasn't trying to put Alf in the doghouse because she used the term "boat anchors". She clearly has put in the effort to understand these tools. My greater concern is that people are put off trying to use these tools properly because of the " boat anchor " tag. I suspect that if I had just read the Blood and Gore pages on the Stanley combination planes, I would never have given them a go. It really was only because Jake has worked so hard at unravelling the mysteries of these that I had any confidence at all that it was worth having a go at using these.

Unfortunately, the donor does not have the manual, so if anyone who does would be prepared to send me a copy, I would be very grateful.

I have a few other projects that need to be completed (SWMBO's orders) before I can fiddle with the 050C and give user observations. My current feelings are:

• Because the plane is somewhat more compact and less fiddly than the Stanley-pattern combination planes it might be easier to use.
• I am concerned at the reports that Alf mentions that the plastic handle becomes sweaty in use, leading to the need to apply a new vice-like grip to prevent slipping - if this happens, I suppose the solution would be to make a wooden replacement, keeping the plastic handle so that it can be screwed back on if I ever need to sell the plane.
• It may be that the way that the movable skate is attached to the fixed skate and the rods will ensure that it stays parallel more easily than with the Stanley-pattern plane.
• The depth stops seem to perhaps be less likely to tilt the plane, but even so I think I will and a deeper fence, as Jake suggests.

And you probably know that Alf is going to be writing a book on using these boat anchors?

Alf--you reading this? get back to work <g>...

Take care, Mike

Can you still buy the 50C new? It fetches a step price on ebay in the $120 plus range it seems.

I have been looking at a rabbiting grove planes, it seems like the only ones left is the Irwin Record 778 Rebate Plane

My comments in red below

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

Can you still buy the 50C new? It fetches a step price on ebay in the $120 plus range it seems. No it is out of production. One on eBay went for $86 last week.

I have been looking at a rabbiting grove planes, it seems like the only ones left is the Irwin Record 778 Rebate Plane
A lot of these (or the single rod #78) are available on eBay for reasonable prices

Don't forget that it is often better to buy these tools from the UK or USA on eBay and pay the cheapest postage. It may take a couple of months but then you will get the tool for much less than from Hans Brunner, Stuart Minuskin or an Australian ebay seller.

Cheers

Jeremy

Originally Posted by jmk89

Has anyone used one? Are there any tricks I should know about it?

Every fenced plane has similar concerns.....mainly

- fence parallel to skate.
- blade sharp
- blade bevel grounded on bed
- all parts of the blades edge sees the timber ,,,....corners of blade lay outside of the skate (else the skate will act like a depth stop)

etc, etc, etc,.........etc.. uno... If you get that 45 going, then you won't have any problem with it I'd say.

Originally Posted by MikeW

And you probably know that Alf is going to be writing a book on using these boat anchors?

Alf--you reading this? get back to work <g>...

Not a book, Mike. And what are you doing here anyway? Get back out there and make more saws, dammit.

Cheers, Alf

Originally Posted by jmk89

Over the weekend, I was given one of these by an elderly friend who is losing his sight (but not his mind). He said that he had only used it a couple of times (it certainly looks like that judging from the condition.
Attachment 41861Attachment 41862

It looks like a very compact version of the old #50 and feels good in the hand (despite the plastic handle).

Has anyone used one? Are there any tricks I should know about it?

Cheers

Jeremy

Looks just like the one my Father gave me (no manual either) , except the nut that hold the two halves to gether was missing ,I found a hex nut that fits ok.Not sure if you can get spare parts for them or not.
I got a full roll of blades with it as well.
I couldnt work out how the depth stop and the beading stop were held in the body of the plane .
Then I discovered one of the stops had a piece of plastic tubing on the stem which expands when you wind the screw down.


I have used it a few times , it does take some getting used to .
He also gave a Stanley no 78 ,the fence is missing and the nose piece at the front on the plane is broken off .
I remeber this plane from a few years ago ,he brought it up to my place broken in half and asked it i could repair it .He dropped it on his workshop floor and it ended up in two pieces.
I had the latest in welding technology at my disposal ,a Eutectic gas welding setup that uses metal powder to make the join. I scarved out the broken edges with a grinder ,loaded the cast iron powder into the torch hopper and bolted the body of the plane onto a flat plate and proceeded to rejoin it . Once it had cooled some ,I unbolted the plane body and placed it into a box of lime to let it cool slowly and evenly. I hand filed the welds down and checked the sole and side for flatness and straight.
Strange that I now have this plane and it still is useable, you can see the difference in the metal of the weld and the original cast iron.

My father built all of the furniture and cupboards in his house , he had a few hand tools ,no power tools ,I now have his Pope no 5 plane , his Stanley no 78 and the Record 50C
a curved spoke shave and his well used Marlpes chisels, and not to forget his Silex marking guage.Thses are the only tools he had ,except for another Stanley no 5 plane which he hardly used , and a couple of hand saws .
I have restored the Stanley no 5 but it is missing a couple of screws .
Stanley still sell screw sets for their hand planes , you get all the screws needed in metric and imperial for around $25.00. I just ordered a set for the no 5.

I have to flatten the sole of this plane as it has some hollow in front and behind the mouth , I'll be taking it into work and getting it surface ground, then polish it with increasingly finer grades of carborundum paper on the surface table.

Originally Posted by UKalf

Not a book, Mike. And what are you doing here anyway? Get back out there and make more saws, dammit.

Cheers, Alf

Ha--thought it would catch your attention.

All work and no play? Ok.

Take care, Mike

Well it worked, Mike - I put a few words down on paper at last. Still a way to go though. But hey, no pressure eh?

Cheers, Alf

By following some links from UKAlf's web site, I found the website of Stan Faullin.

He seems to have an original boxed Record 050C and so I e-mailed him last night to ask if he had a PDF of the operating instructions. This morning, I received an e-mail attaching a PDF of the manual. Please PM me with your e-mail address if you would like a copy. Please note that Stan describes the PDF as "not cleaned" - it is a sufficient document for workshop use but it is not, I suppose, in a form that people would like to download from a web site!

Cheers
Jeremy

Over the last few months I have been collecting more of the 0405C and 050C Record planes that have been for sale on eBay and through other sources.
I now have a complete set for the 050 C (including original box, cutters, plastic rods and manual (see photo)).
Attachment 52217
I have also made a PDF copy of the Operating Instructions (which are sitting in the box in the photo). If anyone would like a copy of the PDF, please send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will send it to you (please note, the file is 1 MB).