Thread: Stanley or not Stanley

Dont know if it was nessecarly a con, but not sure that its a Stanley??? the blue Stanley's were type 20 1962-1967.... It should have stanely printer up the lateral adjuster for one...????

just taking a guess

Serg

No printing on the lateral adjuster!

IMO, the frog indicates that it's not a Stanley. As far as I know, the frog's surface was always ground after painting and the lateral adjuster should have a disc as the blade contact point.

You can also shoot an email to Patrick Leach (leach at supertool dot com), author of the "blood and gore" treatise on Stanley planes, he's been quite helpful to me with a few questions and usually responds in a couple if days.

I think it is one of the newer Stanley planes. Probably late '60s or the '70s. At some stage Stanley started producing "cheaper" tools for the home DIY market. These usually do not have the company name on the bed and their model numbers are different from those of the better bench planes.

Thanks for your interest and suggestions!
Following up from Serge's suggestion that it is a type 20 I found this info at The Stanley Bench PLane Page
All castings are now painted blue, instead of the black japanning used for over 100 years. Yes!
Hardwood totes and knobs are now finished with a light colored stain. No - mine is black paint.
The forked lever (the one that engages the hole in the lever cap) is now a cheesy two-piece pressed steel piece of junk. Yes!
The lateral adjustment lever is no longer a two-piece construction, but now is one piece with the thumb grip bent over. Yes!
"STANLEY" is no longer stamped into the lateral adjustment lever. Yes!
The begining of the end for Stanley bench planes, as we prepare for the Dawning of the Age of Norm, and Ellie Mae Clampett's yummy bisquits.

I am beginning to think it might be a Stanley after all but it doesn't feel like one - the quality isn't there.

Originally Posted by steck

Thanks for your interest and suggestions!
Following up from Serge's suggestion that it is a type 20 I found this info at The Stanley Bench PLane Page
All castings are now painted blue, instead of the black japanning used for over 100 years. Yes!
Hardwood totes and knobs are now finished with a light colored stain. No - mine is black paint.
The forked lever (the one that engages the hole in the lever cap) is now a cheesy two-piece pressed steel piece of junk. Yes!
The lateral adjustment lever is no longer a two-piece construction, but now is one piece with the thumb grip bent over. Yes!
"STANLEY" is no longer stamped into the lateral adjustment lever. Yes!
The begining of the end for Stanley bench planes, as we prepare for the Dawning of the Age of Norm, and Ellie Mae Clampett's yummy bisquits.

I am beginning to think it might be a Stanley after all but it doesn't feel like one - the quality isn't there.

Actually, I was sugesting it WASNT a Stanely....well atleast their normal product of the day anyway. It may well have been made by them. This has been common for many years by many tool makers, to make items for others etc.

form what I could gather, I assumed the type 20 would still have Stanely cast into the bed of the main body...I just cant see them going to the trouble of casting "made in USA" and not getting their branding on there somewhere. Yes I know the cutter had it. but....

considering pretty much all basic hand planes of that day looked the same, you would think that they would have Stanely proudly on there somewhere???

Is it a Craftsman with a Stanley cap and blade?

Just a thought.

So much to learn!
I didn't even know that there was such a brand as Craftsman planes.
I will go away and google that!

I found on on eBay which is the same as mine.
Vintage Stanley C559B-0 Made in USA
This one is unused with the box.
I think this might be the one!

I have a couple of planes like that. Mine are blue and cheaply made but are definitely a Stanley plane. Mine are of recent vintage 60's-80's, not really sure.

Scott

Originally Posted by seanz

Is it a Craftsman with a Stanley cap and blade?

Just a thought.

Apparently, not a very good thought.



I see so many planes at markets etc. that are Bitzers, that now my first thought when seeing a plane that's a bit odd is "Which makers do the parts belong to?".
Not, "I wonder what model that plane is?".

Originally Posted by steck

I found on on eBay which is the same as mine.
Vintage Stanley C559B-0 Made in USA
This one is unused with the box.
I think this might be the one!

Steck,
words can't describe how much of a waste of time that plane will be,
Come along to the next htpaa.tool sale and purchase any one of 100 planes that will be there, will cost you less than $50, and will be an order of magnitude better than that piece of carp.
Regards,
Peter

Originally Posted by lightwood

Steck,
words can't describe how much of a waste of time that plane will be,
Come along to the next htpaa.tool sale and purchase any one of 100 planes that will be there, will cost you less than $50, and will be an order of magnitude better than that piece of carp.
Regards,
Peter

Thanks Peter,
I have put that date into my calendar.
I bought this particular plane ages ago because I needed one and 1 didn't know much about planes at the time. I was quite disappointed with the quality when I looked closely at it. I had thought that if it had the name Stanley it must be good.
I now have my fathers old Stanley No 5 and my grandfather's Stanley No 3 planes which I have cleaned up. It is quite a thrill to get the rust off and get them looking good again!

Thanks to everyone who provided input for me.
I have learnt about Type 20's, Craftsman planes, Sargent planes, how planes changed over time, and when the next Hand Tools sale is on.

Steck - that plane reminds me very much of a Stanley I bought when in Canada in the 80s, & Scott's post that he has a couple like it hardens my suspicion that it is one of the cheap lines Stanley made for large retail chains like "Canadian Tire", which is where I bought mine from. Mine had the same sort of frog - straight out of the mould without benefit of even a lick of machining, and the same hammertone lever cap minus the spring-steel piece under the cam.

What Lightwood says is absolutely true, unfortunately - without access to a well-equipped machine shop, or unless you possess great metal-working skills to properly machine & mount that frog, it will be a complete dog and likely remain a dog whatever you do to fettle it. I thought I knew a bit about planes at the time, & had the conceit to think I could get a cheap plane to perform like a 'real' one. But try as I might, I could not get it to make decent shavings under the best of conditions. Fortunately, I already owned a couple of 'good' planes, or I think I would have been discouraged completely.

I suppose the silver lining to the cloud was that it was something I could practise plane-fettling on. To no avail, but it was good practise.....

It has long-since gone to take its rightful place in the world; as landfill.

Cheers