Thread: Stanley Bailey 4 1/2 Made in England

Your research may be slightly off, Stanley didn’t produce planes in England until 1937

Yours looks to have been made somewhere between 1945 and 1983; going by the sloppy fit of the frog over the central aligning rib it’ll be from the later end of that range.

I notice you also have this advertised on Ebay?

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Your research may be slightly off, Stanley didn’t produce planes in England until 1937

Yours looks to have been made somewhere between 1945 and 1983; going by the sloppy fit of the frog over the central aligning rib it’ll be from the later end of that range.

I notice you also have this advertised on Ebay?

Damn.

Yes also on eBay, I’m selling this plane either here or there


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Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Yours looks to have been made somewhere between 1945 and 1983; going by the sloppy fit of the frog over the central aligning rib it’ll be from the later end of that range.

So it took them over 40 years to get rid of the sloppy fit of the frog? Or did they close down in 1983 because of the lack of sales due to sloppy fit?


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Originally Posted by Cbig

Damn.

Yes also on eBay, I’m selling this plane either here or there


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I think Chief's point was, it's uncool to do that but also it's against the marketplace basic rules, as per BASIC Market Place rules PLEASE READ point 6.

Originally Posted by poundy

I think Chief's point was, it's uncool to do that but also it's against the marketplace basic rules, as per BASIC Market Place rules PLEASE READ point 6.

All good I will take it off here. Thanks for letting me know


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Originally Posted by Runningman

So it took them over 40 years to get rid of the sloppy fit of the frog? Or did they close down in 1983 because of the lack of sales due to sloppy fit?

No, Stanley planes made after 1983 are still sloppy!
The first planes manufactured with the ogee shouldered frog still used tight tolerances, the central rib in the base and the mating gap in the frog had machined surfaces that essentially allowed the frog to slide back and forth with hardly any lateral movement or twist. Over the years in order to cut manufacturing costs the rib was made smaller and the gap larger until no machining was needed at all. By 1983 the tolerances were so large that the rib and gap essentially served no purpose any longer other than cosmetic and if you ever adjusted the frog you had to manually twist it in its bed to ensure that it was correctly aligned to the mouth, central and square. Coupled with equally poorly machined faces in the base and frog it meant that getting everything properly bedded together and aligned to the mouth was a PITA. Assuming of course that the mouth had been cut properly.

In 1983 the models all changed and the fractional numbers were dropped, but essentially nothing was improved. Shortly afterwards they binned the wooden parts and introduced the black plastic handle and knob that are still made now.

The rise of hand power tools caused the decline in demand for quality hand tools, smoothing planes were no longer used for polishing wood to an almost glass-like finish because Black and Decker et al were selling cheap orbital sanders that didn’t need you to develop skills in setting and using planes or sharpening blades. As the demand dropped so did the quality in a bid to bolster sales. What Stanley now sell in Bunnings under the “Bailey” lable is about as low quality a plane can be made while still having the ability to be fettled by the user to perform well, providing he has the knowledge and skill to do so. Unfettled, the plane performs no better than the cheaper and much nastier Stanley “Handyman” series... good for cutting thick-ish shavings out of construction pine, or using as a paperweight.

THESE “vintage” Supacraft abominations are as low as it is possible to go!