Plane identification

[David Christopher]

I was cleaning out some junk out of my shop and I ran across a plane that my grandpa gave before he died and I was wandering if it is a decent plane or just a plain plane LOL..I know he was a carpenter by trade and most of his tools were top of the line but dont know about this as I have mostly power tools......I found no numbers on it. all I can find is " made in the USA".....any help would be appreciated

[Greg Crawford]

Dave,

I have a plane very similar to yours that was my father's and his father's. Your lever cap says "Stanley Handyman", which was a sort of "home-owners" grade of Stanley plane. My logo is slightly different than yours, and yours looks to be about a #5 size, where mine is more of a #4. I did some tuning to it, and it does a nice job. It's not Stanley's top of the line, but compared to today's Stanleys, I'd have to say they're just as good if not a touch better.

The greatest part is that every time I use mine, I think of my dad and my grandpa. I never met my grandpa, and my dad's been gone since 1981, so it's a nice feeling.

Enjoy.

Greg

[James Owen]

I was cleaning out some junk out of my shop and I ran across a plane that my grandpa gave before he died and I was wandering if it is a decent plane or just a plain plane LOL..I know he was a carpenter by trade and most of his tools were top of the line but dont know about this as I have mostly power tools......I found no numbers on it. all I can find is " made in the USA".....any help would be appreciated

Dave,

It's a Stanley Handyman jack plane (#5).

Handyman was one of Stanley's less-expensive, somewhat lower-quality plane lines, intended for home repair kinds of jobs, rather than furniture building. It's a decent plane, and as a jack plane, would be perfectly suitable for removing goodly amounts of wood, but is not likely -- even with significant tuning -- to peel off gossamer-thin shavings. If you wanted to use it as a long smoother, then you'd likely find it a rather frustrating experience, as it is not as well-manufactured (grinding tolerances and so forth) as the Bailey or Bedrock lines.

Nonetheless, with a little rust removal and some TLC, it should make a fine user for rough and medium work.

[Jim Koepke]

My experience is about the same as those above.
I have a few Stanley #4s, type 6 and type 9. They are all better than the Stanley Handyman which I sold. The fit, finish and feel of the Stanley/Bailey is somewhat better, the Handyman did an acceptable job in many cases. Clean it up and use it. You may get another #5 and want to set up the Handyman as a scrub plane. People do not expect gossamer shavings from their scrub planes.

One thing to consider, this is likely a top of the line plane for a carpenter's needs. A carpenter would use a plane mostly to fit doors and windows. Occasionally they may need to trim the backs of cabinets to fit snugly against a wall. This is an entirely different requirement than what cabinet makers would have for their planes.

jim

[george wilson]

You can get a replacement handle for the plane,though it may be black plastic. I'm not too up on hunting for Stanley plane handles,but also do see them on ebay. Anyone know a wood replacement handle?

[Mike Henderson]

You can make a new tote fairly easily. Don't worry if that plane is not the "top of the line". The thing that makes it valuable to you is that it belonged to your grandfather.

Mike

[Joel Goodman]

I would just repair the existing tote. See the link http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=5867&highlight=tote+repair
for a run down on plane rehabbing which includes the tote fix you need. Also look at Johnny Kleso's website (rarebear) as he has lots on rehabbing.

[David Christopher]

Thanks for the help guys, for now I have all power tools . I think Ill clean it up and see if I can learn to use it. or just make shavings