Plane information

[Jim Koepke]

This is something that I PM to people who ask about a plane they just bought or information about planes. It is mostly Stanley oriented.

If others have sites that they like, please follow on with a link and a little bit about the site.

I sent a note to Zahid and he will link to the thread in the Sticky FAQ thread.

Thanks for anything you can add,

jim

Patrick Leach has a great site with information and a touch of humor on Stanley planes.
This link is to the entrance page of his site. Once you get inside, bookmark what ever page you want to start with. There are also a few pages of non-Stanley planes that are interesting.
http://www.supertool.com/

One of the members here has a very good site full of plane information. Johnny Kleso deserves the thanks of all of us for the time he has taken to build this wealth of information.
http://www.rexmill.com/

This is a great page for Stanley Trade Marks used on the plane irons (blades).
http://www.antique-used-tools.com/stantms.htm

There is also a Stanley Bedrock type study page.
http://www.antique-used-tools.com/brtypes.htm

This link is to the different lateral adjustment lever styles from various makers.
http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/graphics/plane%20id.html

This page is a type study of Millers Falls planes.
http://homepage.mac.com/galoot_9/MF_type1.html

Found a .pdf for an instruction manual for the Stanley 45. There are other manuals on this site, drop back to tooltrip.com to get there.
http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanley/comb-planes/45man.pdf

Another page for type studies of Stanley bench planes
http://primeshop.com/access/woodwork/stanleyplane/pftsynch.htm

[Zahid Naqvi]

Jim, the brasscityrecords link is broken. I've added this thread to the FAQs sticky as well.

[Richard Kee]

Try this link for Walt Q's quick plane maker id:

http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/graphics/plane%20id.html

Richard

[Brian Kent]

Is there anyone on the Creek who resells old planes?

I don't know if someone buys and sells, rehabs to user condition, or restores.

I would love to be able to offer some advice in between e-bay risk and the sites that sell totally restored collectibles.

Second to that, is there another site that sells fairly cheap users that we can guide new plane users to?

[Jim Koepke]

I pasted in the link for Brass city records. The url gets compressed, but it seems to work for me.

jim

[Craig Johnson]

Walt at Brass City Records sells good useres as well as collectible planes,saws etc.
I bought a Stanley #5 (1920s-1930) for 40.00 plus shipping.
Nice and sharp and a good user.
Check there every Monday for new listings from him.

[Alan DuBoff]

WaltQ is a great guy at Brass City, no question. A very honest and fair guy, you won't get the killer deal but you will get a great price on most stuff, for the market value.

Common bench planes, saws, and even chisels, he finds good quality used tools. Mostly all woodworking tools, but I've bought some machinist tools from him in the past which he gets occasionally. He will typically only have the types of machinist tools that woodworkers use, like dividers, squares, double squares, calipers, etc...but he does get other machinist tools from time to time, like mics, test gages, machinist clamps, etc...

There could not be a nicer guy, and he schleps out to fleas and garage sales every weekend...

As Craig says, check on Monday morning, best to call him, IMO...he will often have stuff he doesn't have time to put on his web page. He's slightly computer challenged, which some can probably relate to, but he does a pretty good job at getting the stuff up, it's just a crude way in which he does it...;)

[Joel Goodman]

I've had good luck so far with Sandy Moss, Walt, FTJ and I just ordered something from Patrick Leach. They are all gentlemen.

[Jim Koepke]

Looking at the prices at Brass City, they do seem like fair value.
If I wasn't a so frugal and patient, I would probably be buying from him.

jim

[Alan DuBoff]

Looking at the prices at Brass City, they do seem like fair value.
If I wasn't a so frugal and patient, I would probably be buying from him.
Don't count him out, you might be in need of a certain tool one day and know that the chances of finding it are very rare, so Walt come to the rescue. I have an old 4C Type 11 I got from him, he charged me only $30 for it, it was ready to go...he might get more now, but probably not much more.

Yes, you can find them at fleas and garage sales, I do that also, but often you get a pile of rusted parts and need to spend a couple hours cleaning and tuning it up. Walt doesn't buy/sell any old rusted stuff like that, he'll clean it up first if he does. But more than not he gets stuff in better shape that he charges somewhere between flea/garage-sale prices and retail on ebay/similar.

Another example is chisels, some folks like to have a semi-matched set, and you can find sizes with Walt where you might not find them local...I have several Stanley 750s I've got from him, $10-$20, but clean and usable. Others I have found local, but even so...most folks at the fleas even know that a Stanley 750 is worth $10 in many cases. I'm just saying, Walt's prices are close in some cases like that.:)

[Jim Koepke]

I could not edit this into my original message, but it is an valuable sight for type studies of Stanley bench planes.

http://primeshop.com/access/woodwork/stanleyplane/pftsynch.htm

jim

[C.R. Miller]

Does it have to be Stanley planes? Two plane-related sites I can think of (cause they're mine) are:

Handplane Central (http://www.handplane.com/) -- Information on Stanley, wooden and infill planes. Includes tutorials, tips, interviews and price guides.

Record Planes (http://www.record-planes.com/) -- History, types, price guides and information on all Record planes and spokeshaves.

[Jim Koepke]

Does it have to be Stanley planes?

No, I am hoping if people have information about other sites they will add to the list.

Zahid can paste them into the original or a note can be added to scroll down through the thread to find other links.

I am glad to see your post for Record planes. Someone asked about them just the other day. I have not looked at the link yet, but will.

Hopefully someone knows a site for Sargent planes. I know a little about Union planes, very little.

jim

[Justin Green]

Those are all good sites. I might add one that I didn't see listed.

It's called Stanley by Brunner and has a lot of info on the planes. It's missing quite a few planes, but another good source.

http://www.hansbrunnertools.gil.com.au/Stanley%20by%20numbers/Stanley.htm

[C.R. Miller]

Hopefully someone knows a site for Sargent planes.

jim

Actually I've been working on one for a little while. Not quite ready to launch just yet but I'll let you know when it's more "presentable".

[Rory Talkington]

Jim, thanks for posting the great links. Any descriptions or type studies on Stanley Spoke Shaves out there???

[Dave Matson]

.....Any descriptions or type studies on Stanley Spoke Shaves out there???

The only thing I've come accross was a page from the 1914 Stanley catalog available at rose tool antiques. The 1958 catalog adds the No. 151, but discontinues all but the 51,60,63 and 64.

http://www.filehive.com/files/090305/stanley1914no34spokeshaves.jpg (http://filehive.com)

[Rory Talkington]

Thanks Dave. There appears to be a #56 on the big auction site but it does not have the holes in the handle. Possibly a very early Stanley.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, thanks for posting the great links. Any descriptions or type studies on Stanley Spoke Shaves out there???

Even the John Walter book doesn't say much on spoke shaves. The #56 was a cooper's spoke shave but also used for other things. 18 inches in length with a 2-5/8 inch cutter. Made from 1870-1923. Cast iron construction with a Japanned finish.

jim

[Billy Chambless]

Jim, thanks for posting the great links. Any descriptions or type studies on Stanley Spoke Shaves out there???

This post from Patrick Leach might help: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~alf/en/leach-spoke.txt (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/%7Ealf/en/leach-spoke.txt)

[Ron Baird]

I have a Stanley #8 Jointer plane. The plane iron is a "Sweetheart Canada" model.

It is quite unusual. First, it is painted with the John Deere Yellow (tote and knob and lever cap) and green (bed). Also, it is stamped "imperfect on the side.

Does anybody know of similar planes. I did a google search and found a John Deere emblazoned block plane for sale on eBay. I found nothing else.

This is only a guess; Could this have been an old marketing or promotional item used to inform of a Deere-Stanley affiliation, particularly since a seldom seen "imperfect" model was used (you know, Stanley would find a place to use the "imperfect" planes).

[Jim Koepke]

I have heard of the "imperfect" stamped on the sides of castings that did not meet Stanley's quality standards for one reason or another. Have not heard of the "John Deere" planes.

Pictures are always desired, especially with an oddity like this.

jim

[Ron Baird]

I have a Stanley #8 Jointer plane. The plane iron is a "Sweetheart Canada" model.

It is quite unusual. First, it is painted with the John Deere Yellow (tote and knob and lever cap) and green (bed). Also, it is stamped "imperfect on the side.

Does anybody know of similar planes. I did a google search and found a John Deere emblazoned block plane for sale on eBay. I found nothing else.

This is only a guess; Could this have been an old marketing or promotional item used to inform of a Deere-Stanley affiliation, particularly since a seldom seen "imperfect" model was used (you know, Stanley would find a place to use the "imperfect" planes).

[Ron Baird]

I will send a photo soon as I get Myself home. Thanks