Stanley vs Millers Falls jack plane choice?

[Alan Zenreich]

I'm new to planes, and have recently acquired what I think is a nice start to a set of useful tools.


Through a couple of Craigslist purchase I now have

Millers Falls #9 (9")
Millers Falls #14 (14")
Stanley Bailey No. 5 English (14")
Stanley Bailey No. 6 corrugated (18")
Stanley Bailey No. 7 (22")
Some need more work than others, but all look promising.

The overlap is in the Millers Falls #14 and Stanley No. 5 English jack planes.
Assuming they are in similar condition... which one would you keep? Or keep them both?

These old planes could be a black hole for time and money <s>

[Robby Tacheny]

I'd say keep both. I have two Stanley #5c's and I was thinking the same thing about dumping one of them. However, as I think about it, it might be a good idea to keep them setup differently. Maybe like using one as a scrub style plane and one with a more fine setup. However, I have a #6, #7, and #8 so I guess time will tell whether this will be wise or not.

-R

[Alan Zenreich]

Robert,

Thanks for your feedback. If I keep them both, which do you think would be better for the finer setup?

[Richard Dooling]

If you are not going to replace the irons and there is a difference in the thickness - you might use the thicker iron for heavier cuts. I have a transitional Sargent jack with a suprisingly thick iron I'm thinking about modifying for scrub work. Especially since I can't find a #40 at a price I like.

.

[Jim Koepke]

I have two #5 Stanley/Bailey planes. One is set up for coarse work and one is set up for very fine shavings.

In your case, you could set both planes to do real fine work and see which one does this better. You may want to swap the blades around while doing this test just to insure the blades are equally sharp. When you have determined which plane, if either, does the best at tricky grain and thin shavings, set the other for the rough work. Since this is usually followed by a smoother, it is not as critical.

jim