Penncraft Plane

[Kevin Rector]

I have this plane that I know nothing about. I just started with woodworking. It is a Penncraft which I understand was J.C. Penny's brand of tools. I've read conjecture on the internet that maybe Stanley made these and branded them for J.C. Penney... I have no idea if that's true.

It has some sentimental value for me as it was my grandfather's. He was not a wood worker but he was very handy.

The plane seems to be in pretty good shape, but I don't know a good plane from a bad one, so anyone wanna chime in on this one?

[Michael Faurot]

The plane looks to be in good shape and appears like it will make a fine user. Check out Vintage Planes: Clue to Sidestepping Crap (http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Vintage+Planes+Clues+To+Sidestepping+Crap.aspx). This article was written by Christopher Schwarz recently. I notice your plane has a couple of the positive things to look for:


The frog adjustments appear to feature a nice brass knob and a screw to adjust the location of the frog.
The lateral adjustment lever has a disc on it to better connect with the blade.

Get the blade sharpened up and give it a try. :)

[James Scheffler]

I have this plane that I know nothing about. I just started with woodworking. It is a Penncraft which I understand was J.C. Penny's brand of tools. I've read conjecture on the internet that maybe Stanley made these and branded them for J.C. Penney... I have no idea if that's true.


I have a 1960s-ish Penncraft lathe, which I understand was built by Delta. It seems likely that other Penncraft tools were rebranded products made by major manufacturers.

Sounds like a fun mystery anyway.

Jim

[Bill Houghton]

Walt Quadrato, of Brass City Records, has a site with pictures of the lateral adjuster levers on various makers' planes: http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/graphics/plane%20id.html. From your pictures and his, it looks like yours might be a Sargent; nothing wrong with that, they made good tools.

You're right that the hardware stores didn't make their own, but had one of the major makers produce them.

Only way to know for sure is to clean it up and try it out. I will now editorialize in a big way: if you look online or follow threads here, you'll find all kinds of advice on tuning up a plane, some involving many steps, filing this and that, renewing the paint job, etc. You can do that if you wish to, but I have generally found it enough to disassemble it (it's not usually necessary to remove the handles) and clean everything up (some prefer mineral spirits, I prefer warm water and an SOS pad, followed by hand drying and copious sprays of WD-40), wax the sliding surfaces (where the frog on which the cutting iron rests on the body, on the face of the frog where the cutting iron rests, on the sole of the plane), lightly oil the threaded bits, and then reassemble.

Then comes the crucial part: sharpen the iron. If you're not good at sharpening, practice until you are. Sharpness is central to hand tool woodworking, and makes everything else possible.

Then try it out. You'll probably find you've got a good to very good plane, and using something that was in the family will make using it very satisfying.

[Greg Crawford]

Kevin,

Make it as usable as you can, and let it remind you of your grandfather every time you pick it up. I have some tools like that, and enjoy them just for that reason.

[George Beck]

Way back in the early seventies, I started my working life with J C Penny's in the paint and hardware section( I was just a child, mind you, ahem). I later became the buyer for this department and yep, we purchased the planes from Stanley Tool Works. This would be a seventies Stanley Plane. BTW, J C Penny's power tools were Rockwell Delta and their routers were also from Stanley. My hand tool box and socket set still bear the Penncraft name. I purchased the set for $29 with my first pay check.

George

[Harry Goodwin]

Sometime about 66 Penny's sold a lot of Stanley tools with their own name on them. I would be nearly positive Stanley made your plane and probably a great plane to use. Harry

[Dave Lehnert]

Thanks for posting.

A lot of info I had no knowledge of.

[Kevin Rector]

Kevin,

Make it as usable as you can, and let it remind you of your grandfather every time you pick it up. I have some tools like that, and enjoy them just for that reason.

Thanks Greg, it will always be my favorite plane no matter what, just based on who owned it.


Way back in the early seventies, I started my working life with J C Penny's in the paint and hardware section( I was just a child, mind you, ahem). I later became the buyer for this department and yep, we purchased the planes from Stanley Tool Works. This would be a seventies Stanley Plane. BTW, J C Penny's power tools were Rockwell Delta and their routers were also from Stanley. My hand tool box and socket set still bear the Penncraft name. I purchased the set for $29 with my first pay check.

George

Thanks George, that sort of first hand information is really good!

Thanks to everyone who replied.

[Richard Niemiec]

Looks to me like a Type 20 Stanley. I'd say late '60s.