Rare Stanley Bull Nose Wood Plane

[Jim Koepke]

Another Creeker sent me the link to this "Rare" plane listed on eBay. It actually sold for $41.

Just proves the old axiom of a sucker being born every minute.

This is the description:


Here is*a Stanley bullnose*wood plane.*As you can see in the pictures it has a cracked handle.* *

And picture:

138708

Were the bids higher because of the corrugated sole?

jim

[Maurice Ungaro]

Maybe it was the Two-Piece Tote, which is often mistaken for a "cracked handle". The Two-Piece is very desireble, as it's adjustable!

[jim sauterer]

jim is that the origional high angle chisel plane.i bet your sorry you missed this one.

[James Scheffler]

Hmmm. I have a Union No. 5 plane with a broken casting forward of the mouth. I was thinking about turning it into a bullnose plane, because something like that would be useful once or twice a year.

Now I need to rethink my plan. I wonder if I could make enough money to buy something that was actually useful? I could make mine look a lot nicer than that. It would be a rare plane from a less-common maker (Union), meaning it would be extra-rare and clearly quite valuable. ;)

Seriously, though, has anyone made one of these? Was it worth the effort? My plane was of decent build quality and has a 1/8th inch thick blade.

Jim

[Jim Koepke]

I purposely have bought broken planes for the parts.

This kind of set up tends to have a lot of tear out.

At the time, I did not try it with an extremely sharp blade.

Since the broken base was saved to hold totes when working on them, there are likely enough parts in my shop to put one together and give it a try.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

OK, put one of these together in the shop.

With a Hock blade, the bevel was too long to get support at the mouth. This may have a lot of influence on the result.

A broken #3 body that was purchased many years ago for the good wood and has been kept in my accumulation of stuff because it is handy for working on and gluing totes.

A tote and frog were put on as were a sharp Hock blade.

With a very find cut to just scrape the surface, a few little curls and such could be made. This might be good for removing a glue line.

If any more than just touching the surface of the board was tried, the plane would dig right in. One shaving went from a controlled whisper to a fat, my estimate was .020" or more, rank and stiff shaving. Once it digs, it leaves a scar.

So, it could be a usable chisel plane, but there are better ways to spend the money.

I did not try it with the blade bevel up. That could be a whole different ball game, but just the same, if you keep your eyes open, you will see enough broken planes for sell on ebay cheap. The #3 of mine was complete with a couple of small straps and screws on the side to hold it together. The seller thought this was normal. The handle and knob were unbroken. The blade was decent. It cost less than $20 including the shipping. If just the tote and knob were being auctioned, it would likely cost more than $20 sans shipping.

Well, back out to the shop. Maybe it will be tried bevel up.

jim

[Roger Benton]

So, it could be a usable chisel plane, but there are better ways to spend the money.

I did not try it with the blade bevel up.
jim

My partner has (had) a #78 which fell to the concrete floor, broke right above the rear blade position. My plan was to file the break smooth and throw the blade in bevel up, maybe ground to 20-25 degrees, and see what happens. A chisel plane that size may be useful. If you do experiment with it bevel up I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

[Dave Matson]

wow amazing what people pay for :)

I picked up a sad stanley #2 plane that looked just like this at an estate sale about a year ago (got it with a bunch of other tools and wood for $60) It really has come in handy for getting into corners to remove glue squeeze out from dados. As a bonus it came with a deluxe three piece tote, which I tried to take apart and glue only to find that the previous owner had inserted nails into it to hold it together.

A cambered blade might help to make it more effective.

[Jim Koepke]

My partner has (had) a #78 which fell to the concrete floor, broke right above the rear blade position. My plan was to file the break smooth and throw the blade in bevel up, maybe ground to 20-25 degrees, and see what happens. A chisel plane that size may be useful. If you do experiment with it bevel up I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

The attempt at bevel up did seem fruitful until trying to set the blade due to the change of distance that the cap iron could not be shortened to accommodate. It did seem to dive less, but the cap iron (chip breaker) had to be beyond the top arris of the bevel. Guess where the shavings wanted to lodge...

Maybe when I have an inclination to do so, one of my Stanley cap irons will be sacrificed for the enlightenment.

This may actually work with the set up Roger is wondering about as the #78 does not have a cap iron.

jim

[James Taglienti]

Yes... you have heard of the knock-down framing square, that must be a knock down plane. ... as in knocked down off the bench.

[harry strasil]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=71240&highlight=chisel+plane