92 Stanley Shoulder Plane defect or design

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I own a Stanley 1-12-92 shoulder plane. The plane has two screws. One screw allows the front to move back and forth and the second screw holds the blade in place. The screw slot on the second screw is cut at an angle. I looked at a second one at the store and it is the same. The end result is that I cannot easily manipulate this screw without using a small screw driver set at one side of the screw.

Is this by design?

I tried to find a replacement screw, but, I have no idea what this screw is. My local hardware has a few that are close (such as a 10-24 and the M5 with .80 pitch) but that is not correct.

I sent an email to Stanley, but, they are non-responsive in any way. It sounds like I need to send the entire plane (blade and all) if I want to make it a warranty issue (as opposed to sending only the screw, or say the screw and the thing it screws into that sits on top of the blade.

Any thoughts? I may just say punt, drag out my Dremel tool, and cut the slot correctly, can't imagine that would be too difficult.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Notice that on the screw, the back is much deeper than the front.

[Bill Houghton]

Quality control on the Stanley planes has been marginal for quite a while. People will often comment that planes built before a certain period (the most common being, "before World War II") are far better than the newer ones. This is one example.

If you've got the tools to fix it yourself, you should.

Oh, and: Stanley has continued to use thread sizes/pitches that aren't part of current national standards. From our perspective at this date, they're very inconsistent - sometimes, you can find a screw in the hardware store that will fit; usually, not. The engineers who made the decision originally did so before the national standardization, so they weren't inconsistent from their perspective. I guess we should applaud Stanley for continuing to make parts that will fit earlier models of their tools; but it does get frustrating.

[Rob Young]

Depending on the vintage, exact model number, phase of the moon, etc you can buy replacement parts direct from Stanley.

http://www.stanleytoolparts.com/planes-rabbetplanes.html

However in this case I don't see the #92 listed. You might get lucky and be able to use parts from a #93 but I'm not familiar enough with the #92 or #93 to say for certain.

[john brenton]

At least most Stanley parts are interchangeable and if you need a part you can just buy a whole beat up plane and harvest the parts. When I was a plumber you would go into these 100 year old houses and spend an hour readjusting your pipe threader to match up the old threads, or worse spend an hour in ACE hardware checking every single brass thread looking for that one magical match that would save you from having to replace a whole fixture.





Oh, and: Stanley has continued to use thread sizes/pitches that aren't part of current national standards. From our perspective at this date, they're very inconsistent - sometimes, you can find a screw in the hardware store that will fit; usually, not. The engineers who made the decision originally did so before the national standardization, so they weren't inconsistent from their perspective. I guess we should applaud Stanley for continuing to make parts that will fit earlier models of their tools; but it does get frustrating.

[Jim Koepke]

The #92 is listed. True to Stanley, they have the wrong plane pictured.

164214

It looks like the new lever and screw is priced at $2.05. No guarantee that it is any different from your current item. I have also noticed that there is no guarantee that the screws will fit between the two if they are made at different times. The pitch may be the same, but the cutting tools may be more worn. That may be why the lever and screw are sold together.

If you are able to fix the situation, that will likely be the easiest solution.

jtk



Depending on the vintage, exact model number, phase of the moon, etc you can buy replacement parts direct from Stanley.

http://www.stanleytoolparts.com/planes-rabbetplanes.html

However in this case I don't see the #92 listed. You might get lucky and be able to use parts from a #93 but I'm not familiar enough with the #92 or #93 to say for certain.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Depending on the vintage, exact model number, phase of the moon, etc you can buy replacement parts direct from Stanley.

http://www.stanleytoolparts.com/planes-rabbetplanes.html


Thanks, I will chat with them. The plane is less than one year old, and it was not cheap. I ended up with this rather than a LN because I thought that I needed it that day and did not have time to wait (I was wrong, been a couple of months before I got around to using it and tuning it up).

The blade is rather sharp, and after the time I spent on it, I don't really want to send it in for a new screw.

Thanks all for the help!

[Mike Davis NC]

I would use a small straight file to correct the slot. A 5 minute job and no stress.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Couple of very careful strokes with a fine-toothed hack saw blade ought to do it. Don't use a file unless it's as fine as a hack saw blade. You'd likely widen the screw slot so much you wouldn't be able to use it.

[Mike Davis NC]

I have a set like this and I use it to touch up threads as well as slots in small screws all the time.

http://www.micromark.com/12-PIECE-MICRO-FILE-SET,7847.html

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Excellent. My guess is that either would prove to be easier than the Dremel.