Gloat? and a few questions

[Kevin Lucas]

Out rust hunting yesterday I found a Stanley 4 1/2 C plane for 20$. It is either a type 11 or 12 as far as I can tell. I think its was a good find. It had a few problems like a cracked knob, no lateral adjuster and a missing screw for the front of the tote. The blade had some big nicks in it and someone had used the top as an adjuster with a hammer so its flat but has edges folded over a bit.

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The question is how do I find an adjuster and which type? Could I use the one on this Franken plane (no idea what brand it is). How hard is it to replace and install?

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Thank you,
Kevin Lucas

[Richard Darjes]

That plane looks like it has good bones. A lot of people would say forget about the original adjuster and just use a small brass hammer directly on the sides of the blade. A 4 1/2 is a smoother and you will find that gentle small hammer taps are actually easier for making tiny adjustments than trying to move the original type of adjuster in small enough increments. Of course, you do need to keep track of the hammer while using the plane!

Nice find!

[Bill Houghton]

If you can remove the rivets on both without damaging the frog on the good plane or the adjuster on the donor plane, it's not that big a deal. I've even used pop rivets to install a new one.