what in the blazes is this contraption???

[Kevin Gregoire]

i must say this is one wild looking contraption!!

i was surfing around that big auction website and came
across this monstrosity. does anyone have one of these
in there arsenal? if so, how do you use it and on what?



http://wtwilkins.wilkins.net/032010st55lt_grn1.jpg

[Peter Luch]

Not sure but I'll bet it would outpreform most things made today with motors on them......

Aloha, Pete

[Mike Konobeck]

Looks to be a Stanley 55 Combination Plane. http://www.supertool.com/stanleybg/stan8.htm Just getting into hand planes and I want one or its little brother the 45. Lots of uses. The link explains it pretty well.

[Jim Sebring]

It's a Stanley number 55 plane. It originally came with four boxes of different plow and profiled cutters so that a 'mechanic' (today's finish carpenter) could cut nearly any profile on a board. Stanley touted it as a 'milling machine in a box'. Nice copies are highly sought after by collectors. This model was not made after WW 2.

[Rich Engelhardt]

i was surfing around that big auction website and came
across this monstrosity. does anyone have one of these
in there arsenal? if so, how do you use it and on what?



That's the wrong thing to say!!!!!

What you should say is:

"I bought this thing on an auction site. It was just too awesome to pass up! Now, can someone please tell me what I have so I can explain to my wife why we aren't going to Cancun next month!!??!!"

:D

P.S. That thing is awesome. I have no idea what it is - how to use it - or even if it's all there or not - - but --- I want it!

[Jonathan Spool]

The Model 55 is pretty much an improved 45. While the 45 could only be used in one direction, the 55 was designed to cut right hand or left hand according to the lay of the grain.

[Pat Barry]

That's what they call a conversation piece. You should build a nice display case for it near the entrance to your shop. Preferably near the water cooler or coffee pot where visitors tend to cluster. Could also be used as a paperweight, probably too light to use as a boat anchor.

[Glen Blanchard]

That's the wrong thing to say!!!!!

What you should say is:

"I bought this thing on an auction site. It was just too awesome to pass up! Now, can someone please tell me what I have so I can explain to my wife why we aren't going to Cancun next month!!??!!"



Too funny!

[Jon McElwain]

That picture makes me sick to my stomach. My grandpa had one in the original wood box with all the cutters in their indexed slots. As we were going through his things after he died, I had it in a pile to take home with with me. Someone grabbed it for some reason and it went to the throw away/give away pile. Never saw it again - would have been a treasure for sure.

[Bruce Wrenn]

The reason you find them used in such good condition is that they were so complicated, no one actually used them.

[Steve Costa]

I have 2 of these. One for show & one I have never attempted to use. The planes themselves go for a reasonable price. The cutters on the other hand can get expensive to acquire. The best deal is when you can find one that is complete (this one looks complete) and has the cutters.

Try www.mjdtools.com (http://www.mjdtools.com) they run 7 or 8 auctions a year and there are usually 55's in the mix.

Also try www.finetooljournal.com (http://www.finetooljournal.com). They run 4 auctions a year. For $18 / yr you get 4 auction catalogs. Good source for user & better planes & other tools. Clarence Blanchard gives very acccurate rating for the tools he auctions. He also has two big time acutions per year with some unbeliveable tools.

I bought from both but I am not affiliated with either.

[Tony De Masi]

There was one, complete in the box, at an auction I attended last week. I wasn't much interested in it, but if I remember correctly it went for somewhere around $75.

[Steve LaFara]

For $75 you should have been interested. You could have easly doubled your money.

[Larry Edgerton]

The reason you find them used in such good condition is that they were so complicated, no one actually used them.

You're half right. They do seem to be complicated at first glance, and I'm sure a lot of them are left in the box after a half hour of frustration, but in reality they are no harder to set up than a shaper. Just about the same number of steps, but different. To an old carpenter it was no big deal.

I wass fortunate enough to be shown the ropes by an older fellow that spent two solid years at a moulding bench while serving his apprenticeship. He made all the casing in the original Perry Hotel in Petoskey Michigan on his bench. He's gone now but some of his work is still in evidence at the Perry. So , yes they are a usefull tool, but they do require some patience, and do have a learning curve. I don't use mine much, and every time I do it takes me a while to get going, and I think of old Stan.

Its a piece of history, and if for no other reason than that I want one around.

Larry

[Van Huskey]

That my friend is a planefer... :)

If anyone remembers the sawfer thread earlier in the week.