Dunlap planes

[Ron Bontz]

Well just a quick question. I came across a "Dunlap" plane. Looks a lot like a Stanley 4. I think? 9-3/4" long. No frog adjustment screw, but cleaned up pretty good. My father in laws garage no less. He's a mere 92 y/o.
Are these fairly common?

[Mark Baldwin III]

I would believe they are pretty common. I've come across a lot of them while looking for old tools over the past month. I found one with the original box the other day, on the box it was stated that they were made for Sears. None of the ones that I've seen have looked that nice though.

[Ron Bontz]

Thanks Mark. I just finished sharpening it and got some pretty good shavings from it.

[george wilson]

Dunlap was a second best line of tools under the Craftsman label. Sears sold the Dunlap line in the 50's,maybe 60's. At some time I guess the name was discontinued. I hope the blade has decent steel that will stay reasonably sharp. If not,you probably can find another iron to stick in it.

Compared to some of the cheaper imports of today,it looks pretty decent.

[Ron Bontz]

It appears to have the original blade. And thanks for the further info. Always appreciated.

[Bill Houghton]

Sears, Wards, and a lot of the large hardware firms contracted with one or the other of the toolmaking companies to produce their planes. The lateral adjustment lever is often useful in determining which company likely made a rebadged plane, like the Dunlap. Walt Quadrato has a great visual ID site, here: http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/graphics/plane%20id.html. Yours looks like a Sargent.

Regardless of its origin as a second line plane, you can probably tune that up to be a pretty decent plane.

[Ron Bontz]

Thanks for the link Bill. The sole appears flat and the sides are pretty much square to the sole. I was a little surprised by that. Other than cleaning it up, I hate rust, I just sharpened the blade. I'll be dragging that one around with me in my tool bucket wrapped in a wrag. At least until I build another case. I just received a Miller Falls 14 today from Dave. I am no expert but it seems like an excellent plane to me. I had never heard of Miller Falls in all these years.