New vs. Vintage Stanley

[Andrew Yang]

I noticed that the chaps on the other side of the Atlantic have access to a much larger selection of new Stanley tools than us colonialists. I know there have been a number of reports regarding the quality of the newly re-released planes and chisels. My question is are they re-releases in merry 'ol England or have they been in continuous production? Also, for something as mundane as the No. 80 Cabinet Scraper (for instance) is there a marked difference between the new and vintage?

[David Keller NC]

Can't answer about significantly different offerings between the UK and the US/Canada, but some of stanely's tools have been in continuous production, and these are not well thought of in the US. Their "new" line are handplanes and chisels with the ressurrected sweetheart mark, and reports of quality have been variable.

Generally speaking, most of us that are looking for Stanley tools much prefer to buy vintage, preferably pre WWII.

[David Weaver]

80s are cheap enough vintage that I would go vintage.

It's probably one of the tools where precision matters the least, but it's likely that a new one would still have coarse milling marks, and it probably won't be cheaper than an old one.

the kunz version isn't worth having unless you want to replace the screws right away on it. In my early days, I bought a bunch of small green stuff because it was cheap. Don't make that mistake.