Millers Falls Problem???

[Peter Pedisich]

The problem is not with Millers Falls, but with me, as you can see... Left to right: 22, 14, 14, 14, 11

(I have a friend that has an interest in hand tools, I may give him the middle No. 14, with the tarnished lever cap... who needs 3 Jack planes, right?:D)


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WHkMX3w2yFw/UGvXlH8PJBI/AAAAAAAABRY/7Jc8G4LzCC0/s800/IMG_7277.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GuELQ4M3vJ0/UGvXiglT2WI/AAAAAAAABRY/cwp7TVtEPwU/s800/IMG_7274.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n-g6Yi3AkXc/UGvXkKgWhsI/AAAAAAAABRY/TKHIORkiP2o/s800/IMG_7276.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_yzDC-SXJ_I/UGvXc52Wt8I/AAAAAAAABRY/_Hz0cUSYL3s/s800/IMG_7265.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EIh3R-HCVmY/UGvXc5rlI-I/AAAAAAAABRY/YoUqJGav29A/s800/IMG_7267.JPG

-Pete

[Jerry Thompson]

I am starting to get the disease. My friend found a #18 in a shop in Deadwood, SD. It needed little tuning up and I can get fluff from it. I found a #14 that is in great shape and plan on tuning it up soon. I have a block plane that does not do well for the amount of time I put into it. I will let it set for awhile and have another go at it.

[David Weaver]

That looks like a solution to me. Not a problem.

[Zach Dillinger]

who needs 3 Jack planes, right?:D)

-Pete

Since when has need had anything to do with tool acquisition?

[Chris Griggs]

Lovely set of planes. I quite enjoy Miller Falls, if anything you need more :), just a bigger variety of sizes. I certainly wouldn't mind having a set of them. Very recently acquired a very nice No. 14. That reminds I need to get the blade honed up so I can start using it. I'd love to get an MF 22, they seem fairly common in wild (Josh Clark had a beautiful one for sale this week), and one of these days I'll likely find an excuse to buy one. One I've never see is a MF 24. I'm pretty sure they made those, right???

[David Weaver]

They made a 24. If you look for them on purpose, you'll see them from time to time. They aren't common like stanley 8s, and not as common as the MF22s that I've seen, and the ones I've seen have been priced like stanley 8s +.

The lovely thing about MF planes is that the red frogged 10s and 14s can be had so cheaply, and they are great users. The most I've ever paid for a 10 or 14 is $20, and the one that was $20 was unused as far as I can tell. I like them as well as any bailey pattern plane, the only thing I've noticed is the post-type 1 stamped yoke does make a lot of slop on a smoother, but it won't bother you after you've used the plane for a couple of hours. Needing no backlash at all is a gentleman woodworker's problem of fiddling too much, I think.

[Chris Griggs]

They made a 24. If you look for them on purpose, you'll see them from time to time. They aren't common like stanley 8s, and not as common as the MF22s that I've seen, and the ones I've seen have been priced like stanley 8s +.

The lovely thing about MF planes is that the red frogged 10s and 14s can be had so cheaply, and they are great users. The most I've ever paid for a 10 or 14 is $20, and the one that was $20 was unused as far as I can tell. I like them as well as any bailey pattern plane, the only thing I've noticed is the post-type 1 stamped yoke does make a lot of slop on a smoother, but it won't bother you after you've used the plane for a couple of hours. Needing no backlash at all is a gentleman woodworker's problem of fiddling too much, I think.

I have a Stanley 4 that has a ton of slop too - I don't have a ton of vintage planes but from what I can tell slop seems to vary from plane to plane more than type to type of brand to brand - I could be mistaking though.

I don't actually need a 24 (I have a nice Sargent 424), but if I ever ran into one for a nice price it would be tough to pass up, just because a) I've never seen one and b) I like miller falls planes.

[Chris Griggs]

242328

The almost perfect MF 14 I recently acquired. My father-in-law found it at his local farmers market, and bought it for me for what was likely very little. The one problem was that it came with a Sargent lever cap, but I shot an email off to Joshua Clark and he was kind enough to dig around and find me a proper MF lever cap. Its a tool that I'm thrilled to have and that will see lots of use.

(Forgive the awful cell phone pic; still haven't found my camera)

[Peter Pedisich]

Chris,
Wow, the knob and tote on that look really nice.
The older MF planes have the nicely curved tote, and the newer ones have straighter, more chunky tote like Veritas planes... it's comfortable, but definitely different.

-Pete

[Chris Griggs]

According to this (http://oldtoolheaven.com/bench/benchtypes.htm) and from what I can tell mine is "Type III" made between 1941 and 1949. The ogee around the screw at the front of the tote makes it fairly easy to date (assuming that site is accurate). Yeah, its super clean, it came to me that way - no idea if it was well cared for or if it was cleaned up by a previous owner. Either way, I was pretty psyched when it was given to me.

Yours are super clean - I assume you did some rehab - They look fantastic.

[Erik Manchester]

Yes, I can certainly appreciate the urge to acquire the Millers Falls premium bench planes as the Types I - III are as good as their Stanley equivalents and the red frogs and cocobolo wood really stand out. I have a few dozen and I cannot say I use all of them regularly, but all have been used at one time or another. I am still looking for MF 11 and 24 planes in Type I and I have other Type I MF planes to trade if anyone should find themselves with and extra 11 or 24. :rolleyes: I figure these will take a while to find as neither were particularly common and Type I planes were only made from '29 - '36. I fell down the slippery slope with the MF eggbeater drills and have a fairly large collection of older No 2 drills. Moving next year is going to be a real treat that I am not looking forward to.