wood plane.

[steven woodie]

i have gotten or been giving over the last few years old Stanley and bailey hand plane and i,m having a heck of a time determining how old they are anyone have any input.

[Terry Beadle]

Go the following web site : http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

He is highly recommended as he's been in the business for many years.

Also post a picture of your plane and you'll be able to pull in the experts on Saw Mill Creek too.

Enjoy !

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

If you search on line for a Stanley "type study", it can help narrow it down. The "Rexmill", and "Hyperkitten" sites had some good ones if I remember correctly. Probably the best place to start.

A fair amount of planes you may come across in the wild may be "frankenplanes" made out of the parts of various planes, which may throw a wrench in the works, however.

[Jim Koepke]

Steven,

Welcome to the Creek.

Discovering when a Stanley plane was made has been a pursuit of many a person with an old plane. People began to study this and created what are known as a "Type Study." As Joshua mentioned, they are available on line. One of the links below to a post of mine has those links listed and a few others.

As Terry said, post some pictures here and you will be given answers.

There are many indications of when a Stanley/Bailey plane was made. Patent dates were added and removed during the years of manufacturing as new improvements were added.

If Bailey is cast in the toe of the plane, it was made after 1902. Before then, the only identification on the plane was the Stanley name stamped on the lateral adjustment lever or other patent information stamped on various parts of the plane.

If there is a screw at the back bottom of the frog, the plane was made after 1907. There is one caveat here. The Bedrock line had a screw at the back of the frog about a dozen years before this. Later Bedrock planes have three screws in this position.

If the brass depth adjuster is 1" in diameter, it was likely made before 1920. After 1920, the depth adjuster's size was increased to 1-1/4". During WW II some planes were made with small 1" depth adjusters, but they are usually made of steel, not brass. Most WW II planes had a hard rubber used on the depth adjusters. After the war for a year or two, the knurling on the adjusters was slanted. It later returned to straight knurling.

That may give some wide spectrum indication as to when your plane was made.

Here are a few links with information on hand planes:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?104945-Plane-information This one has links to the type study sites mentioned above.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?148076-Getting-Started-With-Hand-Planes

Right here on SMC there is a trove of information about many things including planes:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?103805-Neanderthal-wisdom-FAQs

Pictures from various angles will show the changes made over time and make it possible to pin point the span of years in which yours were made.

jtk

[steven woodie]

Thanks. Gentlemen your input-has giving me direction . now my real work begin. I have many questions

[steven woodie]

I got 2 Stanley No.110 hand planes this Christmas One has MADE IN USA. CAST IN IT. THE OTHER HAS MADE IN ENGLAND CAST IN BOTH THE BASE AND THE IRON249515

[Jim Koepke]

The #110 when first offered on the market was one of the most ornate planes in the Stanley line up. The type study seems to only cover the early years for this model. The ones built after 1900 did not retain the ornate features. My guess is the ones in your pictures are likely from around the 1950's or later.

Part of the manufacturing process is a constant effort to cut the cost of production. The early models of the #110 had cast wheels for setting the cap. Later they became stamped metal. The date when this change took place is not known to me.

jtk