No. 8, No. 45, Disston Miter Saw and Box

[James Conrad]

Was visiting the parents today to help with their move to a smaller home. Dad stumbled across a few tools I never knew he had and I think he forgot about, which he passed on to me. The Bailey No.8 is an early one, that and the Stanley No.45 started life with my Great Grandfather, not sure about the No. 4 Disston saw and the box, but they had been with my Grandfather, the saw dates to 1896 - 1917. The box maybe Miller Falls???
Happy to have them, the No.8 will get put to work shortly after some tuning.

269340 269341 269342 269343

[Jim Koepke]

Looks like a good collection of tools from the family heritage.

The #8 doesn't have enough in the picture to tell if it is pre-lateral or if the lever is missing. The broken tote makes me hope it is a type 4 or earlier and not a broken frog. Mine had a broken frog. Took awhile for one to come up on ebay. There was one recently in the completed listings that no one bid on.

Sets of blades for the #45 are common on ebay. The fence on yours is set up for left hand use. Any left handers in the family?

jtk

[James Conrad]

Hi Jim,

Yes, the frog is broken, guessing it and the tote took it hard in the same event, it's unknown how it happened. From the look of the frog it had the lateral adjustment, only marking is the No.8. Not sure where that puts it in age.

I'm sure that my father and grandfather were both righties, not sure about my GGF.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jim,

Yes, the frog is broken, guessing it and the tote took it hard in the same event, it's unknown how it happened. From the look of the frog it had the lateral adjustment, only marking is the No.8. Not sure where that puts it in age.

I'm sure that my father and grandfather were both righties, not sure about my GGF.

You can still use it like a pre-lateral until you get a replacement frog. After 1902 Stanley cast "Bailey" into the toe area. If there is a letter cast into the lever cap, that could tell you if it is a type 8 (B), type 7 (S) or late type 6 (.). If it is a type 6 the brass depth adjuster will have patent information on the inside. A type 5 has a slightly different frog than a type 6.

The foundry letters or dot will also be cast into the frog and base. In the base it is often under the tote.

Stanley had no idea of future type studies so some planes left the factory with mixed parts.

jtk

[James Conrad]

Thanks again Jim, good info. I'll take it apart tomorrow and see what I find, it only has No. 8 on the toe.

[Matt Ranum]

A very cool assortment of family history. :) When those tools start to sing, you may find that it will make a connection between you, your Grandfather, and your Great Grandfather. Hard to put into words but you will "feel" it. :)

[James Conrad]

Thanks Matt, I am lucky that I have several of my family's tools including my great grandfathers wood screw workbench I use everyday in the shop (except the past few months as I build out my new shop, which is driving me nuts not working). It is nice having that connection.

Jim, I a leaning towards a Type 6 or hybrid 5 / 6 based on your info above. Additional details include Bailey's patent date on the brass nob, right hand thread, of Aug 1858 and Aug 1867. Dot on the frog and under tote. Could not find a letter on the lever cap, where would it normally be? Chip breaker has a Bailey's patent date of 1867 or 57 see the pics below, the iron had a very faint Stanley and possible patent date of 92 would have to do some more cleaning. The frog has the spreading depression above the depth adjuster lever which leads me to believe it had the lateral adjuster. I would like to find a period correct frog, probably make a new tote for it, but no reason it can't be used as is with some tuning, sole is in very good shape as well. More pics below.

269370 269371 269372 269373 269374 269375 269376

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, I a leaning towards a Type 6 or hybrid 5 / 6 based on your info above. Additional details include Bailey's patent date on the brass nob, right hand thread, of Aug 1858 and Aug 1867. Dot on the frog and under tote. Could not find a letter on the lever cap, where would it normally be? Chip breaker has a Bailey's patent date of 1867 or 57 see the pics below, the iron had a very faint Stanley and possible patent date of 92 would have to do some more cleaning. The frog has the spreading depression above the depth adjuster lever which leads me to believe it had the lateral adjuster. I would like to find a period correct frog, probably make a new tote for it, but no reason it can't be used as is with some tuning, sole is in very good shape as well. More pics below.


That is an interesting situation. This is a "between type" plane that was likely discovered after the original type study was done. John Walter lists it as a 6a. Even more interesting is my recollection of this being the model where the depth adjuster switched from right hand thread to left hand thread. My most ardent question about this model is whether or not any left hand threaded adjusters still have the patent information.

The mark on the lever cap, if any, would be clear. I have seen the dot as a depression, usually right in the center of the underside.

Type 5 used a different lateral lever. The type 5/6 hybrid uses remachined type 5 frogs to take the type 6 lateral lever. Not really enough left of your frog to determine that, but the dot on the underside indicates it is a later, type 6a, frog.

From personal experience, finding a frog for a #8 made in this time period (type 6 through 8) is going to be difficult. My guess is finding one with a dot like yours is going to be almost impossible. I am not 100% sure, but a type 4 or type 5 frog would also likely work.

As is, a small hammer to tap the blade into lateral adjustment will work fine.

jtk

[James Conrad]

Thanks Jim for all the input.

[Chris Hachet]

Sweet looking number 8!

[Jim Koepke]

Sweet looking number 8!

Just don't make use of the hang hole.

jtk

[David Turner]

My father passed away about 1 1/2 years ago (He was 90 and I am 70) and before he died he gave me a number of his father's tools. Yep you guessed it, one was a #8 Stanley Bailey bench plane. It also has a hang hole drilled in the base. Must have been the way to store planes "in the day".

By the way, the Stanley #45 may be set up to cut from the right edge of a board rather than the left edge. I have revered mine many times based on grain direction and width of the board.

David Turner
Plymouyh, MI.