Daniel Rode
02-04-2014, 12:23 AM
It was supposed to arrive Wednesday but USPS got it to me 2 days early. The listing was $15 OBO for a vintage Stanley #151. I suspected it would go very quickly. I don't know much about vintage Stanley spokeshaves and was only able to research from a couple of references via Google search. Red/orange caps are type 5, made entirely in England or type 6 which might be cast in China or India but the iron would still be made in England and therefore more properly machined and tempered. The type 5 has Made in England cast into the underside of the handle but the pictures were dark.
For the price, even if it was a type 6 with a rougher casting, it was already better than the new ones sold by Stanley as they are rough and the irons are supposedly impulse hardened. Moreover, in the pictures it looked nearly new. So I took a chance and got it for $13.50.
Here's it is as it arrived. I found the Made in England label on the front, cast under the handle and imprinted on the iron.
281597
281596
Here it is after a quick clean and sharpen. I lightly lapped the sole. I will go back and do a bit more, but it's probably OK as is. No high spots. This is the first time I sharpened an iron completely by hand. No choice. It doesn't fit in my jigs. It's all one flat bevel with no micro-bevel. I lapped back flat, sharpened and polished the bevel and tried it on the edge of some paper. Like a hot knife through butter! wiped everything down with a thin coat of WD-40 type oil and hit the center screw with a bit of 000 steel wool and oil to take off the surface rust. The cap screw and adjuster posts and nuts were rust free. I put it back together and gave it a trial run on a scrap of pine.
281595
I never touched a spokeshave before but I was able to create curves and take thin shavings. Not too bad for the first time out.
281594
For the price, even if it was a type 6 with a rougher casting, it was already better than the new ones sold by Stanley as they are rough and the irons are supposedly impulse hardened. Moreover, in the pictures it looked nearly new. So I took a chance and got it for $13.50.
Here's it is as it arrived. I found the Made in England label on the front, cast under the handle and imprinted on the iron.
281597
281596
Here it is after a quick clean and sharpen. I lightly lapped the sole. I will go back and do a bit more, but it's probably OK as is. No high spots. This is the first time I sharpened an iron completely by hand. No choice. It doesn't fit in my jigs. It's all one flat bevel with no micro-bevel. I lapped back flat, sharpened and polished the bevel and tried it on the edge of some paper. Like a hot knife through butter! wiped everything down with a thin coat of WD-40 type oil and hit the center screw with a bit of 000 steel wool and oil to take off the surface rust. The cap screw and adjuster posts and nuts were rust free. I put it back together and gave it a trial run on a scrap of pine.
281595
I never touched a spokeshave before but I was able to create curves and take thin shavings. Not too bad for the first time out.
281594