A Stanley No.6 question (buying advice)

[Dennis Aspö]

Hi, I found this plane on a local site, it's for sale at a cost of 30 euros + 9 euros shipping. I read up a little on the No.6 plane on the Blood & Gore site and mostly it seemed to say a No7 is better and this serves little purpose. Still I don't have a No7 either.

http://i.imgur.com/z8OGRGw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gAJKHYQ.jpg

There are two holes in the front for some reason, I suspect they don't affect the functioning of the plane and where put there by a previous owner for some reason, perhaps they hanged the plane from hooks? Description says it has a grooved (corrugated?) base too, I got a grooved No3 which is my main hand plane, not sure what to think of bases like that, but they seem to work.

The plane has been up for a while without any bids or offers so I am thinking of making an offer, perhaps 20 euros. Still is it worth it or should I keep on looking for a No.7 instead? If I got this I probably wouldn't get a 7 unless I found a screaming deal.

I got an 8" jointer/planer combo machine so I'm not lacking for planing ability. But I like to use hand planes from time to time and they can get to places where you can't go with a machine. So I am looking to build a collection of the most useful sizes and types, i.e. planes for being used not for collecting.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Made in England? Wow, THAT is interesting. Not that I am a plane guru or anything. Just never seen a Stanley made in England. "over there" it may be common though. I just bought a Corrugated Bottom #7 for less (20 USD) in better shape than that. About a year ago I got a CB #8 for 25. (Needed a lot of work) Not sure how much value in a CB plane is either. Just to toss in my $0.02. (opinion) I would pass, since it is a #6, or offer 15 euros. About 20 USD? It looks to be in pretty decent shape. (Personally if it were available here, I would actually buy it just to have a made in England plane. And I don't have a #6.)

[Jim Koepke]

The holes are found in many planes an owner wanted to hang on a wall. Usually there is just one. Maybe this plane's previous owner felt a bigger plane needed two nails, thus the two hang holes.

That one doesn't look to be in very good shape. Your local market is unknown to me. Some locations are crawling with second hand tools, other areas have very little available.

Without seeing the blade it is even more of a chance. A new blade can cost as much or more than the plane.

The handles can also be expensive.

I would want to see a lot more pictures before making a decision. The lateral lever doesn't look right. For my own planes, if it has the later ogee frog, I would pass at just about any price.

If it is a good user plane, my tops on it would be about $25 U.S. including the shipping.

FYI, I am a bit of a cheap skate when it comes to buying old hand planes. I am usually patient enough to wait for a good deal to come along.

jtk

[Dennis Aspö]

Thanks for the tips. I'll probably pass and wait for a 7. I too can be patient.

[David Weaver]

Just never seen a Stanley made in England.

They're common in England. Most that I have seen have been relatively new (I've only actually used one, and it was a friend's - whose dad had left it behind after a life of carpentering).

Dennis, I think the plane is fairly priced, and as a counter opinion to jims, I think the condition looks pretty good. The pictures are bad, and there is rust on the iron, but the rust is light surface rust.

I'll also offer a counter to patrick's opinion on B&G, and that is that the suggestion that a #6 is useless is only patrick's opinion. They are one of my favorite sized planes. I don't know how much woodworking patrick does, maybe he does a lot, maybe he doesn't. I never personally had any trouble productively using a #6, and they are similar in size to a large infill panel plane, a type that people tend to think of as a do-all when flattening furniture sized work.

[Frank Drew]

Dennis,

I agree with David; from the two pictures the plane seems mostly in need of a good cleaning, but you might request a money back guarantee in case the sole isn't quite flat, or if there's a hidden flaw somewhere such as a crack in the casting or broken handle.

I also agree with David that a No. 6 can be a very useful plane; I've never understood what I've read of Patrick's antipathy to them.

[Dennis Aspö]

Ah this thread just became more interesting, now I got 2 opinions each way. Good to know the #6 does have uses.

[David Weaver]

Only comment I'd make is if you're looking for a jointer to joint (especially long) edges, I'd stick with buying a jointer for that. Expect it to be more expensive.

You can do it with a 6 without too much trouble, but you'll read so often that you need a jointer that eventually it will bother you and you will buy one somewhere.

[Dennis Aspö]

It is possible that in time I will have one of each size, it's hard to say when looking into the far future what things will be like.

Still, I want to resist buying things if I can make do well enough with a similar plane. For instance if I can make do with a #6 instead of a #5, then I'd call that a good thing, I'd rather have one plane I use a lot than a bunch that I use sparingly.

I have a #3 and for that reason I am resistant to buying a #4 or a #4½, I figure I can do with it what you can with a ¤4. I'd rather skip to a #5, or perhaps a #6?

[David Weaver]

A 5, 5 1/2 or a 6 can all be used for the same thing. The 6 is a bit heavier, but if you keep some wax handy to wax the sole, the weight is not a problem. The only one that I have is set up for coarse work, and it does that quite well.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

My thoughts on the #6:

The #6 is commonly caled a fore plane, and it is widely accepted that it was used for planing door panels, such as cabinet doors. I personally think it is very useful as a jointer for shorter stock. Who needs a long jointer when it's longer than the stock?

The one you show in the image looks pretty decent, even if not pristine. Certainly I would low-ball the offer, but it looks like a good user. The "Made in England" notation is no surprise to me. They made planes in GB for that market. I may be wrong on this-someone please correct me, but weren't all the GB made planes Baileys?

So if you are doing small stock, sure get the #6. If you do more long stuff, wait for a #7. If you do a lot of glued panels where you need to flatten a short panel, and therefore need something maybe shorter than a 7, but longer than a 5, or if you commonly joint shorter boards, well there's your plane!

As for the holes, I agree that they were drilled by a previous owner for hanging the tool, although you more commonly see only one hole. It does not impede the performance of the tool, but it does lower the value to a collector, so use it as a talking point to get him down to 25 Euro or less.


Cheers,
Malcolm

[Jim Koepke]

Good to know the #6 does have uses.

As a matter of fact my #6s get a lot of work in my shop. At one time Patrick Leach's dislike of them seemed to keep their price low. Maybe people finding out they could make shavings just like all the others got them back in the game.

My main concern is the lateral lever doesn't look like the 'tiller' lever used on most planes made for and by Stanley. I believe Record made planes for Stanley, but that may not be correct.

That is one reason I would like to see more pictures before making a decision.

jtk

[Tony Zaffuto]

I bought a #6 Sweethart about 10 or 12 years ago, along with a MF fence. Spent about $80 for both and the plane was in excellent shape. Used both for a few years and would still be using it, except wife bought me an LN #7 for Christmas. Learned to use it for jointing and without the fence.

With that said, I wouldn't part with my #6 (and fence) for less than $125. Is it worth that much? Given the condition, and the fence, I would say at least to me it is.

[Tom M King]

I ended up with two of them for reasons not worth going over. It's nice to have a plane set up to take off a lot of wood, but not as much as a 5 will. I have one set up to take about half what a 5 will, and the other to take half of what the first 6 takes. My 7 goes to substantially thinner shavings-like a thou and a half maybe. (talking close to full width shavings on all of these) The 6s actually do get used, but not as much as the more commonly owned ones.

I wouldn't buy that one. I like cheap, but don't like putting a lot of time into getting one ready to use. A rusty, pitted iron is a no-go for me.

[Moses Yoder]

To me the plane looks like a great user in need of cleaning and sharpening. I don't use my #6 a lot because I have a #7. So far as the price goes it is about right; I see they sell for about that in rougher shape on ebay. To claim that the price is too high because you got a #7 for $20 is ignoring the fact that you got a screaming deal on a #7.

[bridger berdel]

I don't know what the market is like there, but if they don't show up often, buy this one. Try to get the price down, but buy it anyway. Getting it up and running is a good learning experience, and if a better one comes along you can sell this one. Mr. Leach's opinions notwithstanding the #6 is quite useful, even as a jointer for long boards.

[bridger berdel]

It's a later model, non-rosewood handle, chrome levercap, kidneyhole plane. So not the premium collectable vintage, but fine as a user. Looks more dusty than rusty to me. Look at the sole and the blade. Cracks in the castings or rust pits near the cutting edge of the blade would be red flags.

[Kim Malmberg]

Dennis
Since we fish in the same waters I know that finding a no 6 or 7 sized plane in Finland is not easy. The no 6 is still about 52 times more common than a no 7.
If you want a really good plane and want to pay for it I would look at what the UK flea bay site has to offer. You will most likely have to wait for a very long time before a no 7 presents itself on the local market.
30 euro for this plane is not ideal considering the two holes. But having restored close to a hundred UK made Stanley's I am quite confident this plane would serve you well. And even though you'll surely find several examples in the UK, you would have to add about 25-30 pounds for shipping since a plane of this size exceeds the 2 kg limit. The plane in your pictures is of an earlier type without the flat diagonal ribs at the heel so it really ought to clean up well and turn out to be useful.

[Dennis Aspö]

I've looked at UK ebay but I detest online auctions (since I always loose them). I don't have the time to bid and actively follow or even remember to check up on them, so I don't bother unless I find an auction with only a few hours to go.

And there's also shipping as you mention, I'm not really amenable to paying high shipping rates, I used to shop online a lot but since there seems to have been a rate hike around 2013 or so I've stopped almost completely buying abroad unless I get a super deal at shipping. I do check swedish sites since shipping from there can be good sometimes.

Basically no, I don't want to pay for it :)

[Mike Holbrook]

I won a #6 recently at auction for around $65. I studied and bid on planes for a month or two before I found what I wanted. The plane in the picture was probably manufactured after or around WW II. The hole in the clamping mechanism has the little curve which was a change around that time from the older straight hole. The pre WW II planes are frequently more popular. The older planes have nicer rosewood handles that seem to stand the test of time quite well. Some believe the older planes have a little better fit & finish, which is why they often cost a little more. There are talented woodworkers on this forum who prefer a #6 to a #7 for some of the reasons mentioned above, so much is personal preference.

I like to see a picture or pictures of all the parts on the planes I bid on. Damage and other issues can be hidden under the cap iron. The #3 I bought recently had lots of pictures at the auction site, however, the picture of the plane blade was a partial picture which hid the fact that the blade was almost used up. The replacement PM-V11 blade and cap iron is $68 from Lee Valley. Just a blade in O1 or A2 is about $35, almost what I bought my #3 for.

There is free auction software that will place your bid in the last few seconds of bidding. The standard Ebay software now allows you to enter your top bid and the software uses that number to bid against all other bidders without going over the minimal bid raise.

[bridger berdel]

I find it humorous that the #6 gets so much bad press while the #5-1/2 is highly coveted. They are almost the same plane. Same blade, chipbreaker, cap, frog, really the only difference is that the #6 is a couple inches longer. And about 100 times more readily available.

[Dave Anderson NH]

So far one thing hasn't been mentioned Dennis. If you intend to use the #6C as a jointer and you don't have or won't have another plane to use as a jointer I would pass on the #6C. The corrugated sole makes it a bit more difficult to use when jointing the edges of boards. This is particularly true when trying to balance it and avoid slipping into the corrugations on very thin stock. If you do decide to get a #7 or #8 for use as a jointer buying the #6C is reasonable. I have a WWII vintage #6 which had a much heavier body casting in addition to a hard rubber blade adjusting knob. Set up as a smoothing panel plane it is a joy to use when surfacing large flat cabinet panels, table tops, and other big areas.

[David Weaver]

Dave, my #6 is identical to yours. rubber covered adjuster and heavy casting. It is a nice plane to use. I've never had another stanley 6, so I don't have anything else to compare it to in terms of weight. I think I may have weighed it in another thread on here, but I'm not sure. (It looks like I didn't)

[steven c newman]

I happen to have a DE6c. Use it as the Small Jointer a lot. For longer stuff, I use a Stanley #31 ( 24" long, 2-3/8" wide blade). Most stuff I joint will be fine using the 6. Haven't had any issue with the groovy bottom, since i run the plane at a slight diagonal as i go along the edge.

Also, now have a #81 try plane, @ 22" long. Still drag out the old #6c to joint the panel edges before glue ups. Also have a Stanley #5-1/2 T19, about the same era as that #6 you are looking at. Works just fine, not a thing wrong with it.