The Stanley No.45, box and all

[steven c newman]

Thought I would unpack mine, and set up for making a groove..
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I set this little box on my bench, and open the lid..
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Ok, I take the fence and the sliding stock, out of the box...
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Which leaves the "Main Stock"...set it aside
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With this style of a box, there are a couple holes in that diagonal brace. They are for spare/unused nickers/spurs
I have two screwdrivers. The skinny one is for the spurs, larger one for the rest of the slotted screws. There are short and long rods, extra cutters, and the cam rest.
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There are two rows of cutters. Currently, I have about..28 cutters.
Needed to set up for a groove..
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I made sure the area the cutter will go, is cleaned and free of..crud, I select the size cutter I need, and install it.
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This time around, I went with the short rods. I have a screwdriver just for this...slots are a bit worn out.

Part two, coming up...

[steven c newman]

Ok, next steps....sliding stop..
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Slide it on until the skate is right behind the left edge of the cutter. left just a whisker of the cutter out beyond the skate, to avoid any binding.
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Next, I add the fence. Rods are in the lower holes, more clearance under the fence. I can use the upper holes, IF I need the fence under the cutter.
Set to the width/distance the groove needs to be away from an edge...
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Set the depth stop for how deep a groove you need to plough. Set the cutter to a shallow cut..
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Try a few passes, adjust as needed...then a test fit..
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Not too bad....
Since this is WITH the grain, and not across the grain, spurs are either removed, or rotated up and out of the way.

Later in the project I am working on....I will need to change to a "Match" cutter, to make the tongue for a Tongue & Groove joint. Will need that as a glue joint at the corners of the box build.

Hope this helps others set their planes up. This one is from about 1925-1929 SW Era, Made in Roxton Pond, Que. Cananda.
Trademark?
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[Stew Denton]

Steven,

Your 45 looks really nice. I don't know how much restoration you did, but it looks great. I haven't done any restoration work on mine, but someday I probably will. Mine is currently in extremely good user shape, but not to the "looks great" state like yours is. Cleaning mine up won't make it a whit more usable, but again, it is already in great user condition. Honestly, though, mine looks fairly good "as is" so it is not a high priority on my list of restoration projects.

Thanks for the tutorial on setting up the 45!

One question on the 45, mine was made a year or so before Stanley added the set up in the fence for making fine adjustments. I have thought about buying an extra fence sometime that has that feature.

My question is "how important is the fine adjustment feature on the 45?" If it is extremely handy it might be worth springing some bucks for, but if it isn't that big an advantage I will hold on to my pennies for something else that I don't have.

What do you think, worth spending some bucks for? On that auction site I think they run from $25 and up, some more than double that price.

Stew

[steven c newman]

Easier to change the fence settings. IF the cut is a little too far in from the edge. a few turns will correct it. Rather than loosen both thumbscrews to tap the fence in, or out. There IS a locking screw, to hold the settings. loosen it, adjust with the center bolt, lock it in place....usually while sitting right on the board being cut.

[steven c newman]

As to what came in the door, when this arrived..
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Original box was basically "shattered" by the USPS....I build a new box to match the old one. Labels on the "new" box are wrong....old one has the Roxton Pond one.

[Jim Koepke]

My question is "how important is the fine adjustment feature on the 45?" If it is extremely handy it might be worth springing some bucks for, but if it isn't that big an advantage I will hold on to my pennies for something else that I don't have.

It is a very useful addition to the adjustability of a #45. Just be sure if you do buy one it has the locking screw on the side. For some reason that bolt is often missing and it is an odd thread.

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The fence can be set with some spacers made of scrap for most simple plow work. Then the adjustment isn't as important. If one wants to make multiple cuts to shape moldings then the fine adjustment ability is indispensable.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Getting ready to run a Match...
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3/16" Tongue & Groove set. Bevels and backs have been freshened up....to 2500 grit. I intend to make a corner joint with these twocutters.
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The #6 cutter makes the tongue, while....
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The #11 will mill a groove. Put these together to form a corner
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Just glue and clamps. No fasteners needed...

[Jerry Olexa]

An interesting plane..In its day, I image it was groundbreaking breakthrough...Later the 55 took over....Nice work restoring.

[steven c newman]

Well, got the last of the grooves milled, decided to reset the plane to mill a tongue...
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No spurs needed, nor the depth stops.
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Fence sits below the cutter...cutter actually hangs over the sides a bit on3/4" wide stock....
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Depth stop has been set. Note the skates? Takes a try or two to get this centered on the board.
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This is the Walnut part. I used a pine scrap to test the set up, first, then..
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I work from the far end backwards until the tongue is milled...
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Little rough, but...I was going against the grain.

Once the other end is out of the clamps..
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And I get two more tongues milled, I can reset to make the groove to match.

Using this as a way to make a corner glue joint.
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Instead of fasteners, I use the T&G joint and glue.

[Patrick Chase]

An interesting plane..In its day, I image it was groundbreaking breakthrough...Later the 55 took over....Nice work restoring.

The 45 continued to be available alongside the 55, so I wouldn't say the latter "took over". I can think of a couple reasons why somebody might want either the 45 alone or both:


The 55 requires more setup than the 45 to do simple things like grooving or beading. To do those with the 55 you have to remove extraneous parts (aux skate, second fence, etc), set the second skate level with the first, and carefully set the fence to vertical (short-changing this step seems to be a cause of much 55-related misery). Of course you can avoid those steps by just leaving your 55 configured for simple cuts, but if you're going to do that you'd might as well save some money and get the 45.
The 45 is better at round/hollow cutting, if equipped with the optional auxiliary soles for that purpose.

I expect that I'll be adding the Veritas combo alongside my 55 before too long. There's a lot to be said for the simpler, easier-to-use 45-style design.

[steven c newman]

Got the last of the tongues milled today..
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So...needed to change over to the matching groove
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Removed the fence and sliding stock, change the #6 cutter out for the #11 cutter..
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Slide the fence back on, until the cutter will sit where the groove needs to be. I also set the depth stop..
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Test the cut, adjust if needed, then plough away..
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Then check the fit.
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Adjust the depth stop if needed. and continue on.

A little candle wax helps thing slide better. I start at the far end and work back towards the "start" end.
Simple as can be

[steven c newman]

A view of the cutters I got with this plane, when it came home..
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Have since added a few others to this pile. This is more or less the "basic" set of cutters one would get, when the planes was new..
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The slitter cutter is actually listed as one of the cutters in the set.
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Some of the nine beading cutters, and a sash cutter. There IS a mirror image of that sash cutter..a No. 5? That way, you can do both sides of a window sash. This came with the 1/4" match cutter, have since bought a 3/16" one. Also bought was a 5/8" bead cutter. A 3/4" wide one was reground to do rounds.

[Patrick Chase]

Ah interesting. Your #10 cutter is shorter than and lacks the hole that mine has. That actually makes it more compatible with the LV plane, but it also means that you can't use the adjuster to retract it on the Stanley combo planes as you can with the "with-hole" version.

[steven c newman]

Maybe I should lay all the cutters I have out, to where some can compare them? Next time I meander down to the shop, I may just spread them all out.

Keep in mind, Stanley had over a 100 different cutters. There was an entire box of "special" cutters for just the #55....

The "Basic" set for a #45 was only about...24 cutters?

[Patrick Chase]

Maybe I should lay all the cutters I have out, to where some can compare them? Next time I meander down to the shop, I may just spread them all out.

Keep in mind, Stanley had over a 100 different cutters. There was an entire box of "special" cutters for just the #55....

The "Basic" set for a #45 was only about...24 cutters?

The 55 came with 4 boxes containing 52-55 cutters in all, depending on type/vintage. Of those 2 boxes are nominally compatible with the 45 (i.e. they work without an adjustable-height skate or auxiliary 3rd skate) and the other 2 aren't. As Jim has pointed out, people have figured out how to use some of the "55-specific" cutters on the 45 over the years.

The 45 came with 17-21 cutters depending on vintage.

[steven c newman]

OK. Here is what I currently have, in the way of cutters...
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Straight cutters. The WIDE one is the #9 Fillister. These run from a #10 ( no notch) through a #19...and include the infamous #18-1/2...
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My "Speciality" cutters. The plane came with the Sash cutter. I managed to find the 1/4" and 3/16" match cutters. There is another style of Sash cutter, simply a mirror image of this one. And the Slitter, which is list as a cutter. The 45 also has a separate depth stop that goes with the slitter.
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Bead cutters...from #21 up to the 3/4" #29. The 29 has been reground to give me a "hollow cutter"

On these bead cutters, the skates need to be right behind the "quirk" part, to support the cutter.

[Jim Koepke]

Don't forget the "Special Cutters" available at an extra cost. For the #45 my recollection is the full set is over 40 cutters. The #55 has a total of 8 or 9 boxes and in the neighborhood of 95 cutters.

Beyond that I have a lot of cutters that were made by individual users.

That is a lot of individual planes.

jtk

[steven c newman]

While one can buy beading cutters with up to 4 beads......it is just as easy to merely reset the fence to add beads...
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Works great, to hide where the lid opens at...
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Even helps when I cut the lid off the box.

[Patrick Chase]

While one can buy beading cutters with up to 4 beads......it is just as easy to merely reset the fence to add beads...

Yep, and that's probably why Stanley's included reeding cutters for the 55 only went up to 2 beads. Diminishing returns in terms of productivity. I sort of chuckled to myself when I saw the 4-bead ones at LV...

Jim, do you know if they offered higher-count reeding cutters in the optional sets?

[Jim Koepke]

Yep, and that's probably why Stanley's included reeding cutters for the 55 only went up to 2 beads. Diminishing returns in terms of productivity. I sort of chuckled to myself when I saw the 4-bead ones at LV...

Jim, do you know if they offered higher-count reeding cutters in the optional sets?

Heck, they likely wanted to get people hooked on cutting two reeds at once so they would pony up for the extra blades.

Yes they did, I have the optional set for the #45. It contains 2, 3, 4 & 5 reed cutters in 1/8, 3/16 & 1/4" sizes. There were also 8 fluting cutters in the special cutter sets. The set is rounded out with a pair of larger bead cutting blades, a tung cutting blade and a reverse sash cutting blade.

In a video made to go with my molding plane rehab thread a 4 reed cutter is used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apLzrpsdcK0

It does give one a bit of a workout as when it is close to full depth it is cutting a lot more than what would be indicated by the width of the blade. It also has all of the radiuses to cut. Sharp really does help.

jtk

[David Bassett]

... I sort of chuckled to myself when I saw the 4-bead ones at LV....

One of the things Rick Blaiklock, of Lee Valley, talks about in his Newsletter Article (http://www.leevalley.com/us/newsletters/Woodworking/2559/Article1.htm) introducing the Combo plane was initial iron selection they chose to offer. Apparently they surveyed their tool collection to find which combo plane blades showed signs of being used. I'm sure they'll evaluate demand and adjust when they see how sales are going. (Besides he doesn't share specific details, it may be 2-bead showed wear and 4-bead was a trivial addition so, why not?)

[steven c newman]

The Stanley #45's later versions had a adjustable fence feature...
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Where I can roughly set the fence, then use that large bolt to move the fence a tad, like when I try to get a groove centered on an edge. The smaller bolt? I use that to lock the setting in place.
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Less guess-work. Set the fence to close to where you THINK it should be, then use the adjuster to fine tune things. Just remember to lock it in place.

[Tom Trees]

Does anyone know if the Record cutter irons are the same ?
Likewise, do Millers falls or any other manufacturers cutters exist ?

Does anyone make their own, from say ....a tablesaw blade ?

I would love to see a piccy of the sharpening arsenal for these planes, guys

Thanks for posting folks
Tom

[Jim Koepke]

Does anyone know if the Record cutter irons are the same ?
Likewise, do Millers falls or any other manufacturers cutters exist ?

Does anyone make their own, from say ....a tablesaw blade ?

I would love to see a piccy of the sharpening arsenal for these planes, guys

Thanks for posting folks
Tom

Howdy Tom,

A set of Record #405 plow cutters was given to years ago. They are metric and the only other difference noticed was the adjusting pin on the #45 was a bit tight in the notches of the Record cutters. It was easy to correct with a few swipes of a medium India slip stone in the notches.

An old post of mine has an image of most of my oilstone sharpening arsenal for shaped cutters:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?242156-Old-Molding-Planes-and-the-Rehab-Enthusiast

Saw blades are good for making scratch stock blades. There are so many new and used plane blades available that would be good for making blades. Plow blades can always be reshaped.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Candle wax seems to work nicely in Birdseye Maple...BTW..
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[steven c newman]

Ok, today was a T & G day.....I WAS going to use the #6 match cutter..
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Decided it was a tad too narrow....I got out the #5 Match cutter, as it has a wider footprint..
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Boards were a tad over 3/4" wide, the 3/16" cutter would have left a whisker along the edges...
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Once I figured out which way the grain was running, I could start at the far end, and work my way back...
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Helps to wax the skates and fence with a candle.