Stanley #25 bevel

[Bill Carey]

We go garage sailing once in a while and if I don't see tools I don't slow down unless I'm asked to by the copilot. Well she wanted to look at this one that had, as far as I could see, nothing but stuff. Well imagine my surprise when I found these 4 beauties sitting by their lonesome. She wanted 25 for them, but took a 20. Best 20 bucks I've ever spent. I've had 1 for a while and love how easy it is to tighten with the thumb lever. I now have 5 of them. 2 have Stanley on the wood, the others are stamped on the blades. One has the sweetheart stamp as well.

377025

[Bill Houghton]

Nice gets! The Stanley 25 bevel is underappreciated. Once you learn how to set them properly (see below), they can be set just as tight as the No. 18 (with the tightening bolt in the tail), but with one hand. Stanley, in one of the early catalogs, says "These bevels are so constructed that the bevel blade can be firmly secured by moving the lever with the thumb of the hand which grasps the handle, thus leaving free the other hand of the workman." They're a godsend for remodeling, because you can take off an angle for a piece of trim while standing on a ladder - use two fingers on the blade and two on the stock to push the bevel into the spot from which you're taking the angle, then the remaining finger to push the lever tight. No need to contort yourself to get both hands on the bevel, while balancing on the ladder.

Flip them over: is there a hex nut on the back side, as on the left below?
377026
Then you're really in luck: this will permit you to fine tune the lever placement such that you can lock it tighttighttight while keeping the lever within the width of the stock, so it won't interfere with your layouts. The other type has a carriage bolt with a hex shoulder. If you're lucky, you can accomplish the same thing by fussing around with how it's oriented; but often, one setting is wrong to one side, the next wrong to the other. You can make very thin washers from shim stock (or aluminum beer cans), but the nut's better. I don't know why they dropped it.

Bill, who owns several 25s, and other bevels, and would have to go out to the shop to count them...and is still looking for the longer ones (they went up to 14")

[lowell holmes]

I have one of those somewhere, I need to look for it.
Harvey made my shop to be a mess. I'm still looking for things.

[Jim Koepke]

Flip them over: is there a hex nut on the back side, as on the left below?
Click image for larger version.

Then you're really in luck: this will permit you to fine tune the lever placement such that you can lock it tighttighttight while keeping the lever within the width of the stock, so it won't interfere with your layouts.

A great price for a great find.

One of mine with the hex nut on the back was always getting loose. A carefully drilled hole and a piece of brass rod inserted into the hole followed by a slight turn of the nut to jam the rod stopped the slipping.

jtk

[Bill Carey]

yes, all of them have the square sleeve on the nut that lets you adjust where the lever falls. And they all stay tight. Great tools.

[steven c newman]

Been using mine quite a bit, lately

377032

[Gerald Schram]

bill thanks for the tip about adjusting the nut, that was the one complaint i had about the one i have that the lever would get in the way. jerry

[Rob Luter]

I had a couple of Disston’s version, as well as a couple #75. They sure are pretty. I had issues with the lever alignment like Bill discusses above. They went away in a tool purge last year. I have 3 #18 bevels now of various sizes. Not as pretty, but great users.

[Bill Houghton]

One of mine with the hex nut on the back was always getting loose. A carefully drilled hole and a piece of brass rod inserted into the hole followed by a slight turn of the nut to jam the rod stopped the slipping.

jtk
One of the low-grade loctite products will also work.

[Patrick Chase]

One of the low-grade loctite products will also work.

Yeah, Loctite 242 (the blue stuff) would get the job done, and can be loosened by hand. Avoid Loctite 271 (the red stuff) though, as it has to be heated to ~500F for removal.

[Jim Koepke]

Yeah, Loctite 242 (the blue stuff) would get the job done, and can be loosened by hand. Avoid Loctite 271 (the red stuff) though, as it has to be heated to ~500F for removal.

Not having any Loctite in the shop and not wanting to drive into town for something that has caused me problems in the past led to devising a quick fix with what was on hand.

For me, Loctite seldom seems to be the right answer. There are just too many different types for me to keep them all straight.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

Not having any Loctite in the shop and not wanting to drive into town for something that has caused me problems in the past led to devising a quick fix with what was on hand.

For me, Loctite seldom seems to be the right answer. There are just too many different types for me to keep them all straight.

In terms of thread lockers there are really just the two: 242/blue/temporary and 271/red/permanent. I keep some of each on hand. The challenge is that the Loctite brand has also been applied to a huge range of adhesives, such as the former "Hysol" line of structural epoxies.

[Jim Koepke]

In terms of thread lockers there are really just the two: 242/blue/temporary and 271/red/permanent. I keep some of each on hand. The challenge is that the Loctite brand has also been applied to a huge range of adhesives, such as the former "Hysol" line of structural epoxies.

Whatever works for you.

In my experience some brass bolts held together with Loctite self destructed when trying to unfasten them. For me castle nuts, staking the nut, nylock nuts or lock washers have usually worked very well.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Been using mine for quite a while...have yet to see a need to "lock it down" and make it non-adjustable. I prefer that I can move the setting as I need to. If you don't want to move it, make something that will stay that way, and hang it up for later. I will keep mine adjustable....

[Jim Koepke]

Been using mine for quite a while...have yet to see a need to "lock it down" and make it non-adjustable. I prefer that I can move the setting as I need to. If you don't want to move it, make something that will stay that way, and hang it up for later. I will keep mine adjustable....

If there is confusion, let me clear it up. The idea is to not make it a single for all time setting. My purpose for pinning the hex nut on the back is so it stays the same and the lever lock always locks out of the way of the sides that register to the work. In the case of Loctite my understanding it is just for keeping the hex nut from turning for the same result. The lever still moves free as will the arm when the lever is loosened.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

Not having any Loctite in the shop and not wanting to drive into town for something that has caused me problems in the past led to devising a quick fix with what was on hand.

For me, Loctite seldom seems to be the right answer. There are just too many different types for me to keep them all straight.

jtk
Does your wife use nail polish, or do you? Nail polish is, as I understand it, a lacquer. It used to be recommended as a field fix for motorcycle repair (clear was particularly recommended, no idea why); motorcycles of my youth, other than the BMWs I rode, were really good at shaking parts loose.

I've found that the low-torque loctites leave behind a certain non-abrasive grittiness when you loosen them, which helps to keep a nut in an application like this in place. I haven't tested nail polish to see if it works the same way. Violin bow rosin, available from your local music store, is sometimes recommended for the same non-abrasive grittiness, but I haven't had great luck with it. I imagine you could use regular finishing lacquer, too, in place of the nail polish.

In their original state, those nuts on the back of the #25 have mildly distorted threads that help keep them from moving easily; but I've seen some bevels of that type lacking that feature. No idea if they were aftermarket nuts, replacing a lost nut, or poor thinking on the part of the company making the knockoffs.

[Bill Houghton]

The #18 is a great furnituremaker's bevel. I have several, and use them (two are currently locked at a setting for an interior trim project that's currently stalled; they'll be ready when I get back to it).

I am now NOT going out to the shop to count my bevels...

[Patrick Chase]

In my experience some brass bolts held together with Loctite self destructed when trying to unfasten them. For me castle nuts, staking the nut, nylock nuts or lock washers have usually worked very well.

That sounds like what happens when you use a permanent thread-locker in an application that's more suited to a temporary (low-torque) one :-).

[Jim Koepke]

That sounds like what happens when you use a permanent thread-locker in an application that's more suited to a temporary (low-torque) one :-).

That was a problem in my former work environment. Someone who didn't know a certain body cavity from a hole in the ground would pour half a bottle of the wrong type of thread locking compound. Over many years very few of my projects would have benefitted from the use of Loctite and none of them have suffered from it being omitted.


Does your wife use nail polish, or do you? Nail polish is, as I understand it, a lacquer. It used to be recommended as a field fix for motorcycle repair (clear was particularly recommended, no idea why); motorcycles of my youth, other than the BMWs I rode, were really good at shaking parts loose.

My wife does, not me. That is usually a temporary fix or is used to indicate a fastener coming loose due to tampering or vibration. Like thread seal, it doesn't actually hold the fastener. Some folks use a drop of super glue to hold loose screws in their glasses. That isn't a great idea since sometimes it can cause problems if the frames are to be used for new lenses in the future. That is where fingernail polish might be applicable.

Again, drilling a hole the same size as some brass rod, installing and cutting the rod, applying a bit of torque to the nut and a little file work took less time than it would have taken me to walk from the shop to the house to borrow some of my wife's nail polish, apply it and wait for it to dry. Maybe a picture would help?

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

My wife does, not me. That is usually a temporary fix or is used to indicate a fastener coming loose due to tampering or vibration. Like thread seal, it doesn't actually hold the fastener. Some folks use a drop of super glue to hold loose screws in their glasses. That isn't a great idea since sometimes it can cause problems if the frames are to be used for new lenses in the future. That is where fingernail polish might be applicable.

Again, drilling a hole the same size as some brass rod, installing and cutting the rod, applying a bit of torque to the nut and a little file work took less time than it would have taken me to walk from the shop to the house to borrow some of my wife's nail polish, apply it and wait for it to dry. Maybe a picture would help?

jtk
There are about a million good ways to solve any given problem, and about a million and a half bad ways. Figuring out which category you're working in is just part of life's tuition, right? Yours sounds fine, too.