Familiarity w/ miller falls wood planes

[richard b miller]

who on this forum is real familiar with Miller Falls wood planes?
i bought a 9" plane that was supposed to be an MF plane but it has NO logo
or serial number on it anywhere.

thanks
rich

[Ole Anderson]

My only familiarity is that I have one (also a No. 9) from my dad. Probably a 1950's vintage. Other than a small block plane it is my only other plane. More of a power tools guy here.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Best source of information I know of is “Old Tool Heaven.” I like the MF stuff I have, but I don’t own any of their planes. I know they made a lot of “Craftsman” brand tools for Sears. I don’t know if they made stuff that was completely unbranded, with no logo at all. For this type of thing photographs will help a lot.

[Jim Koepke]

who on this forum is real familiar with Miller Falls wood planes?
i bought a 9" plane that was supposed to be an MF plane but it has NO logo
or serial number on it anywhere.

thanks
rich

Hi Rich, on questions like this it is so much better to include an image if possible. Above the text area when posting a new message are a bunch of icons. The one that looks lie a tree in a window or the paperclip icon will lead to including an image in a post. The image file has to be less than 1.8Mb, if my memory is working.

Millers Falls planes have a few distinguishing traits. One is the lateral lever the other is the raised area around the front knob. Stanley and some others have a distinct bead in the casting around the front knob. Millers Falls has more of a raised area. The lateral lever on the Stanley is often referred to as being a "tiller" as in a boat tiller. Others use a twist and some use a double fold resembling an upside down V. Millers Falls lateral lever has a single fold on the left side when viewing from the tote end of the plane.

Here is a site with information on Millers Falls:

http://oldtoolheaven.com/index.html

jtk

[richard b miller]

i posted from my work computer. will post pictures when i get home tonight.
anyone also want to see me in a speedo ? ha,ha,ha :D

[steven c newman]

That would be the "V" line of planes.....where they used a decal. Nothing was engraved anywhere....so it could also be sold at a local hardware store. Simple matter for the hardware store to then add a decal of their own. Which usually wore off rather quickly in use.

Usually it was the #9 size and the #14 size planes.....aka #900....#814 ones.

Mohawk-Shelburne was also a M-F's line of Budget planes....lever cap was a red and black painted thing....no other markings.

[richard b miller]

well, after reading stevens post (thanks steven!) and going from there, my plane is a millers falls V line, built about late 60's to early 70's. its got the red frog and black handle and lever cap.
its in very good condition and with a very little cleanup, i'll have a great plane
thank you all!

[steven c newman]

377876
Mohawk-Shelburne....1950