Stanley Bailey #5 Broken Frog At Lateral Adjustment Lever

[Noah Starksen]

Been looking for my first jack plane for a few months. Found a Stanley Bailey #5 at an antique store for $25 and couldn’t pass it up. Got home and found the frog is completely broken just below where the lateral adjustment lever would be (see pic).


Do I need to start searching for a new frog? Or will this still work fine?

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[Van Huskey]

Did you check your breaker to see if it tripped? Maybe the brushes on the motor need replacing. :D

Welcome to SMC! There is actually a handtool sub-forum here called the Neanderthal Haven and one of the nice moderators will likely move the thread there for you.

[Jim Koepke]

The plane can be used without the lateral lever. A small hammer or mallet can be used to adjust the lateral setting of the blade.

My blade tapping mallet was shop made:

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The head on this is about 1" in diameter.

Your plane looks to be an early type 9. It would likely cost as much as the plane to find a replacement frog.

You may want to use this plane as is until you acquire a second #5. Then this one can become a scrub plane for rough timbers.

You may get lucky and find another plane early type 9 #4 or #5 cheap with a broken broken base and a good frog.

jtk

[Jerry Olexa]

Agree with Jim on all he said.....

[Noah Starksen]

Thanks guys! Both for moving this to the correct place and for giving me some insight on the plane.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks guys! Both for moving this to the correct place and for giving me some insight on the plane.

You are surely welcome. Here is an old post with a little information on the difference between the early and later type 9 frogs:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?131234

Here is one of the images showing the differences:

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The details are pointed out in the post.

jtk