Stanley Number 2 Plane

[freiler thompson]

Hi folks,

I recently came into posession of a Stanley 2, but it appears to have mill marks on the sole and cheeks. The rest of the plane is a bit ridden hard and put away wet. 415877415878415879

I have never seen this on any other plane and wanted to get your thoughts vis a vis authenticity. Was the price too good to be true?

[Joe Tilson]

Freiler,
Are the lever cap, blade, and chip breaker in good shape? I have a #2 which is in bad shape like yours, but it has a good tote and knob. The lever cap and blade works are totally eaten up by rust. The frog is salvageable. The body is pitted and has rust. I tried to fix it, but ran into the problem of having to buy parts. Depending on where you live in NC, and if we can get together. Maybe you could have a fairly good plane. No cost to you. I live in the upstate of SC.

Type 11 what I have.

[freiler thompson]

Thank you for the offer Joe! Sent a PM.

[Jim Koepke]

The images do not have a view showing the thickness of the sole.

The nose and the knob also look a bit odd.


Was the price too good to be true?

That depends on the price.

The cost of parts for planes is relative to the cost of the plane from which the parts are found. Often it is less expensive to purchase a dog of a plane to acquire parts than it is to purchase useable parts to complete a plane.

Hopefully you and Joe can get together to make a decent plane out of all the parts between the two of you. (hint: post some pictures when all is said and done) :)

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

Pictures are a bit difficult to go by, but I've restored planes that look worse than this. You're not going to use a #2 a whole lot because where you'd use it a block plane will usually do as well.

Mike

[freiler thompson]

Thank you for the advice Jim and Mike!

[Andrew Seemann]

Based on the mill mark pattern, I'm going to say that someone stuck it in a Bridgeport-type milling machine and ran a fly cutter across the sole and sides, probably to clean up the pitting. I've never seen a vintage plane that was fly cut by the manufacturer originally, and based on what the remaining pitting looks like, I'd guess it was recently done. It probably worked to flatten it, and with a little smoothing out, it would probably work as a user plane. Right now, it might be a little abrasive on the wood until it is used for a while or gets sanded out a bit.

Stanley #2's are uncommon and kind of spendy, but the fly cutting probably ruins its value to a collector. but I can't say for sure, since I only acquire planes to use, not collect.

[Jim Koepke]

ran a fly cutter across the sole and sides

That was my thought also, though didn't know it was done with a Bridgeport-type milling machine. It has the look of the old VW air cooled heads after they had been fly cut during rebuilding.

jtk

[freiler thompson]

Thank you Andrew, that makes sense to me. The nice thing is that I can sand the bottom and use it for it's intended purpose instead of just as a shelf sitter. At least I don't have to worry about destroying the collector value!

[Andrew Seemann]

That was my thought also, though didn't know it was done with a Bridgeport-type milling machine. It has the look of the old VW air cooled heads after they had been fly cut during rebuilding.
jtk
My guess was Bridgeport-type just because they are so much more common. It probably would be easier to do on a horizontal mill if one was available. Though neither are ideal compared to a proper grinding set up.

[Andrew Seemann]

Thank you Andrew, that makes sense to me. The nice thing is that I can sand the bottom and use it for it's intended purpose instead of just as a shelf sitter. At least I don't have to worry about destroying the collector value!
You probably don't need to sand out the marks completely (that would take forever and you would likely sand the plane out of flat), just enough so they aren't sharp and catch the wood. They will make good pockets to hold the wax on the sole:)

[freiler thompson]

I received the amazing gift from Jim and was able to put together a fantastic Number 2! I even found an age appropriate blade at the flea market. Thank you so much for all the support and generosity!

-Freiler

[Jim Koepke]

That is great, thanks for getting back to us with photos.

A #2 is a handy plane to have when working on smaller projects.

jtk