Hi! I have a question for the experts...

[Chris Moore]

Hi,
Please allow me to jump right and introduce myself. My name is Chris and I've been working with wood since I was child standing on two wooden Coke crates nailed together so I could reach my grandfather's workbench. I've always been more of a "machine head" and thanks to a father that worked for the Powermatic company, I inherited a shop full of those lovely green monsters. However, of late, I've been bitten by the hand tool bug. I think it may be more insidious than ebola and there's no known cure. I've been buying and occasionally selling hand tools. I am just learning my way around the maze of American hand planes. The Stanley planes are easy and there is plenty of reference material available. On the other hand, I've just acquired a terrific little plane that I can't devine a model number for... or anything else about it.

I recently picked this plane up at a flea market. The cutter is stamped "Defiance" so I assume that it is was made by Stanley under their Defiance trademark and that it is meant to compete with the 60 series Stanley planes. The sole of the plane is 7" long and 2" wide; the cutter is 1 5/8" wide. I can't find a resource on the internet listing the Defiance plane numbering system or any other information about Defiance planes. I gather that some people look at these planes with disdain, but I really like the design of the adjuster on this plane and plan to replace the knob so I can use it in my shop. I would, however, like to know a little more about it. Can any of you give me any information on it?

Thanks,

[Chris Moore]

Sorry about the link in my signature. I didn't know it was TOS violation. Luckily Dave pointed it our to me. I've fixed.

Thanks for your patience,

[Steve Clardy]

Welcome to the creek Chris!!!
I'm not much help on the defiance line.
Thats called a block plane, and yes, a stanley line.

[Philip McKinney]

The big Walter's guide lists a plane that appears to match yours. The Defiance No. 1220 block plane:
adjustable
mfg.'d 1934 to 1953
7 inches long
1 5/8 inch wide cutter
cast iron, hardwood knob
japanned, black knob
ave. price $5 to $35
It sounds like you may want to invest in a top quality lubricant lest you get severe road burns as you slide down the infamous " slippery slope". Of course many here will be glad to assist your slide.
Phil McKinney
Vinton County, Ohio

[Bill Antonacchio]

Hi Chris,

I can't help you worth a darn with the origins of the plane but I have to ask a question of you!

I am in Palm Beach Gardens and am curious where you got the plane, was it a local flea market?

I am interested in chisels, saws, and hammers but find south Florida a very poor market for old tools.

Regards,
Bill Antonacchio

[Chris Moore]

Bill,
I actually got this one at a yard sale in Lantana. Just dumb luck, I guess. We should get together for a coffee and swap some wood stories.

Chris

[Chris Moore]

The big Walter's guide lists a plane that appears to match yours. The Defiance No. 1220 block plane:
adjustable
mfg.'d 1934 to 1953
7 inches long
1 5/8 inch wide cutter
cast iron, hardwood knob
japanned, black knob
ave. price $5 to $35
It sounds like you may want to invest in a top quality lubricant lest you get severe road burns as you slide down the infamous " slippery slope". Of course many here will be glad to assist your slide.
Phil McKinney
Vinton County, Ohio

Thanks Phil! You literally just made my day. I've been all over the map trying to identify this great little plane.

As far as the "slippery slope" goes... I think I've been on that one since my grandfather, a master joiner - born in 1896 and a journeyman by 1912 - nailed two wooden Coke crates together so I could "work" at his bench when I was just 5 years old. He left no will when he died, but specified through my grandmother that "nary one of those damn knot-heads" were to have his tools and the chest he made as his journeyman test. According to her he said "Give 'em to Chris and if he don't want 'em, throw 'em in the river." Some of those tools are exquisite... some are ordinary for their time... but every one of them was in perfect tune when I got them. They were a testament to man who made his living with them and who defined who he was as a man by the way he took care of the tools that allowed him to take care of his family. I stil remember taking a 8" drawknife out of that treasure chest when I first got it. The edge was protected by a wooden guard that he had obviousely fashione just for it. I undid the ancient cotton twine, removed the guard, and exposed an edge honed literally as sharp as a razor. I had nothing in the shop but a scrap piece of hickory. I clamped it in the vise on the end of my bench and applied that drawknife to it. It was like magic... a shaving as thin as the air itself curled off that most difficult of woods without any effort on my part. It was just like the wood recognized the tool and gave itself over to it. Which is a long story to say that I've been careening down this slope with the absolute abandon and unbridled joy of an otter on a mudslide for forty years. It's been the best ride of my life.

Thanks again,

Chris

[James Mittlefehldt]

Chris I just read that and I have to confess I got a little misty as a result. No one in my family was even a rough carpenter, so I have not had the opportunity to use family tools handed down. Though I do have a brace that belonged to my wife's grandfather. My Father-In-Law said James likes those hand tools give it to him, and I use it, a lot.

Just as a matter of curiousity what was the size of your grandfather's chest?

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Chris, I know how you feel about family tools. The most valuable of my tools are the ones with family connections and I too am fortunate enough to have a good number of them along with 2 tool chests. I love being able to take a plane , drawknife, saw, or chisel owned and used by one of my ancestors and use it to make something that will be passed on in my family after I'm gone. It just doesn't get any better than that.

[Michael Gibbons]

I inherited a couple planes which were my grandfathers but he wasn't a very good woodworker. He was a journeyman machinist/grinderhand by trade. one was a sargent and a little palm plane was a stanley, can't figure out what the other two are?

[Wiktor Kuc]

[quote=Philip McKinney]The big Walter's guide lists a plane that appears to match yours. The Defiance No. 1220 block plane:]

I checked my Waltre's book and do not see this listing. My edition is from 1990. I would like to clarify this point.

On the other hand, there was a plane just like that made by Union.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the Creek. Great story about your grandfather. How about some pictures? We like pictures. :)