Got some planes, are they servicable?

[Jeff Heil]

I was given a couple of planes that need a little TLC, but may be useable. I am a power tool guy for the most part and use hand planes to tune tenons and fit drawers.

I already have a LV LA block plane and a LV med shoulder plane and would like to try to tune these up and add them to my tool collection.

My question is, what types of planes are these Wooden Stanleys and do they look servicable? Is the long one a jointer? One of he metal bodied planes is a Sheldon, I never heard of them. The other says "Miller's Falls No. 900" and looks like a jack plane to my untrained eye. It may be a el cheapo knock off.

The irons are all rust free and in great shape, just in need of flatening and sharpening.

My question to those of you that know more about hand planes than I do, are these worth making shavings or should they be really nice paperweights?

Thanks!
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[Larry Rose]

The Sheldon will make a wonderful paper weight but the others are quite serviceable. The Millers Falls is as good as a Stanley. The wooden transitional planes work fine also. Good find.

[Dave Ray]

Jeff, just box those suckers up and send them this way:eek: :eek: I'll help you clean up your shop.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: Seriously you got some real nice stuff there. Just clean those rascals up some and play with them. You will soon be on that proverbial slippery slope. The Shelden??.... never heard of it either

[Fred Gross]

Shelton made bench and block planes for about twenty years. They sold their plane production to Stanley (why does that sound familiar?) in 1952. Most collectors won't give you a dime for them, but I've had a couple of their bench planes that worked nicely after a little TLC.

[Jeff Heil]

:) Thanks for all the replies. I am slowly flattening the irons and working through my waterstones. Why are the wooden planes referred to as "transitional?" Was it an evolutionary change in the manufacturing process? I wondered it it was a wartime metal shortage?

Thanks again.

Jeff

[Mike Henderson]

:) Thanks for all the replies. I am slowly flattening the irons and working through my waterstones. Why are the wooden planes referred to as "transitional?" Was it an evolutionary change in the manufacturing process? I wondered it it was a wartime metal shortage?

Thanks again.

Jeff
No, the "transitional" planes had nothing to do with metal shortages and were really not a transition between anything. They existed in parallel with standard iron planes for many years. They provided easy adjustment of the iron (in/out and lateral) compared to traditional wood planes, the same adjustment features as could be obtained with iron planes.

There were two "advantages" to the transitional planes: (1) they were a bit less expensive than the standard iron planes, and (2) they were lighter. For carpenters who carried their tools to the job, the weight was probably more important than the cost.

There was certainly some appeal to the transitional planes - some were made until 1943, although many were discontinued before that.

Mike