Stanley #5

[Mike Jones NM]

Looking at a #5 that appears to be in excellent condition. No other markings that I can find besides the # 5 on it
What can ya'll tell me about them.
Good/bad
Value?
Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Cam Lane]

Made in USA? Markings on iron?

[Marcus Ward]

Last weekend I bought 2 #5s, both from the 30s, one with 95% japanning left on it, for 35$, so don't pay a lot. If you look around you can find them cheap. On ebay a good condition pre 1920 one will run you 45 or so. Look behind the frog for patent dates, it should say made in usa somewhere. The adjuster knob should be brass unless it's a war era plane and then it may be steel or hard rubber. If the bed is painted blue, walk away from it. If the adjuster fork is 2 pieces instead of 1 cast peice, walk away from it. Otherwise you're probably good. Look for a longer blade since a short one won't last a long time. Google patrick leach blood and gore for more info than you ever wanted to know.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I really love my #5, I think it's about a 1926 vintage. Its just about my favorite tool. I don't use hand planes very often but when I use it I really enjoy it. For some reason it just feels sweeter than any other plane I've used. I wouldn't sell it for $200.

[Bob Smalser]

Look at Johnnie Kelso's Stanley pictoral type study under "Hand planes 101" to see what to look for. The best I've seen because it's all in photos:

https://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/typing/typing.htm

I generally prefer Sweetheart era planes 1919-1933 and earlier because the soles tend to take less work flattening them than newer planes. There are exceptions of course, and many blue paint planes made as late as the mid 1960's can often be made sweet......but the few Stanleys I've fettled with soles totally hopeless were WWII and later. You can only take so much off a sole without ruining the plane's performance by opening up the mouth too much. But if you get one with a hopeless sole, all is not lost because there are plenty of dealers today stripping good planes for parts who should have plenty of donor bodies available. I just bought a #6C body for 20 bucks and postage to replace one that cracked.

But probably more #5's were made than all the rest of the bench plane models put together because every household and farm usually had at least one plane, and if they only had one it was a #5 if it wasn't a woodie. So they are inexpensive today and you can afford to be choosy. Also don't overlook Keenkutter models made by Stanley and sold by EC Simmons Hardware as some were Bedrock designs (and more not) and all of them had a little extra finishing applied to them.

[ralph cox]

Make sure the mouth is in good shape,fairly narrow and parallel at a right angle to the side. Put a straight edge on the bottom to see if the soul is on the same plane at the toe,right before the mouth, right after the mouth and at the heel.BTW I just picked up an early(1895+) Stanley Bedrock#5C for $5 at the local FM;I've cleaned it up switched out the cutter and despite the broken tote it cuts as well as my fettled #5 Record with A2 LN blade.I,ve picked up a#51/2C for$70 as well as #7 for$65 ; each was atype 11 with a bit of rust and original usable steel.Both blades have been replaced with Hock or LN steel,but that's just me:D.Point is they all work and feel sweet,and if they have been used and cared for ,for many,many years I think they worth owning and using. Again thats just me ,I feel lucky having acess to such tools.


Best of luck! ralph

[Jeffrey Larsen]

I am new to this and think my opinions don't count much. However, I do have a few. In terms of user planes, there doesn't seem to much of a correlation between price and usability. I tend to now want to be a plane collector because I have a gun collection that has been a real black hole to deal with and don't want another.

Having said that, my collection does have some collectables and I must admit that I do like some of them a lot. I have purchased 40-50 planes in the past 4-6 months. I feel that individuals naturally come of the the crowd as superior to others. I have purchased a 45 with all cutters, 46 with all cutters and original box from the 1800s, a 50 new with a plastic handle and a 55 with all the cutters and some unopened boxes.

the first plane I ever purchased was a new number 4 from lowes for 39$--stanley made in england. I Don't have an old number 4; I have about 5-6 number 4s that I have gotten for from 10-20$ each off the bay. Even with a not of work, none of them except possibly a corrugated one in mint condition in original box cut as well as the sharpened number four from lowes. I sharpened it to 2500 using the scary method and it is really impressive.

the number 3 I have is an old sw one from around turn of the century. It is wonderful, but has taken hours of work to get there. very collectable and cost 65$ on the bay.

have 7 number 5s and, again, after doing a ton of work on them, one of the newer ones seems the best--cost 20$ on the bay and is essentially new. Cuts better than the 605 I have by a long shot. Cuts better than the number 5 style miller falls I have. I keep working and working to see if another one will stick its head up as being better, but so far no takers.

in terms of 6s, I only have 2--both off the bay. one is a newer style #6 the other a 606 bedrock. The bedrock is better than the other one, but probably because I put a hock blade and chip breaker on it. I have 2 number 7s--one is corrugated and very new. The other is very old dated 1902. I have put a huge amout of work in the old one, and it isn't nearly as nice as the newer currugated number 7.

I have 2 corrugated 8s--one is a turn of the century currugated and the other a keenkutter. the # 8 stanley cuts great and has the same sensation while cutting as the number 605 with the hock. The keenkutter arrived broken in half in transit. I posted on it, and got several opions. I ended up jury rigging it, apparently successfully. I did this by putting it on a completely flat surface and placing the break back together. then, I took "professional superglue" and held it place perfectly lined up. Then, I drilled several small holes along the break on each side and scuffed up the metal with a grinder. Then, becuase I didn't have anything to lose, I took jp weld and applied it heavily on both sides--2-3 days later, ground it down enough to not have the repair get in the way of functionality. Then, I worked on getting the sole flat, and sharpened the blade into oblivion. finally, I used it hard and have continued to do so. So far, works great.

It works almost as well as the stanley.

My take on all this is that of the experience I have had, the newer planes seem to cut as well or better than the older more expensive ones as a group. The price of these has been all over the place and doesn't seem related to usability--the 39$ one cuts as well as the 51$ corrugated 4 in the original box from the 40s or 50s. The cheapest number5, again fairly new, cuts better than the number 605 bedrock. the newer number 7 is better than the old one.....

I think fairly new planes with little collectabiltiy cut as well or better than average old ones. You can take an new dirt cheep one and put hock parts on it for less than an old collectable one is. I would get something cheap and in fairly new contition--to me, this seems to be the best user value.


That was long but is the gestault of what I have learned in the past 6 months or so on this topic.

Yes, I have stopped buying. No, I don't plan to sell any of the planes. I will adjust and grind blades for various tasks and thus won't have to adjust as much depending on what I want to use one for on a given day.


Sorry about all the babble--just excited about this stuff. this is such a great site!! I have learned everything I know here and the help and comaradery I have gotten is fantastic--thanks all! Jeff

[George Sanders]

I have a Stanley #5, a Bedrock#605, and a Keen Kutter 5C. I really like the heft of the Keen Kutter the best. I picked it up in a pawn shop for $4.00. Best $4.00 I ever spent.