Sargent Plane Question

[Lewis Moon]

I'm looking at replacing my #4 Bailey and want an "externally adjustable" frog. I was looking at the BedRocks but I'm not happy with how the set of the blade changes when the frog is adjusted. (do the LN's have the same problem? Edit: Yes they do) This led me to look at the Sargent planes with the Shaw's Patent frog: http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/museum/shaws/shaws.html

Does anyone know if a Sargent Shaw's Patent plane will accept a Hock blade and chip breaker?

[Clint Jones]

Lewis,
The Hock blade will fit on the shaws patent plane but the hock chipbreaker will not fit correctly. I dont see why the set of the blade should be a big issue with a Bedrock or LN, if it was LN would have used the shaws patent design. That being said Shaws patent sargents are fairly expensive. I sold the 4 1/2 equivalent shaws patent on ebay for $410 a while back, for that kind of money you could buy a nice LN or Bedrock 604 1/2. Sometimes you can snag a Shaws patent plane on ebay for cheap because someone who doesnt know about planes will list them incorrectly. Good luck! -Clint

[Phillip Pattee]

Any of the bedrock design planes, the old stanley 600 series, the Cliftons, or Lie Nielsen will all require you to reset the cutter depth if you move the frog. But, how big a problem is this? For that matter, what is the big advantage of the external adjustment? Once my planes are set, I rarely move the frog.

[Phillip Pattee]

Lewis,
I got to thinking about your question again. Maybe one of the LV or LN low angle smoothers is what you want. You can adjust the mouth opening by moving the plate in the toe without affecting the cutter position at all. The planes are really versatile because you can get various blades for them so that you have different cutting angle options. I don't own any of these planes, mine are all vintage baileys. If I decide I ever need to replace them, I think the low angle planes are what I would get. They come in smoothers, jacks, and jointers now. They are simple designs -- IMHO superior to the bedrock design. They are less expensive to boot. Perhaps it is time to consider whether the bedrock type plane is becoming obsolete.