Stanley Bailey #3 gloat/question

[Barry Beech]

The family and I went to my wife parents Sat. While there my FIL and I run over to his shop to get something for the kids to play with and while there he tells me that he has something for me.

He disappears for a couple of minutes and comes back with two Stanley Bailey #3s. The first one was a friend of his grandfathers plane. It has a '10 patent date but the plane is cracked and repaired on one side. The other is a newer plane. It has a plastic depth knob which makes me think that it is from the WWII area.

Save for the crack they are both in very good shape with most of the Japanning. I haven't had a chance to clean them up however and look forward to doing so and palying with them.

For the question: If I have a #3 do I need a #4? Is a #3 used like a smaller #4?

I'm not at all familiar with a #3.

Thanks for the help.

[Ken Werner]

Congrats. I'm not sure NEED is the right word. Want? Long for? Can justify? Sure you need a 4, if you have a 3. And a 5, and a 7....They're all fun to have, and do perform different tasks. I think you'll have alot of fun and learning just by rehabbing the two you have. From there, the slope goes down, and it is slippery.

Ken

[Mike Henderson]

I have several #3's and prefer them to #4's for most of my hand work that requires a plane in the #3/#4 range. It's all personal preference.

Mike

[lowell holmes]

I have a #3, #4, #4 1/2, 604, and I haven't talked about the 5's, 6's, and 7. I use the #3 often times to radius an edge.

As another post stated, it is a slippery slope.

[Marcus Ward]

Are ya kiddin? You'll need a #4, at least 2 or 3 of them, a 4 1/2, a 5 (a few of those too) etc etc... They all have their uses.

[Bill Brehme]

Barry, from what I can gather, the #3 may have a smaller tote than a #4. I personally do not have a #3. But I do have a #4 and love it. Many, more experienced than I, claim it as the most useful if you are just starting out...;)

Just as an aside, my stepfather similarly was banging around the toolshed and emerged w/ a Stanley #78 fillister plane and asked me if I knew what it was... I said it looks like some kind of rabbet plane, he said Merry Xmas its yours!!!:D:D:D

[Marcus Ward]

Yes, the #3 tote is smaller. I have a hard time with it but it's usable. I have big hands.

[Glenn Madsen]

The Stanley #3 I have gets used as though it were a largish block plane. You can get extra handles and knobs for the LV Low Angle Block, or Standard Angle Block, but I can't see where it would do any better than the nice old #3 I have.

Having two that worked doesn't hurt. They don't show up quite as often as #4s do.

There's three dozen or more planes in the tool shrine. I don't have a problem with that. Really, I don't.:rolleyes:

[Alex Carrera]

No #3 yet - haven't seen one in any flea markets. I do have three Bailey #4s, a Miller Falls #9, and an unknown 9" or so length plane with a strange tapered blade (gets really thick near the edge) that I use as a scrub.