Plane thread tap&die

[Greg Wease]

I have a couple of old hand planes which would benefit by having the screw threads that attach frogs, totes, etc. cleaned up. Does anyone know a source for taps and dies the correct size for the "unique" screws used by Stanley and others?

Thanks, Greg Wease.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Greg,

Try finding a tool and die supplier. Take the plane with you. They should be able to get you the taps and dies that you need. I hope that you can find one near you. Hear in NW PA there are tons of machine shops so suppliers are around and will deal with the public.

Good luck

[Jamie Buxton]

Ecno (www.use-enco.com) is a good online source for machine-shop tools. You probably need to start with a thread gauge to measure the existing parts, and then you can get the correct taps and dies.

[Greg Wease]

Thanks for the suggestions re. machine shop suppliers. I'll give them a try.
Greg

[Wendell Wilkerson]

Thanks for the suggestions re. machine shop suppliers. I'll give them a try.
Greg

Please let us know if you have any luck. From what I've read most of the threads for planes are non standard sizes. I assumed this meant taps and dies didn't exist for them. Probably a poor assumption on my part.

Wendell

[Fred Krow]

Stanley planes have threads for front knob and tote with #12-20 threads. These are not standard today, they were developed over 100 years ago. I called Stanley Works last week and asked for their USA supplier of tooling for the threads. They stated the planes were not made in the USA and all the tooling was transferred to the UK plant. They had no idea where I could obtain the #12-20 tap set.

The frog screws are 1/4-28 (fine thread) I believe, I have some on order from Stanley Works and will check them, the screw for the cap and blade is about 9/32-24 and they are also on order from spares dept.

I will continue to research for a source in the US,,,,someone made the taps and dies for the last 100 years and could have some surplus available.

Regards,
Fred Krow

[Greg Wease]

Fred,

Thanks for researching and posting the correct sizes for the Stanley screw threads. I haven't had any luck locating the correct British Standard Whitworth taps or dies either locally or on the internet. I'll continue to purchase "parts planes" when I have repairs to make. I have a number of hybrid planes that are not true to any particular type number but work just as well.

Best regards,
Greg