Record 045C Plough - any good?

[Jim Belair]

I came across a 1970s vintage Record plough plane in an antique mall - plastic handle, quite rough finish on depth stop, skate, etc. Clearly not a thing of beauty like the new LV small plow but somehow appealing in a "retro" sense, with its blue plastic handle.

My question is how good this might be as a user? The plane is intact (like new infact- maybe not a good sign?) with knicker etc but only one blade. It looks to me like the LV blades might fit (1/8 thick, notch at top for depth adjustment). Fence adjusts nicely.

I don't think a plow/plough has the tight tolerance requirements of a smoother, etc. Not much out there to compare it to from a value standpoint. ALF has manual for 044C at Cornishworkshop. I know the 70s weren't exactly the golden age of metal planes, but at $160 (Cdn) less than the LV, is this a servicable choice or a waste of money?

Thanks
Jim B

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Hi Jim,

Not much to go wrong with a plow. Main thing is the alignment of both skates to each other, the fence being parallel to the skate(s) and whether the irons tighten down well.

Other than those issues, a plow is pretty simple. Skates can be made straight to each other as long as they are not too far out of alignment (chances are they are fine). Most often I have seen fences not parallel to the skates, but that's on plows of any given vintage. As long as the holes are drilled perpendicular to the body, even an out of alignment fence can usually be made parallel.

Sounds like a good buy--especially if you can handle it before purchase and look at those issues.

Take care, Mike

[Mark Stutz]

Jim,
I have one of these. I hate the blue plastic handle...but once I get myself past that...it works very well. The depth adjustment works well. I've used it on a couple of projects and have nocomplaints. It compares very favorably to the Stanley #45 or Sargent. Some day I'll replace the blue plastic with wood.

Mark

[Jim Belair]

Thanks for the input Mike & Mark. Just one item to clarify. The plane I looked at only has a single skate (like the Record 044 and the LV). The numbering (045) and comparison to Stanley has me a bit confused- is it missing a part, i.e., the second skate? (the Stanley 45 has 2 skates, I guess for its molding use vs. just cutting grouves?)

Jim B

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Hi Jim,

Nah, it's me that needs to clarify--you were clear!

I was referring to the front portion of the skate and the rear portion needing to be in align with each other. Sometimes, the front and the rear are bent at slight angles from each other or have been milled odd. That makes aligning the fence to the skate as a whole difficult.

The 045 designation is one I am not familiar with--indeed, later Record numbering I am not familiar with. The #405 was Record's #45-a-like.

I would shoot Alf an email and inquire. She's a helpful galoot.

Take care, mike

[Mark Stutz]

Maybe I was misleading. The 405 was the Record counterpart to the Stanley 45...with wooden tote. My comparison to the Stanley and Sargent was related to function...the blue plastic handled one works. Ugly, but it works. Kinda like how I feel about the OVBM chisels!:D

[Jim Belair]

Got a PM reply from ALF (What a wealth of information she is) with the following. I add it here so others searching for "Record 045C" can benefit.

I'm going to pass on the plane since LV blades won't fit (altho they will fit the Record 044 - without the C- according to LV) and the C series was so short lived.


ALF (of cornishworkshop.com) says:
"The 045C was the only 045 Record made afaik. Introduced in 1982 and
discontinued in 1995 and is indeed in the same vein as the 044C &
050C, both of which were discontinued before its introduction. It was
marketed in a sort of kit form. The idea was you bought the basic
plane equipped as a plough with one 4mm cutter and then could add
other bits as you needed them. So there were other widths of cutter
up to 1/2" wide, either available separately or in a wallet set of
nine. Then you could turn it into a combination plane rather than
just a plough, by buying kit #K050C which gave you a second skate.
That gave you the opportunity to use a further 8 cutters - 2 more
plough, 5 beading and 1 tonguing cutter. Again, available separately
or as a set.

In theory a great idea, but given the comparative short life of the
plane, in practice not great unless you bought up all the bits you
thought you'd need at the time. As a buyer now, of course, it's a
potential minefield because what d'you call a "complete 045C", which
is where I think we came in! I don't have a 045C, but I just tried
the LV cutters in my 050C and they're too thick. I imagine, given
that they were essentially marketing the 050C's sliding skate as the
"kit" for the 045, the cutter slot is highly likely to be the same,
so you could well be out of luck there."