Anyone seen one of these?

[Greg Wease]

Your reference shows a couple of reasons this isn't a Union plane, at least of this early vintage. The lateral lever is attached below the disk and the beds are marked "Union". The shape of the twist is about the same--much shorter than that used by Ohio Tool. Everything still says Stanley to me.

[Jim Koepke]

Does anyone have a 5 1/2 in their shop that gets used?

Yes, it gets used in places where a #5 feels too small and a #6 feels too big.

It is used across grain like a scrub plane at times.

jtk

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

I was lazy and browsed the web for some twisted Union pics, but I got down to the basement last night and took some shots of the Union No. 5 I have... In general, the parts look quite similar to the OP and that is actually what had in mind when I responded "Union"....

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Ok... Heres the deal. Before the Stanley buyout, Union planes were more distinct than even Ohio. They all (except maybe for a couple rare ones) had Union cast on them somewhere, there were strange fractional sizes, alphanumeric sizes, even bevel down planes with adjustable mouths. They used Trasks patent adjusters, and had the X series. They even had an X1. After Stanley bought Union, they discontinued the old line and remarketed the Stanley made generic type 7/8 plane with a Union struck cutter. This was par for the course, the same thing they did with Birmingham plane co, upson nut co, Siegley, and HC Marsh. They bought the company and their patents, ran the inventory out, and then switched the tools to stanley manufacture.


This generic type 7/8 plane was also made by stanley for MANY hardware firms, including HSB, Bridge Tool, Pritzlaff, Keen Kutter, Van Camp, Winchester, Marshall Wells, and a dozen others. All of these planes had twisted laterals. It was just cheaper.

I dont believe Union made a plane under contract. The whole "twisted lateral must be Union" thing originated from a single misleading photo on a webpage. Ohio, birmingham, standard rule, union, and i am sure many others used a twist lateral. When we see a plane that has a twisted lateral but looks exactly like a Bailey, and shows the type 7/8 characteristics, its almost certainly Stanley made.

Based on your writing above, I gather that what I actually have is basically a post-acquisition, Stanley-made, FrankenUnion?!!!... Oh, well...

BTW, it appears to me that not all twisted laterals are the same... I searched the web for Ohio planes pics and the few samples I saw show a "long" and smooth twist (~50% or so) while the Union laterals, including mine, have a "short" and abrupt twist (~20% or so)... Just saying...