"Second Quality" Hand Planes?

[Steve H Graham]

The plane arrived. The japanning seems to have little pimples in it, but for all I know, that's from age.

I put the plane down on my table saw, and I found I could rock it a tiny bit. I made sure the blade was out, and I cleaned the bottom of the plane so I would know it wasn't rocking on a piece of dirt.

This is a very long plane. The "22" refers to its length. I don't know if the minute bow in the bottom is normal or not. If it were a 14, it probably would be too small to notice. My only other big plane is a Stanley 6, and it seems to sit perfectly flat.

So now I have a puzzle. Do I send it back, eat the shipping, and consider it an interesting lesson? Do I use it the way it is? Do I put it on the mill and use a face mill to remove the bow? Do I throw out the base and buy a salvaged base to replace it? Do I put it on Ebay under the heading "RARE SECOND-QUALITY MILLERS FALLS 22 HAND PLANE"?

If I get a new body for the plane, I'll be into it for about the standard price of a Millers Falls 22 in good condition, so I will not be able to complain. But I'll have a second-quality body I can't get rid of!

[steven c newman]

Sharpen it up, and give the plane a try...you might be surprised...

[Doug Dawson]

Sharpen it up, and give the plane a try...you might be surprised...

Yeah. I slight bow on a 22 inch plane is not a liability. It will straighten out as it's being used. A convex plane would be a far worse liability (which you would stand a good chance of getting it you lapped it.)

[Steve H Graham]

It is convex. It looks like there is a high spot around one side of the mouth. I sanded some of the rust off, and I got a big bare spot by the mouth. May be wrong, but that's how it looks right now.

11 23 19 second quality millers falls 22 plane with sanding on bottom 01 small.jpg

[Doug Dawson]

It is convex. It looks like there is a high spot around one side of the mouth. I sanded some of the rust off, and I got a big bare spot by the mouth. May be wrong, but that's how it looks right now.

11 23 19 second quality millers falls 22 plane with sanding on bottom 01 small.jpg

It looks like it started out as concave.

Have you used it yet? Seriously.

[Steve H Graham]

You mean it was cast with a concave warp, and somehow it's convex now? I don't get that.

I have not used it. It hasn't been fettled.

[Doug Dawson]

You mean it was cast with a concave warp, and somehow it's convex now? I don't get that.

I have not used it. It hasn't been fettled.

It looks like somebody's tried to lap it. Do you know if they were doing it from the left side, or from the right side? Or what pressure was applied? Or on what grade of surface?

[Steve H Graham]

This is an Ebay plane, as discussed above, so there is no way I could know its history. When I got it, the sole was completely covered by a thin layer of rust and showed no obvious signs of modification.

[Marinus Loewensteijn]

.... Do I send it back, eat the shipping, and consider it an interesting lesson? Do I use it the way it is? Do I put it on the mill and use a face mill to remove the bow? Do I throw out the base and buy a salvaged base to replace it? Do I put it on Ebay under the heading "RARE SECOND-QUALITY MILLERS FALLS 22 HAND PLANE"?

If I get a new body for the plane, I'll be into it for about the standard price of a Millers Falls 22 in good condition, so I will not be able to complain. But I'll have a second-quality body I can't get rid of!

1) Me being in New Zealand means that I have huge cost to ship things back. Fixing it, even spending money on fixing it, is the cheapest option.
2) A #5 or scrub plane does not need to be flat but in my humble opinion you'll want a 22 to be flat.
3) There is a seller on ePray (or is it oBoy?) who seems only to be parting out planes. Some of those parts are almost as expensive as a complete cheap plane and two parts will more often than not cost more than a decent plane. The body is often the last thing to go and is relatively cheap. But.... do not get an "unused" body, my hard learned lesson is that almost invariably those planes were bought in the past, tried out and then found to be unsatisfactory and were put back in the box.

There is a specialist dealer (who shall remain nameless) that I bought my first #39 from and even those sellers are no garantee that things are OK (when buying from them). One of the nickers was cracked and the body was bent where the blade resides. I picked up a body from the ePray seller and that was straight. That worked out at cheaper than if I had shipped the original back.

You can have a go at flattening it yourself and if it does not work then get another body. Use the scraper that I mentioned in another post that I made earlier today.

Another option is to set up an alarm for when someone lists that exact plane with a buy now - you might be surprised to have a (semi-) complete one come up for less than the body alone. These can be especially cheap if the tote is cracked or pieces are missing. You might end up with a spare blade and a sole for less than the sole alone. I picked up a wider #39 in that way which is destined to become a "narrow" rebate plane, it had the blade and only one of the nickers but that is perfectly fine for how I want to use it. And it was cheap, less than that a single nicker would have cost (inclusive shipping).

I do not understand Patrick Leach's disdain for these #39 planes, I find them extreemly usefull and use them as a shoulder plane most of the time. If you're not using the depth stop then you can use the side handle of a Stanley 803 drill and a grip where the screw for the depth stop goes, works a charm. If I need a wider rebate plane then I just make a dado and then use that groove as a depth stop for the non-cutting part of a normal bench plane where the bench plane takes the remainder of the rebate. It is a work around but being retired I have no problem if it takes a tad longer.

[Kurtis Johnson]

2) ...but in my humble opinion you'll want a 22 to be flat.

Agreed! You want your jointer (or technically in your case, your “try”) to be FLAT, flat. The good news is yours is not in the oft-seen and feared banana shape. It looks like a keeper to me. Judging by the sand marks, you have contact at the toe and the heel, and most importantly, around the mouth and directly ahead of it. It would be good to have a little more contact all the way around the mouth, but it’s crucial there is contact directly ahead of it. It looks like it needs a little more contact to the right side of the mouth (top of photo). You can improve it and even it out.

The ability to rock it concerns me. I wonder how slight? I checked all my planes with feeler gauges laid flat on a surface plate (or your table saw top). Of course, you are only registering the outer portions of the sole, and it gets a little tricky when considering a length of 22 inches, but it can still be very helpful. I don’t recall what was considered too much to be considered a lost cause. Over a thou maybe? I’ll try to relocate my source on that. (I have a banana-shaped No. 4 for example that was out 3 thou in spots. Maybe more! It was a goner.)

There was a European guy who had a great 3 part video series on YouTube on restoring and fettling in a vintage No. 4 that I used as a guide years ago. One of the videos was strictly flattening where he used registration film (or I think a sharpie) and progressing sandpaper grits. His techniques were informed and authoritative. I am having a difficult time finding it, but I’ll keep looking. It’s exactly what you need here.

I agree with others that at the end of the day, the important thing is how it performs. I think you are wise to fettle it in first. And before that, I get it that you need to know if you need to return it. Hard to tell by photos, but from what I see, I don’t think so. You have what looks like a nice user. Congrats!

[steven c newman]

Paul Sellers? Would that be the name?

[Günter VögelBerg]

A while ago I bought a bevel-up jointer plane that was sold by Lee Valley as a cosmetic second and to this day I cannot find the flaw.

[Steve H Graham]

Thanks for the help. I'm not really concerned. Either I can flatten and use it, or I'll just get a new sole.

[Eric Danstrom]

Am I missing something? Did you sharpen the blade and test it and it's not working well? If not, that would be my first step, esp if I was keeping it for the reason you gave.

[Marinus Loewensteijn]

If you're not using the depth stop then you can use the side handle of a Stanley 803 drill and a grip where the screw for the depth stop goes, works a charm.

should have been: "as a grip"

cheers!