A good day for finding tools

[Mike Manning]

I had the opportunity to pick a small collection of old hand planes and other various tools yesterday. The seller is a general contractor in his 70s who just picked these tools up as he came across them over his career. Decided he wants to downsize a bit. Lucky me. :0) I found some really nice keepers. Keen Kutter K7 jointer plane, Stanley 45 combo plane, Stanley No 0 & No 104 Sweetheart era cherry wood levels, 5 boxes of Stanley combo plane cutters plus one empty box, an early Stanley No 79 side rabbet plane (minus the fence), Stanley No 5-½ plane (Type 11, later lever cap), Stanley Bedrock 605-½ (Type 3), early Stanley No 71 router plane (Type 4), Stanley No 93 1" rabbet plane, Sargent 8" bevel gauge w/ Pat Oct 29 07, Bedrock 603 (Type 6), Bailey No 3 (Type 9), Bailey No 4 (Type 9), Miller Falls No 07B skew plane, Stanley No 64 spokeshave and an unknown model Bailey spokeshave (with a 1858 date?). Both spokeshaves have Sweetheart irons. In the box are parts for the combo plane plus a Stanley Rule & Level Co handbook for their combination planes (1975 reprint), box of Stanley 1-5/8" block plane irons a spare 1-3/8" block plane iron. The seller threw in free a brass No 1 Odd Jobs tool (think it's a remake, Garrett Wade?) and the Miller Falls No 07 skew plane. Not a bad day. Both of the Bedrock planes and the No 4 have been broken down and the rusty parts are soaking in Evaporust.

This is my first Keen Kutter tool. It appears these may have been made by Stanley based on their Bedrock line of planes. Can someone verify that? Also, I'm wondering if the unmarked lever cap would be original or if there was a Keen Kutter marked cap?

Any details on the Bailey spokeshave would be appreciated. I can definitely make out "58" on the underside of the left handle and "Bailey" on the underside of the right handle. There also appears to be more stampings but I cannot read them. Sorry I don't have individual pics of the spokeshaves and the irons are in Evaporust at the moment.

In the last two weeks I've now picked up my first two Miller Falls planes. Excited to have a skew plane. Any info on these planes would be appreciated as well.

I suspect the combination plane cutters maybe for a No 55 but I need to investigate. Okay, looks like almost complete boxes 1, 2 and 4 for a No 55. I guess the empty box I bought would have been box # for a No 55. Not sure about the two narrower boxes but they seem to have the same slot as the No 55 cutters. Anyone recognize these two boxes of cutters? Maybe some optional cutters that Stanley sold?

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[Mike Manning]

Also about two weeks ago I spotted a couple of planes hanging on the wall in a garage pic for an estate sale ad. Brought home a Stanley No 5 (Type 11), Miller Falls No 85 rabbet plane (minus the fence and depth stop) and a Jas Swan Co 3/8". chisel.

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[Daniel Culotta]

Mike,

That is quite the haul! I'm in your general area (Austin) and rarely see nice hand tools come up, let along a collection like that. I'm jealous to say the least!

I have a Keen Kutter K4, and the K's are type 4 bedrocks manufactured by Stanely for Simmons Hardware in the 1920s (more here). The lever caps are unmarked. Good planes.

Nice find!

[Jim Koepke]

Mike, Everyone is always saying there is no rust to hunt in Texas and the other states of the south west. Looks like you hit the mother lode.

The MF skew rabbet plane can be a handy plane to have for M&T work.

Daniel gave a good answer to your question on the K4.

The smaller blade boxes may have been for a #46 or #50.

Your #45 looks like an early type 11 with the lock screw above the adjustment screw.

Looks like a good lot of tools.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Mike,

Jim is right about rust hunting in Texas, to my experience. It is slim pickens most of the time, in my limited experience, but I did not know that other states in the south west are similar, although I am not surprised.

I am in agreement with the others, the Keen Kutter is a Stanley made early Bed Rock style plane. They were marked with a single "K" before the number, as in "K4." The "KK" marked Keen Kutter planes were Ohio planes, as in "KK4."

The big box size cutters are for a Stanley 55, I am pretty sure. I have an old 55, and have looked at boxes of cutters on the auction site many times, and my son in law even made up a set of labels for boxes if I get around to making them, this in hopefully the not too distant future. I have cutters but no boxes.

I think the smaller two boxes are irons for your 45.

The Stanley 46 irons have a skew shape, and the business ends of those irons is not at a 90 degree angle to the length of the cutter, it is at an angle. I don't think the Stanley 50s have the small notch cutout near the back end of the cutter like those of the 45 and 55. Thus, I do not think they could be for either a 46 or a 50, although there were changes in those combination planes over the years, and they may be for some I have not personally seen. It is also possible that cutters in the smaller boxes were for some other Stanley combination plane that I am not familiar with.

Stanley did make extra cutters for the 55, may have made extra cutter types for the 55 that did not come with the plane. I believe the small box cutters are some of the extra type irons that Stanley sold for the 45 or 55, but as such they likely also have some of the standard cutters with them. The optional beading type cutters for the 55 can also be used in the 45 I think. Thus the fellow may have those cutters for his 45, and they may have been some of the optional ones for the 55.

Stew

[Scott Winners]

Hang on to those older Baileys with the low front knob. The tireder I am and the older I get the more I like the early/low front knob.

[Stew Denton]

Mike,

I forgot to add "ya done good," and like Jim said, you hit the mother load. You picked up some extremely useful stuff, and some of it is not all that common, to my experience. To find it all in one place, it was an amazing find in my view.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

The smaller boxes may have also been user made. Some of the beading cutters appear to be duplicates.

Stanley didn't make a separate box to my knowledge for the match and sash cutters. It appears you have a #1 and #2 sash cutter. Comes in handy if the grain is running the wrong way.

jtk

[Mike Manning]

Thanks guys. Definitely was a lucky day for me.

You are right Jim. The bead cutters are duplicates there are two full sets of those. I will be going through all those cutters to figure out what is there. FWIW, the Keen Kutter is a K7. :0)

Thanks for the info everyone.