Stanley 5 Irwin Plane 2In 1 12 005

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Veritas (new) and Clifton (new and vintage) also apparently make good bench planes, but I just haven’t used their bench planes much. I did try out a student’s Veritas jointer plane, and though it worked nicely, I had one concern: the design would have prevented the jointer plane from being used on a shooting board.

Stanley Type 8 Handplanes date from 1899-1902. The “7-24-88” is the only patent date found on the lateral adjustment lever, and “STANLEY” is still there. The “S” casting marks are eliminated and replaced with “B.”I think the rabbet plane would work better for smaller work, and possibly with wood that is not as hard (my bench is out of ash). And if you can help it, I actually recommend that you don’t buy a metal jointer plane with the popular “corrugated sole”, as seen above. These ridges were originally marketed as a feature that was supposed to make hand planing easier due to an alleged reduction of friction, but I think that was just a marketing ploy. It actually makes jointing the edge of a board more difficult for me, because the ridges often make the plane’s sole tip. It’s not a huge deal; just a small inconvenience. So if you find a good deal on a jointer plane with a corrugated sole, then don’t pass on it. I have several corrugated bottom jointer planes, and for the most part they work perfectly fine. The only real benefit that I’ve seen with corrugated hand plane soles is that it does take a little less time to flatten the sole when I’m refurbishing a plane. But I only do that once with a plane. One reader sent me a message notifying me that he discovered that resinous pitch pine is easier to plane with a corrugated sole, since there is not as much gum to drag the plane. If you plane resinous wood, then I guess you should get a hand plane with a corrugated sole!

Look for the depth-adjustment nut, and you should be able to tell if it has a diagonal knurling pattern on the outside or not. If it has, the plane is Type 18 and dates between 1946 and 1947. Like many a passionate woodworker, I have for years been inflicted with a sentimental love for the Stanley Bailey hand planes. As a result, I own a few and these good old Leonard Bailey designs are the seed of many hand plane designs today. So many manufacturers have based their own designs on the Bailey hand plane. Sadly some manufacturers have plagiarized the Leonard Bailey patents and with varying degrees of success. With regard to longer planes, these planes have a place in the workshop of any enthusiast. In fact, this week I have been prototyping a new bar stool design which will be made from hardwood for a book I am working on. The No 6 plane was the plane I used mostly because I needed elements to be trued as perfectly as possible. I use my components from the prototypes I make as reference pieces to develop the pieces for actual production whether this is for single production or batch production by machine methods. There are a bewildering number of different types of plane, but there seems to be a grouping of the general-purpose bench planes used in converting a roughly-hewn chunk of wood into a straight, flat, smooth, square piece of timber:

Overall Stanley Plane Sizes (measured off my set. Slight differences may occur according to type, the sizes changed from time to time) Pay attention to the color of the plane. When the Stanley plane is painted blue, it is Type 15 to 20, and the plane is Type 20 and it dates from 1962 to 1967. The lateral adjustment lever is now two-piece construction. It has a circular disk replacing the straight portion where it engages the slot in the iron. The brass adjusting nut has a left-hand thread. “7-24-88” is also stamped into the lever.

If the word STANLEY is on the lateral adjustment lever in a vertical script, the plane Type is 19 and dated between 1949 and 1961. If you do buy a 9" plane, it's seriously worth considering a low-angle plane (lower bedding angle, higher angle on the blade). Among other things, that gives you a wider range available if you need to grind blades to other angles when handling special cases. These do tend to be a bit more expensive, though, largely because this design is mostly offered by the higher-end manufacturers. Please get familiar with the names of the multiple parts of the tool using a Stanley diagram which I will summarise below. Look for the bed of the plane behind the frog. If you can see any patent dates cast into the bed, note how many are there.I’ve spent a few more years scrounging and now I have the 3½ (wasn’t a 3), a swedish #4½ I spent a lot of time fettling and restoring, a #5 and a #7. I paid between 5-40 euros per plane.

As you can see, the design is different than the normal bench planes; the bevel of the iron faces upward rather than downward. I touched on this earlier. Also, the bed of the plane sits at a lower angle. The cool thing about this type of plane is that it can be used in multiple configurations in addition to the main use as a low angle plane. For those who don’t know, a low angle plane is best used for handplaning end grain, like if you’re making an end grain cutting board, for example. The iron comes sharpened from the factory at a 25 degree angle. Add that to the 12 degree milled bed, for an effective low angle of 37 degrees. Stanley Type 9 Handplanes date from 1902-1907. No patent date on the lateral lever. “B” casting marks are eliminated. The number designation is now cast just behind the knob. A smaller bearing surface is cast into the bed. The frog has a slot at its bottom to fit over the ribbed cast in the bed.

Mr Stanley was a ruthless businessman

This product carries a product lifetime manufacturers warranty covering both faulty materials and faulty workmanship for the expected life of the product as defined by the manufacturer, it does not cover general wear and tear or damage, batteries, blades, bulbs and other consumables. In the unlikely event of a fault the item returned is subject to fair wear & tear and must not have been used beyond the scope of it's design. When Record went into plane production in the early 1930s they copied Stanley planes of the period, right down to the threads. Stanley used 12-20 threads for the tote and knob rods. The screw at the front of the tote and the frog screws are also of this Stanley Type 14 Handplanes date 1929-1930. It is from the USA and is now cast into the bed at the toe. A raised ring is cast into the bed to act as a receiver for the knob, and it prevents the splitting of the knob. The chances of splitting are high due to the raised ring and greater leverage capable of being placed on them than on the low knobs.