Stanley 55 left fence tilting iron pins

Hi all,

I just bought a near complete Stanley 55 for US$250 and have cleaned, waxed and oiled it up. And of course now the really unpleasant part of sharpening all the blades!

I have just noticed that i am missing the 2 approx 1/4" diameter rod pins in the left fence tilting iron (part #53 for those looking at the manual).


Can I just cut off 2 pieces of 1/4" rod or are these pins some odd stanley size? Does anyone sell them like the St James Bay Tool Company?
How long are these pins?
Once I get them, should i glue them into the iron w/swivel? There doesn't appear to be threads or anything to hold them in.


regards

Phil

Phil,
I took my Stanley 55 left fence apart. Each metal rod measures 47mm in length and 7.15mm (about 9/64") in diameter using a dial caliper. It seems that the rods are welded into the holes.The rods are fixed to the fence. They do not swivel relative to the fence.

You may be able to find another fence on eBay. The rods enable you to use the fine adjustment knob, a nice feature but not essential. You could get away with another right fence knowing that you'll lose the fine adjustment.
Elm

What Happened to the original pins? On most things like that they will usually either use a pin with different diameters or the set of holes the pins are supposed to pivot in are just a tad larger to fascilitate swiveling. So the pins will be a small hammer fit for the tight pin end. One of those times when a tiny punch mark on one end of the pins would have denoted which hole that end came out of.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Late last week I finally remember that I also have a Stanley 45 and the left fence is also adjustable. Those pins appear to be welded or peened into the steel fence and are approximately 2" long. I went out to the big-box hardware store and bought a 3ft piece of 5/16 round steel.

Caution: All machinists on the list please be warned and begin to cringe!!!! I cut off 5 inches and chucked it up into my ShopSmith Lath and took it down to a suitable diameter with a mill file & sand-paper. One day I really need to get a small desktop mini metal lathe. but until then.....

I left the steel so it was I tight fit into the fence and "lightly" tapped it into place. I might later epoxy them permanently into place but lets see how things go for now.
Attachment 282145Attachment 282146
I have gotten approximately 1/3 of the blade backs polished and I am now taking a few days break. My finger tips are getting worn away!!!

My first attempt at moulding was a real test as you can see in the picture. Getting all the runners adjusted relative to the blade profile is a challenge. I am trying to make a 3/4" Grecian Ogee (#104) in blue stained Pine to put around a Burlington Farmer's Desk featured in Popular Woodworking 109-1999 page 26. Lets see if I can manage to cut enough "acceptable" moulding and less wood-chips for the fire-place. Will keep you all informed and show pictures in a few days.

In the stanley 55 manual it shows another 42 "Special Cutters for the Stanley 55". I noticed on thebay, that some of these reeded specialty cutters are very expensive. So I was thinking of just purchasing some blank cutter steel from the St Jame Bay tool Company and shape them myself. Does anyone have a detailed & reliable shape of these 42 special cutters? The cartoons in the manual are not enough to use as a pattern. If anyone has them could you put them on a flat-bed scanner and post them on the web?

regards,
Phil

Quote:

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In the stanley 55 manual it shows another 42 "Special Cutters for the Stanley 55". I noticed on thebay, that some of these reeded specialty cutters are very expensive. So I was thinking of just purchasing some blank cutter steel from the St Jame Bay tool Company and shape them myself. Does anyone have a detailed & reliable shape of these 42 special cutters? The cartoons in the manual are not enough to use as a pattern. If anyone has them could you put them on a flat-bed scanner and post them on the web?

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Good save with the neandering of replacement parts. Also a good price on the #55.

Some of the special cutters are duplicated in the special cutter sets for the Stanley 45. Some of the #45 special cutters are ones that come standard with the #55.

The reed cutters supplied with the #55 have two reeds. The extra cutters have 3, 4 and 5 reeds. These can be drawn out by simply overlapping the 2 reed cutter. Keep in mind the edges need to have enough metal to cut a bit wider than the skates.

All of the other cutters are in between sizes or larger and smaller sizes than what you already have. If you have an all in one printer you could likely scan what you have, manipulate it in software to get the size wanted and have a good template to start making the other blades and beyond.

That is a lot of work that may not have a good payback. My thought would be to see how it goes and then be ready to make the blades as you need them. Making custom blades may actually be more practical for your work on an as needed basis.

As far as cutting molding, it is sometimes easier to start with a plow or rabbet plane to remove extra wood and then come in with the shaped blade.

At one time when I saw a complete set of Stanley 55 special cutters listed on ebay as a "buy it now" at $1800 it was late at night. It would have been a stretch but I didn't want to wake my wife to get her okay. By the time she woke up in the morning, the set was sold.

I did get lucky one time buying an incompletely listed pair of #45s. One was a Wards Master. Both planes and blades were in an owner made carrying case. What wasn't listed and was only clear by enlarging the pictures of the set was it included all the special cutters for the Stanley 45. I still feel that was one of my best ebay scores.

jtk

One more thought, you can load up some of the better molding you cut with stropping compound and use it to finish strop your blade after hitting it with slip stones.

You can make different curvatures of hard wood and use it with fine abrasive sheets to help make sharpening blades a touch easier.

It is a difficult plane to master, but it is fun along the way.

jtk

Thanks for the suggestions. So far I have been using dowls with one side slightly reduced in diameter to allow 400 grit and up sandpaper while the other side charged with green honning compound. The results have been good but just time consuming.

After I finish with the moulding for this desk I will try to master all the examples from the manual and the figures in the reprinted book Planecraft, Hand Planning by modern methods by Hampton and Clifford.

Phil

Phil,
What I have found most useful is a sharpening rod called the CRKT VEFF SHARP VEFF1.

Play around first with the straight cutters. Agree with Jim. Wait for what you need.

I have a blog with some posts regarding the Stanley 55 that may be of help.

http://bringbackthehandtools.blogspo...-than.html?m=1

Elm