Originally Posted by
Bill Houghton
If you're going to buy a 45 (or, probably a 50), you want it straight. Look up "Stanley 45 instruction manual" to get an idea of the parts involved; this explanation will make sense after you read it.
The skate on both the body and the moving section (particularly the sliding section) depend on the casting right at the mouth to be unbent. The sliding section, particularly, can get bent easily, and the plane's nearly worthless then. I've still got the sliding section from an early 45 acquisition that's bent both vertically and horizontally; it's useless, so I don't know why I'm keeping it. If you don't get a trustworthy answer to your question about straightness from an online seller, don't buy the plane. And if you're looking at one in the flesh, take a 12" ruler that you trust for straight and check everything.