Fulton Plane, what is this critter?

[John Sanford]

I have a plane I picked up at an antique shop or some such a while back. The label on the tote identifies it as a Fulton Value Leader. 'Tis 9 1/4" long, 2 1/8" wide with a 1 3/4" wide blade. Basically the same length as my Record #4 and a second #4 that I have (of unkown provenance). The frog is stamped, bent steel, rather than a cast and machined piece like the other two.

What can ya tell me about this beastie?

[Douglas Brummett]

picture is worth a thousand words, maybe more in the case of old tool ID

[Phillip Pattee]

It sounds like a Fulton second line of planes, sort of like a Stanley handyman. With a stampled frog, you will have a very difficulty time ever getting it to work correctly. It is probably not something a collector would value either.

[Steve Sawyer]

My first bench plane was a hand-me-down Fulton like you describe.

I was never able to get it to work decently, and when I got a good buy on a Stanley-Bailey #4, I realized what a poor excuse for a plane the Fulton was.

I threw it out, not wanting to foist it off on another user, no matter how inexperienced.