Help to ID and Set Up

[Tony West]

I inhereted the following planes from my Dad, who said they were passed down to him. I have no idea how old they are. I'm interested in using the planes, not selling them. Hand planes are new to me, so I'd like to ID what I have, and also figure out how to set them up properly. I tried setting up the smaller plane, but I can't seem to get a consistent shaving across the width of the blade no matter how much I adjust the lateral adjustment. It seems like it's just 'crooked'. I have read until my eyes bled on planes, just can't seem to figure it out...thought you guys could help.

First, the ID portion. First plane is 22" long, 3" wide, with a 2 1/2" blade at the widest. It has a corrugated sole. Here are some pictures...










The blade says "OR Chaplin's Pat's Tower & Lyon New York May7'72 July 4'76". That's the only ID marks this plane has on it.

Second plane (the one that cuts crooked) is 9" long, 2 1/4" wide with a 1 3/4" wide blade. The only ID marks on this one is No. 3 by the front handle. Pics of this plane...









Any and all help ID'ing these planes would be great. I figure once I have them ID'd I can begin further research on how to set them up for best performance. However, any help on that would be greatly appreciate as well. Thanks!

[Mark Casper]

Oh man, that first picture gave me a start...a very desirable Chaplin plane.

You can read more about them here.

- Mark

[Jim Koepke]

Tony,

I see you have been here a while, but welcome to the world of Neanderism.

I think the answer to your first plane is on the blade, Chaplin. Check this and look at the picture of the 1210:

http://www.antique-used-tools.com/chaplin.htm

The second looks like it may either be a Sargent or an early Defiance by Stanley.

You may have to loosen the frog and move it around to get the blade to cut evenly across.

Check that the blade is honed square. You may find some answers in this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=114373

If this does not help, some more pictures will help.

Some of the later planes like the Defiance were not sold to be used by everyday woodworkers. Their market was the guy being heckled by his wife to fix a sticking door. He would go to the local hardware store and buy what looked like the cheapest and quickest solution to his problem. The plane would be taken home, used on the door and then thrown out in the wood shed to await another use.

If it is a Sargent, then it could be a good user. Looking at the handles makes me think it may be a Defiance, Fulton or other second line plane.

jim

[Tony West]

Thanks guys...looks like I'll have quite a bit of time invested in setting these planes up. I'll give it a shot and post more as I go. Any info on setting up the Chaplin?

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks guys...looks like I'll have quite a bit of time invested in setting these planes up. I'll give it a shot and post more as I go. Any info on setting up the Chaplin?

Without ever having one in my hands, it would be difficult to do.

Mostly, one needs to determine how to set the blade holding mechanism square to the base and then how the lateral and depth adjustments perform their functions.

When this is determined, my preference is to start with the lightest shaving possible with a blade that is sharpened square. This helps to establish whether or not the blade is cutting full width and how much adjustment may be needed to the frog. Determining how to do the adjustment is a different matter. To help with that I would either need one of the planes in my hand or try to make guesses based on pictures.

jim

[James Taglienti]

That first plane was patented by Orril Chaplin, out of New York. It is his first effort at a jointer plane. The single iron makes it somewhat unique for an iron plane. It's collector value outweighs it's user value by a little bit, and i wouldn't want it to have been my first plane to "cut my teeth on." I'd wager you could get it making some nice shavings though, but it will take some work. Just don't overdo it because that is technically more of a collector's piece. The #3 size plane could have been made by any number of firms but it looks like a millers falls tote to me, and the adjusting nut on the back looks like it's off of a #2. Neither fact affects use. Thats weird about it cutting crooked, what do you mean by crooked? One side deeper than the other?

[Tony West]

By crooked, I mean one side deeper than the other. The iron is lapped flat and ground square. It's been honed using the scary sharp method. I put it all back together and I have to skew the blade way over to one side to even get remotely close to getting an even shaving. The lateral adjustment is pretty well useless, it doesn't make much of a move. Additionally, it seems like the chip breaker is on the iron crooked. Lastly, if I mount the chip breaker 1/32" away from the edge of the blade, the blade does not protrude from the bottom of the plane, even at full depth setting. It seems as if either I or the plane is missing something...more than likely it's me, got a few screws loose you know.

So, you think I may want to retire the big plane as opposed to working with it? I'm not a big hand tool guy, just use the ocassional plane for clean up (sorry guys, no offense). I'm not even sure what I'd use a plane that big for, maybe flattening a table top or workbench.

This is all pretty new to me, sorry for the ignorance!

[jerry nazard]

Tony,

I have a #3 that looks like it may have come from the same barrel as yours - it's a no brand "hardware store" plane. It's not junk, but it's not a good plane , either. I put a generous camber on the blade, and used it as a scrub plane. It did a fine job, and for fifty cents, I did not complain. If you need to prep warped/cupped boards to run through your planer, this might be a good use for the little #3. Just my .02!

-Jerry

[James Taglienti]

sometimes on those one piece stamped lateral levers the disc shaped part that engages the blade is squashed down and it just slips under the blade when you try to move it. That blade in the plane is like one i've never seen before.
I'd say yea, retire the Chaplin- it's a big clunky jointer plane and there are much better (and much cheaper) ones out there, you probably have an electric jointer anyway, am i right? That chaplin would look good on a shelf cleaned up a bit, it's a very unique piece.
I have never found a #3 that i couldn't get to work, there's just something about them- even the ones that most people say are junk, they always turn out to be stellar. maybe you cna post us a picture of the frog and the lateral, and the end of the iron> ?

[Jim Koepke]

By crooked, I mean one side deeper than the other. The iron is lapped flat and ground square. It's been honed using the scary sharp method. I put it all back together and I have to skew the blade way over to one side to even get remotely close to getting an even shaving. The lateral adjustment is pretty well useless, it doesn't make much of a move. Additionally, it seems like the chip breaker is on the iron crooked. Lastly, if I mount the chip breaker 1/32" away from the edge of the blade, the blade does not protrude from the bottom of the plane, even at full depth setting. It seems as if either I or the plane is missing something...more than likely it's me, got a few screws loose you know.

So, you think I may want to retire the big plane as opposed to working with it? I'm not a big hand tool guy, just use the ocassional plane for clean up (sorry guys, no offense). I'm not even sure what I'd use a plane that big for, maybe flattening a table top or workbench.

This is all pretty new to me, sorry for the ignorance!

Sounds like the #3 could have the frog out of square. If the blade does not seem to come out the bottom, it is also possible that it has the wrong cap iron. I had that problem recently. I bought a used blade, sharpened it and just picked up a spare cap iron and could not get the blade to retract properly. A quick check against another cap iron showed that the notch for the depth adjustment was in the wrong place for a Stanley #3. I will have to check and see if it is placed correctly for a #113. If it doesn't work for that, no telling what it is supposed to fit.

jim