Dirt cheap Stanley No. 5 find

[Larry McGarrah]

It may not be anything super special but I thought I was a nice cheap find. A super clean Stanley No.5 type 11 in as found condition with zero issues. All it needs is the blade sharpened and it is ready to fly.

1s511.jpg2s511.jpg

[Mark Dorman]

Nice score Larry.

[James Taglienti]

Good looking plane, my favorite type!

[Brent VanFossen]

That's a keeper.

[David Weaver]

That's a bargain hunter's dream, a lovely looking plane of a very solid and eye-pleasing type.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great. Just how cheap was it?

I found a #5C type 11 for $4, but it was missing parts.

jtk

[Zach England]

Isn't type 11 some sort of mythical magic era?

[Sam Takeuchi]

For some reason yes. Type 11 has its charm, especially if you like low knob and frog adjustment screw. Aside from short lived type 12, it was the last of pre-SW era tall knob, large depth adjuster wheel. Actually as far as functionality goes, type 9 is as good (type 10 also and has frog adjustment screw, but not plenty enough), just doesn't have frog adjustment screw. Considering how little effort it takes to adjust frog even without adjustment screw, I don't really see why type 11 in particular is so sought after. But there is nothing mythical or magical about it (just like nothing mythical and magical about SW era planes other than SW era planes are the culmination of features before production began to move toward cost cutting, such as ogee shaped frog with recessed surface) and stained hardwood handle and knob. I guess type 11 is plentiful with all the features and beauty, and it's kind of "can't go wrong" category.

Edit: Nothing wrong with wanting type 11. I don't mean that. I'm just saying there is too much emphasis on this type without really understanding why.

[Deane Allinson]

Really Nice find, so clean. I've never found one of that age that nice "in the wild". I like the low knob versions best for two reasons. It has a better "feel" to it in use, to me, and it looks more visually balanced with the low knob.
Just a preference thing.
Deane

[Richard Darjes]

I've read somewhere (maybe Popular Woodworking in 1990's) that the three patent dates on a type 11 are easy to spot for someone who doesn't know much about Stanley type studies, so it was easy for instructors and writers to recommend that people buy type 11 planes and people could be confident that they had a "good" Stanley if it had the three patent dates on it. Of course that drove up the prices on type 11s!

Rick in Oakville (Canada)

[Jim Koepke]

people could be confident that they had a "good" Stanley if it had the three patent dates on it.

Wow! Does that make my type 6s with 6 or 7 patent dates worth twice as much?

Actually the only way to get it to have 7 patent dates is to add a later blade.

Otherwise early type 6s will have 3 patent dates on the lateral lever, 2 inside the depth adjuster and 1 patent date on the cap iron.

As Sam said earlier, type 10 through 12 have all the refinements of the Stanley/Bailey design before the onset of cutting production cost.

For me, it is less hassle to have multiple planes in the sizes that are likely to benefit from having the frog set differently. Some folks just do not have the space to keep more tools than what is absolutely needed in their shop.

In my opinion, if one were pinched for space yet needed to adjust their frog on a regular basis, it would be advantageous to consider buying the flat top Bedrock style planes or the modern planes from makers like Lie-Nielsen. These have frogs that can be adjusted without taking the blade out of the plane.

jtk