Originally Posted by
Mike Holbrook
So Jim, I believe the short knobs pre-date the taller knobs which in turn pre-date the bodies that have a place molded in them for these knobs. So if I understand what I am reading Jim likes the earlier model planes. Since I believe Jim has a wealth of experience with these type planes I am thinking it is safe to assume that even the early plane knobs were reasonably reliable. I know they made lots of them so they must have worked reasonably well, from what I read quite a few "new features" Stanley came up with were more for marketing reasons and not necessarily because they made the tools work better. I read that some people felt the lower knobs were a little hard for them to grip but since I have medium size, wide hands I think I too might like the wider, shorter knob.
The tall knobs on the Stanley/Bailey planes began at the end of the type 11s, approximately 1920. One of my planes was originally a tall knob and I changed it. One or two of my planes do have tall knobs. The only one that really gets me with a short knob is my #4-1/2. If I give it the full knob grip occasionally some of the hairs on my hand/fingers get pinched under the front of the plane, ouch!
Some of my short knobs are cracked but they haven't been a problem. Some of these old tools were carried loose in tool boxes and got banged around. Some look like they fell off of ladders.
Another thing I did was to buy a bunch of depth adjusters from later planes. These are on various pre-type 12 planes. The bigger brass is nice.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)