Companion Hand Plane

[Greg Marquis]

Hello, does anybody know or ever heard of "Companion" hand planes. I purchased a Stanley Handyman NO.4 on the weekend for $3.00 but when I brought it home and started to clean it up and removing the rust I noticed that only the lever cap says Stanley Handyman but the blade says "Companion" made in usa - 187.37053.
Has anyone ever heard of this company before?
Thanks,
Greg

[steven c newman]

Companion is the Brand name used by sears. Secondary line of tools below Craftsman.

Otherwise, it is the same plane as a Handyman 1204. Just rebranded to be some at Sears.

[Greg Marquis]

thanks for responding steve. So this plane has nothing to do with Stanley company?

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Greg and welcome to the Creek.

Stanley may have made the plane. The blade may be a replacement. Things get mixed in the world of planes.

This is when pictures can help.

The end of the lateral adjuster may indicate the maker. Stanley used what is called the tiller style end for a lot of their planes. Union and a few others used a twisted lever, Sargent used a folded on both side end and Miller Falls used a fold over on just one side of the lever. Stanley being the last one standing has used variations on some of the others.

Handyman was a second line of Stanley aimed at the home handyman who wasn't much of a woodworker but occasionally needed to work on some wood.

jtk

[steven c newman]

SDC14059.jpgSDC14057.jpgSDC14058.jpg
A Handyman #1204, and a Companion #4. Other than the lever caps....same plane
Both can be made into decent enough users..
SDC14056.jpg
Does the OP's plane look like these?

[Greg Marquis]

DSC00147.jpgDSC00148.jpgDSC00149.jpgDSC00153.jpg
Thanks for the pics. But now I'm starting to think that my plane might actually be a Stanley Handyman with the blade being a companion.I'm still not sure. I going to put up some pics of my plane now.

[Greg Marquis]

DSC00154.jpgDSC00156.jpgDSC00157.jpgDSC00158.jpgDSC00159.jpg

Here are some more pics. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[ken hatch]

Greg,

I very likely am wrong on this....My knowledge of metal planes stops around the Stanley type 13. After that, for someone with little time to waste re-habing planes, they are not worth the effort. What I could be wrong about is I do not know of a Stanley plane with a painted frog surface but again I'm not a rust hunter. Just last week I gave a box full of old Home Depot planes from my best guess the 70's to Habit for Humanity. Their frogs looked just like yours. BTW, I felt guilty doing so, the only place they should have gone was the trash or maybe to a collector of old bad tool shaped objects.

ken

[steven c newman]

Maybe leave a subject like this to those who do know all about such things

Stanley did indeed paint that style of frog. Sears also requested a RED frog, later asking for a RED lever cap as well.


The crimped ends of the laterals came after 1962, when Stanley gave up on the "whale tail" design.

Stanley Handyman planes also has normal rear handles, then they went to those ugly things. Also about 1962, Stanley used a blue japanning/paint instead of black......the Codovan ( maroon) was for only a couple of years.

Because costs were to be kept as low as possible on these planes, the entire frog was painted, no extra effort was used to milled the face flat and shiny.
The same frog style was also used on the Sears Companion line, and the Stanley Victor line.....the Victor was gray painted on the base, red frog. Otherwise, same castings. This Victor line is not the same as Leonard's Victor line. Stanley brought the name back as a way to sell a few more. Model number for a #4 would be a #1104.

Irons for all three lines are the same, just were stamped as to which model went where. All were intended for use by the average homeowner to use around the house. Like a Stanley "Four Square" plane from the 1930s.

For a while, Stanley even painted the hump part of the chipbreaker RED. Why? have no real idea. The chipbreaker also had the crackle finish.

Never meant to be "Premium" planes, they were meant to be sold to the general public, who might need to fix a sticky door, drawer, or window. Then sit it back up on a shelf in the garage until the next time.

[Greg Marquis]

Hi Steve, thanks for all the great info but now I'm more confused. All I need to know is if this plane is actually a Stanley Handyman with the incorrect blade in it.
Thanks

[steven c newman]

Well, you can do one of two things....place an iron from a Handyman plane in it, or find a Companionlever cap either way would be fine.

[Jim Koepke]

All I need to know is if this plane is actually a Stanley Handyman with the incorrect blade in it.

The fog of history often obscures the lineage of planes and many other things.

All that is really important is if the plane will work well for you. Everything else is just window dressing.

The most likely scenario is a previous owner ground down the blade and went to Sears for a replacement blade.

jtk

[Greg Marquis]

Steve, is the body and frog a Stanley Handyman? That's all I want to know.

[mark kosse]

the tote has handyman written all over it. 187 on the blade means stanley made that companion blade. whether it is a handyman or companion nobody will ever know.

[steven c newman]

Yep...that it be. Can also be a Companion.....or a Victor...