Stanley 62

[Phil Mueller]

Just thought I'd share a few observations.

A friend asked if I would help him with a Stanley 62 he purchased a few years back to use as a shooting plane. Not exactly the highest rated of planes these days, but wanted to give it a go to see if all said was truly justified.

First, the sole is dead flat...certainly within any tolerance I'd be looking for in a longer plane. Second, the sides were exactly 90 degrees to the sole along the entire length as measured by my Starret guage. I have to admit I was both relieved and surprised.

I found the iron in reasonably good shape as well. The back needed a bit of flattening, but nothing out of the ordinary. The bevel also needed a bit of reshaping...just a bit out of square. The iron is A2 honed to 25 degree. Diamond stones were a bit slow, so pulled out the Norton water stones and had more luck.

The cap iron needed a few swipes to get a good mating to the iron, but again, nothing out of the ordinary.

I have to say, after a short amount of fettling, this plane works very well. I did not put it through any trials on face or edge planning, but certainly works well shooting.

I like the idea of using it for shooting, as adjustments are very, very, sloppy. But once dialed in, works great.

Again, just my experience for anyone looking to get an inexpensive plane.

IMG_0355.jpg

[Matthew Cashman]

I can echo the sentiment on sloppy adjustments Phil. I can also add from my experience:
--Out of square. Whether it was the sides to the sole or the bed to the sole or the bed to one of the sides, I don't remember. It required substantial reshaping.
--Cap iron is flimsy. I feel as though I could accidentally bend or break it in a bout of overzealous tightening.
--Cap iron comes loose in use. Either you have to tighten it so much that the adjuster doesn't work, or it'll eventually just fall out on you.

I bought mine a few years back (and sold it recently), so perhaps things have improved since then.

[Stewie Simpson]

Excellent post Phil.

regards Stewie;

[Jim Koepke]

[edited]
--Cap iron comes loose in use. Either you have to tighten it so much that the adjuster doesn't work, or it'll eventually just fall out on you.

When my LN #62 was purchased at a tool event or maybe in an LN video it was recommended to back off the lever cap tension before adjusting the iron.

Before that it was reading the description at Patrick's Blood & Gore that put the fear of damaging a plane that has made me diligently release lever cap tension before adjusting a plane with this type of adjustment mechanism:

The adjustment mechanism can become stripped through repeated use, if the lever cap is too tight on the plane. The adjusters that show signs of stripping normally have the damaged threads hidden by the cast housing into which the adjuster is screwed so you should back the adjuster off a good bit to examine the threads. When setting the iron, it's a good idea to back a bit of the lever cap's pressure off by slackening the lever cap's cam prior to adjusting, and then snapping the cam back into place when finished with the adjusting.

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan9.htm

Even a Bailey adjuster, with claims of "adjusting on the fly," can be damaged if the lever cap is tighter than it needs to be.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

When my LN #62 was purchased at a tool event or maybe in an LN video it was recommended to back off the lever cap tension before adjusting the iron.


Even a Bailey adjuster, with claims of "adjusting on the fly," can be damaged if the lever cap is tighter than it needs to be.

jtk

I would think that is intuitive.

[Jim Koepke]

I would think that is intuitive.

There are many things whether intuitive or even proven by good practice that some folks will not accept.

jtk

[Jerry Olexa]

Loosening the lever cap before adjusting makes sense in my opinion....I do it as habit. Just me.