Stanley Smoothing Plane Types 1-19 That Are Better for Woodworking?

[Jim Build]

Hi Steven, your Made in England G12-004 does seem to be doing well.

Hi Lowell, I tried a couple Bedrock planes, 604 and 605 and liked them both. If I run across one in nice condition I would be in the market. I'm still looking and test driving them. There's lots of nice planes around here once I started asking other wood workers. Thanks.

[lowell holmes]

I have a 5 1/2 Bailey that I tend to use instead of my 607 Bedrock. It is a good plane.

My favorite bench plane is a Canadian made #3 Stanley. I use the stock irons in it, but I also have a narrow iron I bought at the borg and put a severe radius on it. I use it as a scrub plane.

[steven c newman]

One of "brand name" to try....Millers Falls made a lot of great planes. I have a few, from a #3 sized up to a #5 sized plane. Have yet to have any one of them chatter. Look for the ones with the Millers Falls special lever cap. The good ones were from 1929 up to about 1955 or so. Types 1 - 4. Irons seem to be a hair thicker than Stanley used.....Clifton used a similar style of two-piece lever cap.
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This is my Type 4, No. 9 ( Stanley #4 size) smooth plane. Last of the "Good" ones they made.

[Jim Koepke]

Stanley, Millers Falls, Sargent and other branded or badged planes are all good.

My suggestion to those who are rehabbing planes for their own use is to stay with one brand if possible. It will be easier to keep the parts sorted.

A friend of mine so far has at least 4 different brands of planes and is always having confusion about what part goes where.

jtk

[Jim Build]

Lowell, I'd like to find a nice 5 1/2 and on the look out for one. Interesting, I haven't tried a Canadian Stanley, but will also be on the look out.

Steven, I like good Miller Falls tools. Someone once gave me a 1970s Miller Falls plane which I used for a couple days, didn't want to put any effort into getting it true, and passed it along to someone else. Seems that's the story of so many tool makers around the same time period, lower quality to the point of unusable.

Jim, I agree with you. I prefer to stick to one company though I do have a couple Sargent planes for heavy work and they do ok. At $1 each I couldn't go wrong as they were in good condition. I sometimes buy bulk lots just to get one nice tool, then end up using other tools I had no real intention of keeping.