May I get some help and info on this plane please?

[Mark Rios]

My neighbor just called me and asked me to come over. She's a retired widow of 79 (I think). She said that she was going through some of her "memories" in the garage and found this plane. It somehow managed to get misplaced in this particular box instead of being sold with her husbands other stuff/tools after he died. I do odd jobs for her and kinda look after her inbetween the times when her daughter is there. Anyway, she gave me this plane.

Okay, before anyone starts salivating, it is NOT any extra, super special rare plane. Not even close, that I know of. It's just a newer number 4 bailey. How new is relative because I know VERY little about the aging of planes. I just know that it doesn't look very old. All of the japanning is there except for a small chip on top of one of the cheeks(?).

I was hoping to get help identify its working value. Whether it's a good solid workhorse or a new fangled, run-of-the-mill HD type thing.

The front:

Bailey behind the knob and NO. 4 at the very front of the plane.

The back:

In front of the tote is some numbers and "Made in England". This is what's interesting to me. I just sold some old planes and all of them had "Made in USA" on them. Did the english made planes have better iron? Worse iron? The same? The first number, of the six number sequence, I can't make out. It's either a 6, a "G", or a "C". The sequence is (?)12-004.

It has a kidney shaped hole in the lever cap (which I think indicates a newer plane, IIRC from reading posts on another forum). The name "Stanley" is printed/stamped on the front of the lever cap on an orange background. On the back of the lever cap is "P 6". Up on the lever itself is stamped "67". The body has some very light surface rust all over it which comes off pretty easy with steel wool and WD-40. All the screws and the side-to-side adjuster are still (relatively) shiny and the brass cutter adjuster wheel is just a tiny bit dull from tarnishing.

The top of the blade/iron says:

Stanley
Made in England
25* angle for
Grinding

Underneath the word "grinding" there is a line that turns/angles up. It looks like a machinists drawing indicating the 25* angle.

The iron doesn't look like it's ever been sharpened. It is still very shiny,not tuned up and lapped shiny jsut regular machined shiny. The machining marks go all the way down to the edge and the bevel still has the machining lines that are parallel to the legnth of the iron. This is why I don't think it's ever been sharpened.

The sole is slightly arced, being lower on the ends and higher in the middle when sitting flat. I can't see the arc when it's sitting, I checked the flatness with my precision straightedge. It's just a teeny arc.

Any ideas or help you can afford me toward deciding if this is a plane to tune up for a worker? Or, again, is it just a regular HD type quality plane?

Thank very much for any help and advice.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Just take a shaving with it, Mark. Hone the blade--which is most likely not the best steel--and have at it.

To know how well it's built you need to remove the frog. How those two surfaces meet and whether the meeting surfaces are painted, whether the surface the blade sits against is painted will indicate how well it would work for a top smoother.

But regardless, if it makes shavings it is a workable plane. Just perhaps not a top performer.

Take care, Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Mark - The English made Stanleys are not considered the better planes, compared to early American made Stanleys. Additionally, the later Stanley planes (of all origin) are generally considered to be lesser planes compared to the early American made Stanley planes. The "later" planes are generally thought of as those with the kidney shaped hole on the lever cap.

But I agree with Mike W. Sharpen the blade and give it a try. If it does what you need it to, you have a winner.

Mike

[Mark Rios]

Thanks very much. That's what I needed to know. I really don't have the time (or the patience) to tune up a plane that will at best be medicore. If I really get a need for one I'd rather buy an LV or an LN and have a tool that will do it's job without the hinderance of my lack of knowledge of how to tune it into fine working shape. I'm barely able to really use my 60 1/2.

Thanks very much again.

[Mark Stutz]

Mark,
Don't "give up" on that plane. One of my first planes, and still my everyday #5, is one of the "dreaded, blue Type 20 " planes. I have a Hock blade and a couple of hours of fettling,and have taken shavings less than .001, just to see if I could. Not as pretty as as 605 or a LN #5 but it does the same job. This could turn out to be a good user.

Mark