#48 Question

[Michael Hammers]

I have now a pristine #48 swinging fence match plane. I am hoping someone may have used this plane and could lend some tips and general information on how it behaves, what projects they used it on, ect. Can you use it as a psuedo plow? I am not sure what I would use a larger tounge and groove for yet but I could not pass it up!
I was able to print a copy of the paperwork that comes with this plane, but it doesnt go into much detail.
Cheers,
Michael

[Louis Bois]

This is probably Stanley's best design with regards to form/function. It does exactly what it's supposed to do...and does it extremely well.

I've used it moslty for back panels in casework such as bookshelves, etc. The best advise I can give is to pick your stock carefully (straight grain is better) and take reasonably light cuts.

The technique to use is similar to most plough planes. Start your cut at the far end of the board, gradually working backwards. Keep the fence as tight to the face of the board as possible. It's really simple once you get the hang of it.

It's a great plane to use...you're going to love it!

[Michael Hammers]

Louis,
Thanks for the info. It is a beautiful plane and I wish I could find the smaller #49 in this same condition. This one came from a collection. The #48 cuts 5/16 on stock 3/4 to 1 1/4 and centers on 7/8. That is pretty big stock for furniture work I think. The #49 cuts 3/16 and works on 3/8 to 3/4 and centers on 1/2. That seems more reasonable to me. However I havent seen a #49 before.

[Louis Bois]

Michael, I have both the 48 and 49...in fact, I have 2 of each!!! I like them so much, I almost bought the company! The only reason I have 2...really...is that I found them "cheap"...and I will buy any and all (at reasonable prices) that I come across. Call it a fetish...call it "investment"...call it "collecting". I'll be able to supply these to all my fellow knuckle draggers in a few years....Mwahahahahaaaa.....

[David Tiell]

Michael, I have both the 48 and 49...in fact, I have 2 of each!!! I like them so much, I almost bought the company! The only reason I have 2...really...is that I found them "cheap"...and I will buy any and all (at reasonable prices) that I come across. Call it a fetish...call it "investment"...call it "collecting". I'll be able to supply these to all my fellow knuckle draggers in a few years....Mwahahahahaaaa.....

Louis,
Without looking at it first (I'm at work), I think I have a 48 I bought at a yard sale for about $25. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing wrong with it is it needs a blade/iron. How many did this plane originally come with and how would I go about finding replacements?

Thanks,

Dave

[Mark Stutz]

I'm not Louis, but I'll agree that these (48 & 49) work exactly as intended. Hopefully, I'll soon have a copleted project to show, with T & G back boards made with the # 49. Although the 49 is supposed to work on stock down to 3/8, that only leaves a 1/16 edge on one side of the groove. I find 1/2" works much better. You have to remember to orient the face and always reference the fence from the same side.

David,
Replacement irons are available from St. James Bay, and fromJim Reed. He is a member here but posts more on WN. You could send him a email though. They originally came with two 3/16 irons, and a wide one to do wider stock.

Mark

[Louis Bois]

David,

Mark pretty well covered it. The plane basically shipped with (2) 5/16" irons and a wider 5/8" iron that was positioned on the right hand side to cut tongues on wider stock.

Great price on the 48 BTW.

Cheers,

[Terek Johnson]

Louis,
Without looking at it first (I'm at work), I think I have a 48 I bought at a yard sale for about $25. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing wrong with it is it needs a blade/iron. How many did this plane originally come with and how would I go about finding replacements?

Thanks,

Dave

You could makes them youself. There's really not much to them at all. But baring that, there is a guy on e-Bay who sells new blades that he's fabricated. He lives somewhere in Florida. He also sells reprint instructions describing how to set your plane up.
Just go to e-Bay and type in Stanley #48 (or #49), and it'll run a list of folks selling that particular plane and you'll find him there.
And I agree with the rest of the posts on this thread: I own a #48 & #49 and love them both and use them suprisingly more than I thought I would.

[Mike K Wenzloff]

You could makes them youself. There's really not much to them at all. But baring that, there is a guy on e-Bay who sells new blades that he's fabricated. He lives somewhere in Florida. He also sells reprint instructions describing how to set your plane up.
Just go to e-Bay and type in Stanley #48 (or #49), and it'll run a list of folks selling that particular plane and you'll find him there.
And I agree with the rest of the posts on this thread: I own a #48 & #49 and love them both and use them suprisingly more than I thought I would.

I believe you are refering to Jim Reed jimreed2160@yahoo.com

Take care, Mike

[steve swantee]

Hello David, I bought a #48 at a flea market about eight years ago in excellent condition, but it was missing it's cutters. Two or three weeks ago I found two cutters ( 5/16 & 5/8 ) on Ebay under a search for "stanley planes". They are stanley #45 cutters, and aside from having a notch at the top of the iron, they are identical to the originals. They each had a starting bid of $5.99, and no-one else wanted them, so I jumped on it. Shipping was less than two bucks. The seller is selling the cutters individually, and currently has some listed on Ebay. I didn't see any of these sizes left, but you might e-mail the seller to see if he will be listing any more of these. The sellers name was 1startools.
I just received the cutters in the mail a few days ago, and was very happy with them, and finally I'm able to put this plane back into service.

Steve

[Justin James]

The cutters on my #48 are about the only thing I use a sharpening jig on. You want crisp clean corners and a dead solid straight edge. Works great once you get the hang of it, and kids love using it because the fences works so well.

Like any moulding plane, it will work better if you start towards the far end of the plane (towards the left end, if you're planing right to left) and gradually move towards the right end as the cut deepens.

Hope I said that right!