Stanley Bailey No. 5 "Victory"?

[Homer Faucett]

Ok, so my wife picked up a pretty decent looking Stanley Bailey No. 5 jack plane for me at an auction today for $2. I noticed that the blade is stamped "Victory Made in USA". Does this have any significance? Is this a designation that this is post WWII era?

My parents picked up a couple of other Stanley Baileys at another auction for me last weekend, so I get to see the spoils of that take soon. I think that $25 for three Stanley Baileys isn't too bad . . . but I'll have to see the condition of the other 2 to find out. I'm sure that some elbow grease and the tune-up article here will net me some good working planes.

[Jim DeLaney]

Are you sure it says "Victory", or does it say "VICTOR?"

If it indeed says VICTOR, then it's a relatively rare plane.

Made between 1875 and 1888, earlier models have a screw-tightened lever cap, with later models having a sort of 'loop' shaped cammed locking lever cap.

John Walter's "Guide..." puts average value at $250 ~ $500, depending, of cours, upon condition and early/late manufacture.

If you really do have a VICTOR, you got a heck of a buy for two bucks!

[Homer Faucett]

Darn it Jim, it indeed does say "Victory" instead of "Victor." I tried to squint hard enough to get it to say "Victor" after reading your post, but it is unfortunately a very clear stamp.

Thank you for the info . . . once again, I am just one letter away from being lucky. Even if it's not a valuable plane, it should make a great user. I just noticed that the handle is cracked, though, and I'll have to attend to that if I'm going to use it.

Are you sure it says "Victory", or does it say "VICTOR?"

If it indeed says VICTOR, then it's a relatively rare plane.

Made between 1875 and 1888, earlier models have a screw-tightened lever cap, with later models having a sort of 'loop' shaped cammed locking lever cap.

John Walter's "Guide..." puts average value at $250 ~ $500, depending, of cours, upon condition and early/late manufacture.

If you really do have a VICTOR, you got a heck of a buy for two bucks!

[Clint Jones]

The victory blade is just a replacement from a cheaper line of planes. If the blade isnt pitted or rusted too bad it should be about the same as the original stanley blade.

[Richard Niemiec]

I don't know that its a replacement. I have a number of WWII era planes with "Victory" stamps on the irons, and they appear to be original to the planes.

RN

[Homer Faucett]

Thank you, Richard and Clint. I am inclined to agree with Richard, as it sure looks like the iron is original to the plane. This plane does not appear to have gotten a lot of use, there is very little rust on it, and, if I were to guess based upon the shape of the finish on the totes (heavily bubbled), I would say that it is very possible that this is a WWII era plane. That is rather what I expected, because I know a lot of manufacturers, and especially manufacturers that contributed significantly to the War Effort (and how many didn't at that time?) had "Victory" models of their goods after V-E and V-J days.

Thanks for the clarification. I will post a few pics of the plane here in a few minutes.

[Homer Faucett]

Here are the pictures!

[Ben Grunow]

You could just grind off the "Y" and see what it would sell for on the bay!

Not really.

Ben

[Jim Thiel]

. . . once again, I am just one letter away from being lucky. . .

Jim

[Tom MacGregor]

Leonard Bailey's Victor planes are quite valuable, as are the Defiance planes being made by Seldon Bailey at the same time, but Stanley revived both names for economy models, some in the late 1930's and some in the early 1950's. Keep an eye out on ebay and every once in a while you'll see a very excited seller post a 50's Stanley Victor for megabucks with a description of a Baily Victor cut & pasted from another site.

[Homer Faucett]

I picked up a couple of Stanley planes with original Sweetheart blades in them, as well. Since one of those is a No. 5 as well, I'll try them both out and let you guys know if there is any performance difference once I get them up and running.

Thanks for the input.

[Richard Niemiec]

From the pictures, it does not look like a wartime type 17 as it has a brass adjuster nut, but it could be a cobbled together plane; possibly a type 18 if it has the frog adjustment screw, many of the type 18 had the heavier wartime castings, they used up the stock as they went along; personally I prefer a type 18 or late type 17 with the heavier castings as it gives some heft to the plane.

Rich.