Stanley Bailey #3 gloat/question

[Barry Beech]

The family and I went to my wife parents Sat. While there my FIL and I run over to his shop to get something for the kids to play with and while there he tells me that he has something for me.

He disappears for a couple of minutes and comes back with two Stanley Bailey #3s. The first one was a friend of his grandfathers plane. It has a '10 patent date but the plane is cracked and repaired on one side. The other is a newer plane. It has a plastic depth knob which makes me think that it is from the WWII area.

Save for the crack they are both in very good shape with most of the Japanning. I haven't had a chance to clean them up however and look forward to doing so and palying with them.

For the question: If I have a #3 do I need a #4? Is a #3 used like a smaller #4?

I'm not at all familiar with a #3.

Thanks for the help.

[Ken Werner]

Congrats. I'm not sure NEED is the right word. Want? Long for? Can justify? Sure you need a 4, if you have a 3. And a 5, and a 7....They're all fun to have, and do perform different tasks. I think you'll have alot of fun and learning just by rehabbing the two you have. From there, the slope goes down, and it is slippery.

Ken

[Mike Henderson]

I have several #3's and prefer them to #4's for most of my hand work that requires a plane in the #3/#4 range. It's all personal preference.

Mike

[lowell holmes]

I have a #3, #4, #4 1/2, 604, and I haven't talked about the 5's, 6's, and 7. I use the #3 often times to radius an edge.

As another post stated, it is a slippery slope.

[Marcus Ward]

Are ya kiddin? You'll need a #4, at least 2 or 3 of them, a 4 1/2, a 5 (a few of those too) etc etc... They all have their uses.

[Bill Brehme]

Barry, from what I can gather, the #3 may have a smaller tote than a #4. I personally do not have a #3. But I do have a #4 and love it. Many, more experienced than I, claim it as the most useful if you are just starting out...

Just as an aside, my stepfather similarly was banging around the toolshed and emerged w/ a Stanley #78 fillister plane and asked me if I knew what it was... I said it looks like some kind of rabbet plane, he said Merry Xmas its yours!!!

[Marcus Ward]

Yes, the #3 tote is smaller. I have a hard time with it but it's usable. I have big hands.

[Glenn Madsen]

The Stanley #3 I have gets used as though it were a largish block plane. You can get extra handles and knobs for the LV Low Angle Block, or Standard Angle Block, but I can't see where it would do any better than the nice old #3 I have.

Having two that worked doesn't hurt. They don't show up quite as often as #4s do.

There's three dozen or more planes in the tool shrine. I don't have a problem with that. Really, I don't.

[Alex Carrera]

No #3 yet - haven't seen one in any flea markets. I do have three Bailey #4s, a Miller Falls #9, and an unknown 9" or so length plane with a strange tapered blade (gets really thick near the edge) that I use as a scrub.