Stanley Bench Planes -- How late is okay?

[Johnny Kleso]

I have a pictorial type study on my website....

www.rexmill.com > Planes 101> Type Study

Happy Hunting
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[Douglas Brummett]

I have a pictorial type study on my website....

www.rexmill.com > Planes 101> Type Study

Happy Hunting
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Nice case study there. I can appreciate the effort, thank you.

[Joe Vincent]

I have a pictorial type study on my website....

www.rexmill.com > Planes 101> Type Study

Happy Hunting
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Fantastic resource! thanks

[Mike Henderson]

Joe - Mike Henderson typifies someone who is as much (or more) a collector, and Bill Houghton represents someone who is more concerned with the usability.

Oh, let me correct this. I am in NO way a collector. I have only a few planes (compared to a collector) and all of them are users. The reason I have more than one of a certain type is so that I can have different shapes on the blades for different purposes.

I have bought a number of planes looking for the "perfect" plane, but I sell those I don't care for that much.

As an example of how I'm not a collector, I clean up my planes so that they're as close to "new" as I can get them. A collector would be horrified at what I do to old planes.

Mike

[Bill Moser]

Joe -
I also caught the "plane fever" a while ago. Mostly as a user, but also as a naive collector -- I don't know all the names and dates, but I know a beautiful tool when I see one. I have iron planes ranging from pre-WWI round-shoulder bedrocks to plastic-handled records which I bought at the big-box stores. I would say by biggest regret in the iron plane dept. was a clifton #4 -- very pretty, but much more finicky than my grandfather's beat up pre wwII #5. I also recently put together my first krenov-style plane from a hock plane kit, and I plan to make more from scratch (well, ok, with ron hock supplying the blades!). My 2 cents would be: forget about dates, types, etc, and buy as many planes as you can afford, whatever strikes your fancy -- fix 'em up, and enjoy them. if you end up with something you just can't stand to have in the shop, the there's always ebay...

Oh, and I generally end up replacing the blades. I like the clifton blades (look cool ,work good), and hock blades of course.

[Steve Sawyer]

Oh, let me correct this. I am in NO way a collector

I see too many of your posts to think that you are, Mike. I was thinking that you were displaying a bit of a collector's sensibility - recognizing the historic and aesthetic value of these wonderful old tools beyond their plain utility.

I'd like to think it's the same sensibility I displayed when I acquired and restored my vintage jointer instead of investing in a newer, equally utilitarian jointer.

[Larry Williams]

There was a time I had all the features of the different types committed to memory. I also knew Stanley's numbering system for all their tools as well as any person I had met and I attended a lot of meetings of tool collectors groups. I can't remember much any more, I know the type 7s and 8s I kept for working on my old house but that's about it. I don't collect that stuff and I was always much more of a user than collector. I really don't care and feel like studying the minutia of mass produced products was a waste of my time.

I can tell you that I have an English made Stanley #10 1/4 I bought new about 1980 that's probably my most frequently used Stanley plane. It took some work to get it tuned and working properly and I made a rosewood tote and knob because I didn't like the plastic ones. I need it to perform very well when I use it and it does fine. The steel in the iron is okay, probably about the same as Stanley's earlier offerings.

The newer Stanley planes might take a little more tuning but you can make them work just fine

[Jake Helmboldt]

There are other good planes - other than Stanley. Look for Keen Kutter planes with the single "K", such as K3, K4, etc. Don't buy those with the two Ks, such as KK3 or KK4.

The K (single K) planes are going to be more pricey because they are bedrocks, not the Baileys. The KK series are essentially the same as the Baileys so why would one avoid them? Just because they weren't made by Stanley?

[Mike Henderson]

The K (single K) planes are going to be more pricey because they are bedrocks, not the Baileys. The KK series are essentially the same as the Baileys so why would one avoid them? Just because they weren't made by Stanley?

You're right, Jake. They are good planes but I'd probably advise someone to buy the Stanley planes instead of the KK planes. Nothing wrong with them though, and they will work very well.

My preference is for the K series, because they have the bedrock frog mount. Same for the V&B 900 series instead of the 800 series, and same for the Winchester W series.

Mike