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I have 2 Stanley 60-1/2 on the bench - one set rank and sharpened to 600 grit, and one set fine and sharpened to 2000 grit emory paper. I have never seen the need to flatten a block plane sole as they are small enough that they can't be that far out.

I have hundreds of vintage tools, but I visited my daughter in her repair shop (brooklynlutherie.com) and her honey bought her an L-N 102 and I got jealous. It has good weight, superior machining, a low angle blade that allows for variable blade bedding angles (like any bevel-up plane), and a thick blade. But I am going to keep my Stanleys.

Ed

Record is now owned by Irwin, who, coincidentally is owned by Stanley/Black and Decker who have under their umbrella, Dewalt, porter cable, Lenox, Bostitch and countless others.


B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

I got one of those Anant block planes that LMI sells and it's not a bad tool at all inmho. More expensive then an old Stanley but a bit nicer too. Of course like any plane it does need tuning too. I still have an old Stanley that was probably just a cheap carpenters tool back in the day but tuned up is a really nice plane.

Here's another vote for Stanley 60-1/2 Easy to buy a vintage one on eBay, simple to tune up, sharpen and use.

When buying old Stanley planes, I like to look for ones with hanging holes drilled in the sole, really bad paint, or with owner's name scrawled on them - once the collector value is removed, they become tools again, and reasonably priced.

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

$32 USD for shipping puts this out of reach for me

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Here's another vote for Stanley 60-1/2. I have dozens of planes, but the ol' 60-1/2 is the one that actually gets the most use. Solid, reliable, easy to adjust and sharpen, less than fifty bucks on eBay, or at old tool collector swap, etc.

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

These are from the UK and excellent for the price...

Way better than the stanley equivalents.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ri ... ane-506557

FTL

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www.leddingtonguitars.com

I finally purchased a plane off Ebay that seemed to be useful. Stanley 9 1/2. Now I'm trying to get an idea of how old it is. This one has brass knobs, one in front to lock up the sliding shoe, one in the rear on the vernier adjustment for the blade depth of cut. The plane sole has cast into it 'made in usa' and 'stanley'. There are no stampings on the sides of the sole identifying the model, like I've seen elsewhere.

So I'm curious as to its age and provenance. I suspect the brass parts are one clue and the absence of the stamped identification is another. Is that enough to help me get an idea of when this thing was made?

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Peter Havriluk

Bit difficult without photos?, but maybe a bit of research might help - try here for a start.
https://virginiatoolworks.com/tools/stanley-planes/date-your-block-plane-type-study/

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Here is the best Stanley plane resource there is - been around 20+ years and never improved. It does not, however, give dating guidance:

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

If you are only slightly interested in the date, there is one feature that is easy to spot. If the plane number is stamped on the left cheek, it was made after 1947-53, no number, before 1947

Here is a good pictorial view at the bench (not block) planes

http://www.hansbrunnertools.com

Depending on how deep you want to dig, this page of that site has pictures and dates of the blade logos (assuming you have the original blade) that lets you get pretty close quickly - the block plane logos are the same or similar:

http://www.hansbrunnertools.com/Stanley ... Planes.htm

And to get into the weeds - the Virginia Tools site above is clunky but OK.

The very best Stanley block plane study is called "One hundred years of Bailey's Excelsior block plane - the 9-1/2 family" by Wells and Schoellhammer, done in 1971. It deals with the 9-1/2, but all of the block planes pretty much followed. It has tons of information and is very easy to use, but it is not on the internet. I have seen it 2 books, and you may have a friend with one of them - John Walter's "Antique and Collectible Stanley Tools", last printed in 1996.

The first site - Superior Tools - gives a no-holds-barred opinion of block planes. His opinion is that they needed a 6", a 6" low angle, a 7", and a 7" low angle, and everything else is extraneous. I have 3 versions of the 60-1/2 - the 60, the 60-1/2, and the 61. The difference is the front knob and nickel plating, otherwise the same.

There are also similar studies done of Millers Falls and Sargent tools

Sign me S. O. Teric

(Ed)

Ruby50: you win the grand prize. Plane has no numbers, either side. Dating achieved. Thanks very much.

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Peter Havriluk