Categories
Hand Tools Planes Stanley

Making a Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane from a Stanley 4

This post is written by Colin Sullivan, who has previously shown his very nicely-made Stanley No.9 Cabinet Makers plane. Here, Colin shows another nice bit of engineering, a Stanley ‘164’ copy, for which he’s used a standard Stanley No.4 as the starting point. Colin writes:

This plane is made from an early no. 4 body – this one model has just enough metal in the base to take a thread for the cap iron bolt. A small block of metal was glued into the sole for machining and the whole base was milled to 11deg. the plane iron angle for the Stanley 164, see drawing for details. Stanley only made this low angle smoother from 1926 to 1943, and now it is both scarce and expensive!
It was designed by EA Schade using the Bailey method of blade adjustment on the top of the cap iron to allow for the very low blade angle of 12 deg. The blade is from Lie Nielsen who make a copy of the 164, in bronze with an adjustable mouth the same as Stanley. The cap iron is S/S and the adjusting lever is mild steel using the standard small brass knob for adjustment.
The mouth is not adjustable like the original but it ended up just right and performs very well, well worth the time spent making it.

Copy of Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane_1
Cop of Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane_2
Copy of Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane_3

Categories
Block planes Stanley

Another weird one

There’s another very interesting plane on eBay right now. The majority of the pics are below. It’s a 10″ (!) Stanley block plane. At least, it has some likeness to a Stanley, with a Stanley cutter, but it teamed up with a cast bronze ‘long wheelbase’ sole. I have to say, I love the look, this one is pimped!
When I first saw it, I thought it might be a very early Leonard Bailey experimental design, but cast bronze?? Anyone know more?

I’m struggling to imagine what positives the longer sole might give, because the plane has the conventional holding points, so with the small finger knob and rounded lever cap, it wouldn’t be a particularly easy drive. One might find oneself wishing for dunno, something like a larger rosewood tote and front knob. Just an idea.

Stanley 10-inch Block Plane_1
Stanley 10-inch Block Plane_2
Stanley 10-inch Block Plane_3
Stanley 10-inch Block Plane_4

Please do comment if you know more about the plane, perhaps it is an actual early model?

Categories
Planes Record Stanley

A gap in the clouds

Record042inuse2
Record042inuse

Almost continual rain in London yesterday, but a moment’s clear sky allowed me twenty minutes to do a bit of work. A quick rebate for a floor edge I need to finish on a step in the house. A groove with my Record 044, then the waste hogged out with a Stanley 5 1/2. The sharpened blade of the Record 042 shoulder plane squared things up perfectly. Lovely.

Categories
Block planes Lie Nielsen Stanley

Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane

Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane_2
Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane_3
Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane_4
Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane_5
Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane_6
Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane_7
Stanley 140 Rabbet & Block Plane

I’ve just finished cleaning up this Stanley 140 and tried it out. The 140 is a versatile plane which can be used as a normal block plane (with the removable side plate fixed on) and as a rabbet plane with the side plate taken off. The side plate is removed by loosening the screw at either end which releases it’s purchase on the pins on the plate.(These aren’t the original screws, they should have flat heads).
The design of the plane means the front portion has very little support once the side plate is off, however, and the planes benefit sometimes from being trued through ‘lapping’. In the worst cases, putting the plane through it’s paces in ‘rabbet-mode’ through tough grain, can lead to a fracture on the weak point.
The plane has a 20 degree skew iron which has a slight skew on it’s bevel, so it approaches tricky grain at a useful compound angle.
All in all, a very nice little plane showing some really original features and with a design that was so good, it’s been copied by Lie Nielsen, (like most of the Stanley planes) and improved with heavier grade materials.

Categories
Bench planes Stanley

Stanley No.7 Jointer for sale

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Another addition to the for sale page, a great jointer from Stanley, straight from an old tool chest. Now Sold!