"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
"RichardS" writes:

Patrick Leach's "blood and gore" webpages are a fairly good intro to
Stanley
Bailey planes - history and model numbers.
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

Interesting. Mine (my father's really, and might have been his
father's) is the Stanley #4, apparently manufactured from 1869-1984.



Probably the most common of all hand planes. But, there are #4s and there
are #4s....

I have two.

One is a brand new Stanley Handyman, given to me as a present a couplle of
years ago - not up to much really fine-woodworking-wise, but with a little
iron tuning and proper adjustment (as much as can be adjusted on a handyman)
it does a reasonable job as a rough joiner's plane - shaving down tops of
doors, adjusting high spots on joists, etc. Even at that, it's a bit of a
pig to use.

The other one is a different beast altogether. Bought from eBay for far
less than the price of a new one, its a '30s or '40s Bailey (straight slot
on the cap iron rather than the later kidney shaped one, other patent date
stamps and give-aways, but I can't remember the exact type number (read
"revision")), with a "sweetheart" iron. Didn't need much cleaning up, but
the iron needed a little sorting out. Sharpened it up using the "scarey
sharp" method (sheet of glass & abrasive papers), tuned the cap iron a bit,
adjusted everything properly. It's an absolute gem, planes like a dream
and the iron keeps it's edge during extended planing sessions.

Electric planes may be functional & save a lot of time when doing rough
joinery, but I wouldn't let one within a million miles of any finer
work.....


--
Richard Sampson

mail me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk