Two days ago I finished tuning up an old Stanley 120--about 6 hours,
over 2 or 3 days, to flatten the sole and iron, clean, oil, polish and
sharpen: an exercise to hone my fettling skills, without much
expectation (based on extensive "Stanley B&G" reading).

But...I like it! I like the size and weight, and I really like the
ease of adjusting the blade depth--just move the lever. I used it
today for smoothing exposed end grain on some T&G fir flooring for the
front porch I'm re-building. Regardless of Patrick Leach's low
opinion (which I generally respect) of this admittedly cheap plane,
I'm tickled. Granted, I'll probably only use it for carpentry, not
cabinetry, but the darn thing is pretty good. It'll go in my
carpentry box, sure to become a handy user.

Dan

Two days ago I finished tuning up an old Stanley 120--about 6 hours,
over 2 or 3 days, to flatten the sole and iron, clean, oil, polish and
sharpen: an exercise to hone my fettling skills, without much
expectation (based on extensive "Stanley B&G" reading).
But...I like it! I like the size and weight, and I really like the
ease of adjusting the blade depth--just move the lever. I used it
today for smoothing exposed end grain on some T&G fir flooring for the
front porch I'm re-building. Regardless of Patrick Leach's low
opinion (which I generally respect) of this admittedly cheap plane,
I'm tickled. Granted, I'll probably only use it for carpentry, not
cabinetry, but the darn thing is pretty good. It'll go in my
carpentry box, sure to become a handy user.
Dan


That sounds really cool. I love the simplicity of tools like that, I bought an old 110
on eBay myself but haven't tuned it yet. It is good to hear that it works well. Stanley
still makes the 12-247, same general design and new they are around $16, but I
would rather have the oldies. The 110 does not have a lever blade adjuster.

Alex

On 30 Nov 2004 22:57:08 -0800, (Dan Cullimore)
wrote:

Two days ago I finished tuning up an old Stanley 120--about 6 hours,
over 2 or 3 days, to flatten the sole and iron, clean, oil, polish and
sharpen: an exercise to hone my fettling skills, without much
expectation (based on extensive "Stanley B&G" reading).

But...I like it! I like the size and weight, and I really like the
ease of adjusting the blade depth--just move the lever. I used it
today for smoothing exposed end grain on some T&G fir flooring for the
front porch I'm re-building. Regardless of Patrick Leach's low
opinion (which I generally respect) of this admittedly cheap plane,
I'm tickled. Granted, I'll probably only use it for carpentry, not
cabinetry, but the darn thing is pretty good. It'll go in my
carpentry box, sure to become a handy user.

Dan


good one. have fun.