A Question

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I own and use the following; 03, 04 (2 of) 04 1/2 (2 of) 05, 05 1/2, 06, 07, 010, T5, 093, 2506S, 044, 050, 405, 071....I think that is the lot. I've had many others pass through my hands until I settled on the best ones to keep. My number 8 is a 1910 patent Stanley. I would like a Record 08 to replace it, but probably won't. I've never had Record block planes, for some reason, they are Stanley too. I might look around for some Records to be completist, but I do use my planes, I'm not a collector, outside what I use. I think I prefer Records over Stanley, but I own a good Stanley 4 1/2 and a 4, I also had a very good 5 1/2. To be honest they compare well to the Records, so maybe it is just a personal preference. I remember my dad having a Record 04 1/2 when I was young. Someone knocked it off his bench and it cracked so he replaced it with a new Stanley 4. It must have been about 1976 and the Stanley was no where near the quality of his Record, so maybe this affects my preference.


Mike.

I have a Record 08 with a Hock replacement and 3 full-length original Record irons... maybe we can work something out some day!

Hello,

My Stanley is fitted with a Hock replacement iron, bought from the man himself when I visited Fort Bragg. The original sweetheart iron that came with the plane was near full length, but went missing, curiously about the time when I briefly shared my workshop with another guy. Ummmm...I wonder where that went? The collector value has been buggered!

Mike.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Still got the Sweetheart iron in my No.8 ... and another one in the No.6 ...

 

[AndyT]

My default iron bench planes are Stanley, though I do have a couple with Record stayset irons on.
When it comes to ploughing grooves however, Record options do rather dominate, with an 043, an 050, an 044C and a 405
Plus a blockplane, a shoulder plane, a side rebate plane and a spokeshave or two... All for the purpose of selfless research, you know :-"

 

[Vann]

I own and use the following; 03, 04 (2 of) 04 1/2 (2 of) 05, 05 1/2...

05 1/2 - 2 3/8" irons or 2 1/4" irons?

I have acquired far too many planes. Of my 3 most used planes 2 are Records - an 04ss and an 05 (the other is a No.3 Clifton). Other Records I use are a No.07ss, a T5 (soon to be a T5ss) and an 043 plough.

I need to derust and use some others

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Trafalgar]

Hello,

I own and use the following; 03, 04 (2 of) 04 1/2 (2 of) 05, 05 1/2, 06, 07, 010, T5, 093, 2506S, 044, 050, 405, 071....I think that is the lot. I've had many others pass through my hands until I settled on the best ones to keep. My number 8 is a 1910 patent Stanley. I would like a Record 08 to replace it, but probably won't. I've never had Record block planes, for some reason, they are Stanley too. I might look around for some Records to be completist, but I do use my planes, I'm not a collector, outside what I use. I think I prefer Records over Stanley, but I own a good Stanley 4 1/2 and a 4, I also had a very good 5 1/2. To be honest they compare well to the Records, so maybe it is just a personal preference. I remember my dad having a Record 04 1/2 when I was young. Someone knocked it off his bench and it cracked so he replaced it with a new Stanley 4. It must have been about 1976 and the Stanley was no where near the quality of his Record, so maybe this affects my preference.


Mike.

I have a Record 08 with a Hock replacement and 3 full-length original Record irons... maybe we can work something out some day!

Hello,

My Stanley is fitted with a Hock replacement iron, bought from the man himself when I visited Fort Bragg. The original sweetheart iron that came with the plane was near full length, but went missing, curiously about the time when I briefly shared my workshop with another guy. Ummmm...I wonder where that went? The collector value has been buggered!

Mike.

That's a drag. I have some Stanleys more or less in storage, they're my son's - mostly SW era planes. Very tight and well made.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I got my 8 Sweetheart when I was in America, from a prolific collector of Stanley planes named Earl. When I say prolific, I mean he had 1000's. Visited him at his home in a tiny town called Albion, which was a bit poetic for a Brit in America. I fancied a #8 and asked would be sell me one. He had a dozen and chose one for me, which was likely not his best, but not bad either. I think it was $60 which at the time the exchange rate was £1 - $1.98. Those were the days! He said to me 'I've about 10 times as many #7's!' It is my only US made Stanley, and very fine. I did have a Canadian Stanley once, a #5. My others have been English ones and good, but reasonably early, the quality dropped right off in the 70's but Record still maintained some quality until a couple of decades later, not as good as they had been but much better than the contemporary Stanleys. They have all gone to pot now. I recently got a Stanley 60 1/2 block to see how things were going. Cheeses it was dreadful, just dreadful....Why?

Mike.

 

[Trafalgar]

I wish I had the answer...

 

[D_W]

Hello,

I got my 8 Sweetheart when I was in America, from a prolific collector of Stanley planes named Earl. When I say prolific, I mean he had 1000's. Visited him at his home in a tiny town called Albion, which was a bit poetic for a Brit in America. I fancied a #8 and asked would be sell me one. He had a dozen and chose one for me, which was likely not his best, but not bad either. I think it was $60 which at the time the exchange rate was £1 - $1.98. Those were the days! He said to me 'I've about 10 times as many #7's!' It is my only US made Stanley, and very fine. I did have a Canadian Stanley once, a #5. My others have been English ones and good, but reasonably early, the quality dropped right off in the 70's but Record still maintained some quality until a couple of decades later, not as good as they had been but much better than the contemporary Stanleys. They have all gone to pot now. I recently got a Stanley 60 1/2 block to see how things were going. Cheeses it was dreadful, just dreadful....Why?

Mike.

Presumably, the remaining block planes are sold to people using them to trim 2x4s in a house building scenario.

I got one years ago to test a new iron that someone had given to me. The finish was coarse and the lever cap would not stay set - it just wasn't quite right. Use it with some vigor and the lever cap popped off. I'm sure it could've been tuned, but why bother?

I also got one of the last English stanley 4s. I had to pay a princely sum for it $20 plus shipping. The adjuster dog was too wide to fit through the cap iron, so the iron and cap iron sat suspended above the frog pinched onto the adjuster dog. It still worked, though. The iron was coarsely finished but actually quite good. You can't do much with a $20 plane, but the screws, handle rods, lever cap and iron were worth enough for me to keep after throwing the casting and frog away.

They likely know more about the quality level vs. what you can get for the planes than we do, they have access to purchase and profitability data, and despite the fact that we don't like the results of their efforts, we may do the same thing they did if we were running a business.

Curious, though, is their stupid decision to make a bunch of strange planes in mexico instead of just using mexico to make better fitted versions of their classic bench planes.


(I forgot that I have some record joinery planes, too - including the fantastic plastic handled plow plane that can be had for the price of a couple of irons on premium plow planes. it works a treat, and I sold my premium one and have noticed zero difference in the speed of work or the results - and have a much larger array of iron widths).

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

The iron in the dreadful block was Sheffield made and actually pretty good. It was on sale and replacement irons were on sale too, at £4.50 each, so I got one. Luckily block planes are small enough to not take too long to fettle, so I did and replaced a few dodgy bits from the spare parts bin. It is serviceable now, but I wouldn't have bothered if the irons weren't as good as they are. Thankfully Sheffield can still redeem an awful casting from heck knows where. I might look for some older Record block planes to be consistent.

Mike.

 

[mathias]

I got interested in woodworking some years ago and spent a lot of time (still do) to search and learn about tools online. In the beginning american and later on europeen sites. British Stanleys seemed not to have a good reputation in the US so I went for Reocrd planes and I'm very happy I did.

Sofar I have Record N° 3, 4, 6, 044, and 722. Stanley N° 71 1/2 and a 46. The bench planes are square iron ones, N° 4 and 6 pre war. I couldn't resist a Rali 260 at the price I got it for. Can't say much about how good it is but the design/adjustment for the iron and cap iron is brilliant.

 

[MarkDennehy]

All record. Bar the preston spokeshave and the cheap-ass €12 scrub plane.



And the pliers. Obviously.

Still have a blank space for a 08 and a 02. I think the 08 might get filled first

 

[Trafalgar]

Looks great Mark...

 

[Vann]

...The finish was coarse and the lever cap would not stay set...

Of course not, it's not a Record :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: (I can't find a ROTFL smilie)

...Still have a blank space for a 08 and a 02...

I bought a bunch of woodies I didn't want just to get an incomplete Record 02. It was sitting off to the side in the sellers photo so I asked if it was included in the auction. He said he was going to throw it in the bin :shock: , but I could have it with the others. It's missing irons and cap iron, and has part of one side broken off, but it will be usable if I ever get around to replacing the missing parts (and can get my big fist around the tote).

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Records:
#4 (war finish, RAF blue),
#5 1/2 (beautifully restored by Jimi of this parish) - my go-to for general use,
#80 scraper plane (really useful),
#020 compass plane (had it for several years, excellent condition but yet to use it!),
#2506 side rebate plane (awkward - don't really get on with it).

Stanleys:
Bailey-pattern: #4 1/2, #5, #7,
#90 (1970s), #92 (new style "Sweetheart"),
#50 (the cheaper combination kit, right PITA to set up),
#9 1/2 (modern made; works OK, feels a bit cheap).

Others:
Quangsheng, Boggs-pattern spokeshave ("special steel" iron joy to use),
Veritas mini router (gorgeous and dead handy).

All the double irons for the Baileys get swapped around, irrespective of brand (so I don't have to stop frequently when doing a lot of planing). As long as they're sharp and the chipbreaker is set for the task, it doesn't seem to matter much which pair is in which plane body. The genuine Record "crucible cast" and the two Japanese irons I have seem to take the best edges (the Japanese ones last longest and sharpen best). I find the Record totes slightly more comfortable, but that's a very personal thing.

The Stanley irons I have are all relatively modern (1960s onwards). The most recent "special steel" ones (A2 or A0) take a good edge, better than the older Records, but the standard-issue Stanley 1960s - 1980s irons take the least-good edges, and blunt most quickly. So, in order of best steel first: Japanese laminated; modern special steels; Record, Stanley.