Found an old Stanley plane in my dad’s loft
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thetyreman
Established Member
restore it and it'll still work, I don't see why it can't be used again, I wouldn't throw this away.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
It's clean enough. Have a watch of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYyV6IUpsYk
There are elements people argue about, but basically it's a good guide.
There are elements people argue about, but basically it's a good guide.
Trevanion
Greatest Of All Time
That’s a Frankenplane! Record Marples No 04 main casting, Stanley handyman lever cap, old style cast steel Record blade.
Give it a bit of a clean to get rid of the superficial rust and grime and a quick sharpen and it’ll work well.
Give it a bit of a clean to get rid of the superficial rust and grime and a quick sharpen and it’ll work well.
The plane itself is branded Record Marples which puts it at mid 80s to early 1990s. It's got a mismatched lever cap from a Stanley plane of similar vintage.
So it's not very old, not a historic valuable plane, but could easily be put into use and should be better than a current far eastern lookalike.
So it's not very old, not a historic valuable plane, but could easily be put into use and should be better than a current far eastern lookalike.
MikeG.
Established Member
Any (unbroken) plane can be made to work reasonably well. That isn't always easy for a beginner to achieve, I accept, but even if this plane is a pile of pooh you'll be able to make it take decent shavings with a bit of effort. Much more importantly, doing the work will help you fully understand how a plane works.
Far and away the most important thing you can do for this plane is to get the blade sharp. Cleaning up the sole will help, but flattening it isn't critical. Don't spend hours and hours rubbing it on sandpaper on a piece of granite or cast iron...just get it somewhere near flattish. Take it all apart, clean everything up, and put it back together again with a razor sharp blade, and it will work nicely.
Also, ignore any fool who comes along here and tells you all about cap iron settings. Just ignore them. In due course, that subject becomes useful, but right now be grateful to have a free plane. When you've got that working (assuming a bench to use it on), you can look forward to the sheer pleasure of the "swoosh" of a sharp plane taking a nice shaving.
Far and away the most important thing you can do for this plane is to get the blade sharp. Cleaning up the sole will help, but flattening it isn't critical. Don't spend hours and hours rubbing it on sandpaper on a piece of granite or cast iron...just get it somewhere near flattish. Take it all apart, clean everything up, and put it back together again with a razor sharp blade, and it will work nicely.
Also, ignore any fool who comes along here and tells you all about cap iron settings. Just ignore them. In due course, that subject becomes useful, but right now be grateful to have a free plane. When you've got that working (assuming a bench to use it on), you can look forward to the sheer pleasure of the "swoosh" of a sharp plane taking a nice shaving.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Trevanion":3fezqss2 said:
I thought "Harlequin" was quite a good word for them.
Trevanion
Greatest Of All Time
I’ve got an old record hand plane that I bought (A 1944 military broadmarked Warfinish model with rosewood handles I put on just to brag 8)) and I never bothered flattening the sole like I did with a couple of my other planes because it’s such a time consuming process. It’s got a reasonable belly on the sole if checked with a straight edge but it cuts like a dream and I always pick it up before I would any other. I’ve never encountered a problem with it due to the sole, which makes me wonder whether the importance of flatness is blown way out of proportion.
I suppose it’s “scientist woodworking” at it again.
I suppose it’s “scientist woodworking” at it again.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Rabbit hole alert!!!!!!!!!!!! #-o
Sheffield Tony
Ghost of the disenchanted
I can vouch that a concave sole is not helpful ! But I do wonder if a slightly convex sole isn't possibly helpful. A bit like filing metal - you can't get a flat surface with an absolutely flat file - only a convex one. The better your action is, the nearer you can approach it, but a file with a bit of a belly on it allows you to file something flat.
You might be lucky that it was put away sharp – don't count on it, but it has been known to happen! – and if that's the case before you do anything else, and I mean anything, see how it works.
Most planes work as they stand IME, once the iron is sharp of course. It got to the point where I stopped even checking soles with a straightedge as various states of not perfectly flat, including both slight hollows and bellying, can be found on planes that lo and behold work fine. So all the work to get the sole flat/flatter would have been wasted. The only way to find out either way is to test it out and see.
After that you can just use it as-is or clean it up as much as your inner muse dictates. Most would refinish the handles but some users aren't fussy and don't mind them looking this way, long as they're comfortable.
Most planes work as they stand IME, once the iron is sharp of course. It got to the point where I stopped even checking soles with a straightedge as various states of not perfectly flat, including both slight hollows and bellying, can be found on planes that lo and behold work fine. So all the work to get the sole flat/flatter would have been wasted. The only way to find out either way is to test it out and see.
After that you can just use it as-is or clean it up as much as your inner muse dictates. Most would refinish the handles but some users aren't fussy and don't mind them looking this way, long as they're comfortable.
At the risk of sounding like one of the fools MikeG warned you about above, there is a good chance you will have to do some fettling of the cap iron's leading edge. This is most important to prevent shavings jamming as they rise up from the wood's surface.
Modern cap irons of this type are generally crude straight from the factory and rarely fettled (or properly fettled) by previous owners so it's very likely you'll need to do at least a little bit of work to it. Again much guidance on this point online, here and various other places. Regardless of the method(s) you use the thing to aim for is no light showing underneath the cap iron when viewed from the side, after the screw has been fully tightened.
American guides often refer to the chipbreaker, the common name over there for the same thing.
Modern cap irons of this type are generally crude straight from the factory and rarely fettled (or properly fettled) by previous owners so it's very likely you'll need to do at least a little bit of work to it. Again much guidance on this point online, here and various other places. Regardless of the method(s) you use the thing to aim for is no light showing underneath the cap iron when viewed from the side, after the screw has been fully tightened.
American guides often refer to the chipbreaker, the common name over there for the same thing.
MikeG.
Established Member
ED65":1v53mjoz said:
:lol: You couldn't if you tried.
You're right about getting that gap down to zero, though. Paul Sellers probably covers that.
MikeG.
Established Member
ED65":1r0nni02 said:
I'd at least clean it up to the extent of getting the paint off the sole. With a little luck that might be all this plane needs.
If you pay the postage, send me the iron (blade), cap iron and lever cap and I will grind and sharpen the first one, fettle the other two parts to fit.
Headstart in hand all you will have to do is get the paint off the sole without worrying about fine tuning and the cap iron you can just have a play.
Before you start listening to details about convex soles, lapping fluid and the like, all of which will possibly have creedence later, I also know I fitted 10+ cheap pine doors and some hardwood windows were rebuilt and all planed down with a cheapo modern stanley block plane because I didn't know any better. It worked. Could have worked better of course but it worked.
Keep away from rabbit holes at the start and put plane to wood before reading about it. Ironic because when wandering about in the dark you're mostly to sprain an ankle falling into one. Damhikt. Hence the offer.
Pm with your details etc if you want.
Would be my pleasure passing on some of the good will shown to me previously as I was very first starting out.
Cheers
Chris
Headstart in hand all you will have to do is get the paint off the sole without worrying about fine tuning and the cap iron you can just have a play.
Before you start listening to details about convex soles, lapping fluid and the like, all of which will possibly have creedence later, I also know I fitted 10+ cheap pine doors and some hardwood windows were rebuilt and all planed down with a cheapo modern stanley block plane because I didn't know any better. It worked. Could have worked better of course but it worked.
Keep away from rabbit holes at the start and put plane to wood before reading about it. Ironic because when wandering about in the dark you're mostly to sprain an ankle falling into one. Damhikt. Hence the offer.
Pm with your details etc if you want.
Would be my pleasure passing on some of the good will shown to me previously as I was very first starting out.
Cheers
Chris
Vann
Established Member
This was near the end in English manufacture of Record planes, and quality control was poor. That's not to say it isn't a good plane - rather that the chances of it being carp are much higher. Like others have said, try it out before making any decisions on it's future.AndyT":3amkpm27 said:
The Stanley Handiman lever cap is also from near the bottom of the quality control spectrum. But the early Record cutting iron is likely to be a good one (and that's probably the most important component). Once Bm101 has sharpened it, you can give it a good try out.
I bought a new Stanley No.4 at the start of my apprenticeship in 1973. I could never get it to work, and once I'd broken the tote trying, I put it back in it's box and never used it again. In the early 2000s I decided to try woodworking again and bought a Veritas plane (LAJ) - and found I could plane :shock:. Moral of the story: As you're new to woodworking, it might be worth getting someone who knows handplanes to trial it, if you can't get it to work (before you bin it in frustration).
Cheers, Vann.
