Got me a No7, what say ye?

[CroppyBoy1798]

Picked up a Stanley jointer on Sunday at a market, hadnt been at the particular car boot in a long long time and went specifically with the hop of picking up such a plane, so, all in all not a bad day!

Anyway, its a Stanley Bailey No7, I'm just trying to date it however, its a little confusing! It 'looks' to have a 'bit' of age to it, suggested by the most part by the grips which 'look' old and well smoothed and softened by use, however, the rest of the plane doesnt look or feel terribly old, I reckon about 10-20 years old, if that. Stanley still make the No7's, right?

Anyway, payed €60, about £50, which is a pretty resonable price for a jointer I reckon, he wasnt going no lower, got him to throw in the saw to seal the deal! A nice compact 10TPI crosscut with a 'Warranted Superior' badge unlike the ones I've seen this one hasnt got an eagle but a crest with latin on it :? All teeth present and she's been cleaned and resharpened since I got it! 8)

 

[bugbear]

Saw and plane look mighty fine - well done!

BugBear

 

[MIGNAL]

Post a pic showing the face of the frog. may help to narrow it down a little. Hard to tell from the picture but the blade looks to have the square corners. Of course it could have been replaced.

 

[CroppyBoy1798]

Cheers Bugbear! :wink:

Heres a couple of pics MIGNAL. Although the plane looks to have been used ie with the worn handles (I'm thinking they could be replacements) the blade doesnt seem to have got a lot of use and certainly no flattening or polishing as there is still the varnish/laquer on it.

 

[awkwood]

I bought a new No 6 in 1984 it had the ribs cast into the sole the same as yours but was fitted with resin handles.
I have seen a few stanley planes fitted with alloy depth adjustment wheels and handles screws fitted with stained beech handles these seem to be the last ones before the resin handles were introduced.

 

[uk woodman]

Hi CroppyBoy1798, This is one of the sites I've used to estimate the age of Stanley planes before, There is another that I use that's a little less interesting, so thought this might give you this as its a more entertaing read.

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm#num7,

 

[Alf]

A nice compact 10TPI crosscut with a 'Warranted Superior' badge unlike the ones I've seen this one hasnt got an eagle but a crest with latin on it :?

British made rather than USA then, I believe. 'Murricans used an eagle while Brits used the Royal coat of arms. The Latin's very probably actually the French motto "Dieu et mon droit" Plane looks good too; later GB model so the dating pages are no use to you though.

 

[jimi43]

Nice No.7 there...how does it shave?

Jim

 

[Jacob]

I ebayed my no7 (bought new about 1975) a bit back because it was slightly concave end to end. Looked a bit like yours :shock: .
Check the sole for flatness. Local bumps and hollows don't matter so much as the overall impression revealed by a long straight-edge i.e. the mouth needs to be on (or even fractionally higher than) the heel to toe line. If lower (concave) then it's no good.
Trouble with ebay is that dud planes get recycled a lot. Maybe we should each attach a little signature mark and beat the system!
I bought a 7 USA made replacement for less than I sold, and it is spot on, although rusty, scruffy and unattractive. Beauty is skin deep.

PS just read back - blade has varnish and lacquer means unused (not my old one). Could still be an old one; I once bought a 1944 plane which had never been touched - mainly because it was unusable.

 

[yetloh]

Check the sole for flatness. Local bumps and hollows don't matter so much as the overall impression revealed by a long straight-edge i.e. the mouth needs to be on (or even fractionally higher than) the heel to toe line. If lower (concave) then it's no good.

Jacob,

Don't you mean it's useless if convex? If concave it can be flattened but if convex it is near impossible unless you have a good surface grinding machine.

Jim

 

[Jacob]

Useless when concave,unless you flatten it of course, but this could be a long job.
You can't plane a straight edge if it is concave, it just gets rounded off to a convex curve matching the curve of the sole. Which is why I dumped mine, having never found it much use and not wishing to spend hours with the wet n dry
Flat is best obviously, but slightly convex is usable IMHO.
What's the problem with flattening convex? If anything it's easier as you are only attacking the one bump in the middle, rather than the two ends.

 

[bugbear]

What's the problem with flattening convex? If anything it's easier as you are only attacking the one bump in the middle, rather than the two ends.

It's the same as flattening a board using a power planer (as I understand it).

Convex side down - the workpiece wobbles.
Concave side down - nice stable process.

BugBear

 

[yetloh]

Exactly. It is almost impossible to flatten a plane properly if it is convex because it will rock in the process and the problem may even be made worse. However, I do agree it is much better to start out with one that is flat in the first place, flattening a No 7 is so much work which I would far rather spend doing something more interesting. Unless you have no choice I would always advise anyone to save up for an LN or Clifton No 7; at least you can send it back if it isn't right.

Jim

 

[Modernist]

Or you could send it to Ray Isles for grinding flat

 

[ali27]

Flattening a convex plane is not difficult. Just
put your plane in your vice and file the high area
away. You will probably end up filing a bit more
than necessary.

Check with your straightedge to see when you have
done enough filing. I would continue untill I would
see a tiny bit of light in the middle(very little concavity).

Now you can continue flattening your plane.

If you are going to lap the plane on floatglass:

- use good quality self adhesive sanding paper. About 120-180 grit.
- Vacuum clean the sanding paper a lot.
- check with your straightedge regurarly to see how you are doing
- Use little pressure
- Go only one direction, not backward forward.Go slightly further
than the end of the sanding paper
- Use a long plate of floatglass, about 1 metre by 15 cm or so or
use a plate of 60cm by 40cm or so. This is better because this
ensures that you don't get too much wear on certain parts of the sanding
paper
-Use thick floatglass. 15mm or more. I think bugbear told me that 20mm
floatglass is 8 times as stiff as 10mm floatglass. Thick floatglass can be
expensive.
-I am not sure, but I think only on side is really flat, the other side of the glass
plate is less flat.

Before flattening the sole, tune the lever cap, chip breaker, frog, bed on which
the frog sits. And of course a sharp blade is essential.Good luck.

Ali

 

[bugbear]

Flattening a convex plane is not difficult. Just
put your plane in your vice and file the high area
away. You will probably end up filing a bit more
than necessary.

Check with your straightedge to see when you have
done enough filing. I would continue untill I would
see a tiny bit of light in the middle(very little concavity).

Now you can continue flattening your plane.

So, in summary - to flatten a convex plane, make it concave, and proceed as for a concave plane!

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

What's the problem with flattening convex? If anything it's easier as you are only attacking the one bump in the middle, rather than the two ends.

It's the same as flattening a board using a power planer (as I understand it).

Convex side down - the workpiece wobbles.
Concave side down - nice stable process.

BugBear

Convex side down - press down only in the middle. After a bit you have the start of a flat surface to register from.
Not a problem at all and have done it often a with planer, and occasionally with a plane. Planes have handles which make it easier to control.

 

[bugbear]

Not a problem at all and have done it often a with planer, and occasionally with a plane.

Planers work from the bottom, planes from the top, so the cases are opposite.

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

Not a problem at all and have done it often a with planer, and occasionally with a plane.

Planers work from the bottom, planes from the top, so the cases are opposite.

BugBear

Passing a convex piece of wood over a planer is similar to passing a convex plane over a piece of 60 grit wet n dry. Pressure in the middle to stop it rocking.

 

[studders]

Surely you'd need exactly equal pressure at both ends to get the middle flat?