I like my #45...

[MarcW]

Hi folks,

But I wonder if a #55 wouldn't be a good addtion to my coll... :lol:

The last days I used the #45 for T&G, especially tongues were fast and well planed. In the past I used a woody for that job and I have to say the boat anchor was a revelation, good heft, running very steady with a new wider fence. So I discovered another job for that plane.

G. Hack tells in his Handplane Book, that the #55 can do the job of more than 90 planes as said in the booklet coming with it, if I remember well. That's a story nobody can believe! If the #45 is especially well in tonguing, beading and grooving, what are the hidden strong sides of the #55? Or doesn't it have such?

 

[dchenard]

I know that Pat Leach isn't fond of the plane, to say the least... Here's a quote:

"Bought it. Used it. Hated it. Sold it.

The Great Zeus Himself thought His sentence of Prometheus to be the ultimate punishment for mankind, and throughout the millenia it was. That is, until the year 1897 when Messrs. Justus Traut and Edmund Schade devised a torture that knew no bounds betwixt Gods and mortals. We should all be so lucky to be chained to a rock and have our livers eaten daily by an organ-hungry raptor than to suffer the agony of this contraption. Even the Chinese would have gladly abandoned their infamous drip, drip, drip of water to the forehead had they been on Stanley's favored nations tradelist. If there can be a ball and chain of planes, this is it, baby."

The rest of the story here:

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan8.htm

I have no experience with the plane whatsoever.

DC

 

[Paul Chapman]

Marc, the older #55s have spurs that are adjustable for height. See Alf's write-up here http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/combihow5.html Probably worth getting one just for that

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[MarcW]

DC, I had in mind Patrick Leach's site, but remembered he wasn't addicted to this type of plane. So I didn't reread...

Many thanks Paul, I didn't know that. Any chance you know until when Stanley produced these adjustable spurs?

I imagine the skate that is adjustable in height could be a good feature... well a reason to come to another boat anchor :lol: Is that true or am I completely going wrong and this feature is merely another process step in the tedious setting up?

 

[Paul Chapman]

Any chance you know until when Stanley produced these adjustable spurs?

I imagine the skate that is adjustable in height could be a good feature...

Hi Marc,

I'm not sure over what period they made the adjustable spurs but Alf might know :wink:

I think the height-adjustable skate allows the use of a wider range of shaped cutters - again Alf could probably answer this better than me because she has a #55 (and no, I'm not envious :^o :^o :lol: ).

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Paul

Is there a plane Alf doesn't have in her collection? :lol:

Cheers
Neil

 

[Paul Chapman]

Is there a plane Alf doesn't have in her collection? :lol:

I think she's missing a few - but Philly could probably fill in the gaps :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Alf]

Yes, yes, all very amusing. :roll:

Marc, the 55's height adjustment on the skates open up a much larger range of profiles you can use - including ones you grind up yourself. Mario Rodriguez wrote a nice article on that aspect in FWW a few years ago. I would think, given your talent, you could well utilise such versatility. However, it's at the cost of set-up time. The more parts you can tweak, the more you have to tweak.

As far as the adjustable spur cutters are concerned, I'm afraid I haven't a clue as to when they were used and when they weren't. According to the Stanley Little Big Book no-one's done a type study of the 55 so the closest you can get is based on the mark used on the skate. I'd have to check the one in my possession - due to this and that it's its second body and I can't remember whether it ended up with the adjustable spur or the clover leaf one in the end.

Cheers, Alf

 

[dchenard]

Alf could probably answer this better than me because she has a #55 (and no, I'm not envious :^o :^o :lol: ).

If that makes you feel better =P~ , my boss has a 55 brand new in the box. His father used to work at the Canadian Stanley factory, and my boss inherited that one.

I've been trying to get it off his hands, but so far no luck [-o< ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) :lol:

DC

 

[Paul Chapman]

Alf could probably answer this better than me because she has a #55 (and no, I'm not envious :^o :^o :lol: ).

If that makes you feel better =P~ , my boss has a 55 brand new in the box. His father used to work at the Canadian Stanley factory, and my boss inherited that one.

I've been trying to get it off his hands, but so far no luck [-o< ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) :lol:

Yeah, sometimes life's a bitch

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[dchenard]

Yeah, sometimes life's a bitch

...and then you die :lol:

DC

 

[Paul Chapman]

Yeah, sometimes life's a bitch

...and then you die :lol:

But look on the bright side - you'd no longer need the #55

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Scrit]

But look on the bright side - you'd no longer need the #55

So then you could be buried at sea with the #55 and it could fulfill it's true destiny - as an anchor! :lol: :wink:

I'll get me coat. Taxi!!!

Scrit

 

[Paul Chapman]

But look on the bright side - you'd no longer need the #55

So then you could be buried at sea with the #55 and it could fulfill it's true destiny - as an anchor! :lol: :wink:

=D> =D> =D> :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Frank D.]

Hey Denis,
If you drop by Montreal you can always try out one of mine.
:lol:

 

[MarcW]

...

Marc, the 55's height adjustment on the skates open up a much larger range of profiles you can use - including ones you grind up yourself. Mario Rodriguez wrote a nice article on that aspect in FWW a few years ago. I would think, given your talent, you could well utilise such versatility. However, it's at the cost of set-up time. The more parts you can tweak, the more you have to tweak.

As far as the adjustable spur cutters are concerned, I'm afraid I haven't a clue as to when they were used and when they weren't. According to the Stanley Little Big Book no-one's done a type study of the 55 so the closest you can get is based on the mark used on the skate. I'd have to check the one in my possession - due to this and that it's its second body and I can't remember whether it ended up with the adjustable spur or the clover leaf one in the end.

Cheers, Alf

Many thanks Alf,

I'll give it a try and will buy a #55 by opportunity. You don't remember the title of the article by M.Rodriguez, I didn't found it at their website?

About the spare blades, last week I bought a small bar of japanese white paper steel. So I'm on the slope already, but thank you for greasing with your kind words

 

[Alf]

The article was a "Master Class" - The Stanley No.55: King of Combination Planes. Issue #140 February 2000.

Cheers, Alf

 

[dchenard]

Hey Denis,
If you drop by Montreal you can always try out one of mine.
:lol:

Hey, I might just take you up on that :shock: :lol:

DC