new stanley premium planes

[johnnyb]

is it me or does everyone else find the story of stanley introducing LN/veritas style planes fascinating? have their plane sales dropped and premium makers increased so very much. i can only think lie nielsen must be operating quite a large set up now. i suppose its obvious that people that use planes want ones that work properly. possibly there is a middle ground that stanley could fill price wise between there normal planes and better quality ones, somewhat like clico planes. but instead they have gone for the sexy boutique style planes made by LN/veritas obviously feeling that there is a market big enoughh to exploit. these planes are also being partly made in england despite being mostly i imagine for the american market.
i for one am waiting with baited breath and cant wait to see how they work.
ps has anybody got any news on the release date.

 

[Philly]

Johnny
For me, it shows how much the hand tool phenom has grown. Stanley (and Record) had pretty much given up pruducing quality tools - their quality has declined steadily since WWII to such a low that the tools were basically trash. Obviously this has been due to many reasons (cost-cutting, the move to power tools, etc..) but with the recent re-birth of quality tools someone at Stanley has obviously said "Damn! There are companies out there making updated, high quality versions of OUR planes, and making a profit. Why aren't we doing this??"
And in a way, we should be glad that someone at Stanley has realised this. Let's just hope he isn't an accountant, though......... :lol: :wink:
Cheers
Philly

 

[wizer]

Yes I think it's quite clear that Stanley want a piece of the pie. I hope it's not a half hearted attempts. I do think we need more than 2 quality mass producers.

 

[Benchwayze]

The last time I recall Stanley UK making a special plane, was a limited, boxed edition of the No. 4.

The casting was covered in varnish.
When some well-meaning soul wrote to 'The Woodworker', complaining about the 'gunge' and the need to get out the 'Nitromoors', one of the team at Stanley got huffy. Said the plane was made to exacting standards, the varnish was necessary to ensure rustproofing and shouldn't be removed.

Obviously he was talking about varnish that has 'no thickness' and therefore would not interfere with the flatness of the sole. It probably wouldn't have much effect, but it would wear away eventually anyway. In fact the varnish surface resembled a ploughed field and I found it caused friction when planing.

My plane has never been used it for a proper job of work to be honest. It's no better than most standard No 4's and worse than quite a lot more! IMHO. I hope Stanley learned lessons from this debacle. 8)

Regards John

 

[bugbear]

Yes I think it's quite clear that Stanley want a piece of the pie.

I suspect it's more of a "flagship" to improve the image of their entire line.

BugBear

 

[matthewwh]

They do still make some very nice tools but by trying to cater to the sheds as well they seem to have watered down their brand image massively.

Judging from the reaction so far to a few rendered images there certainly seems to be a lot of interest. The US release date has been pushed back to the new year now, but as far as I know we will be getting them over here in the spring.

It will be interesting to see what people think of them over there.

Cheers,


Matthew

 

[bugbear]

Yes I think it's quite clear that Stanley want a piece of the pie. I hope it's not a half hearted attempts. I do think we need more than 2 quality mass producers.

LN, LV Clifton == 3 !

BugBear

 

[wizer]

Point taken, tho is Clifton a mass producer? Let's not get into that debate again.

 

[bugbear]

Point taken, tho is Clifton a mass producer?

I think they'd welcome the chance !

BugBear

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

I'd love to see Clifton produce as many as LN & LV! Point is, other than the green (which is quite attractive to me) the Clifton is has a look closer to the originals (OK, it has a bit of shiny polish on it too). Stanley never made a bronze plane, now did they?

For the dollar spent (I am a 'merican, afterall), it represents a real bargain in that I feel the Clifton forged iron better than both LN & LV. Some feel the Stay-Set can be problematic, but with a minor bit of fettling, mine does it's job and as I free hand sharpen, the two works nicely.

Not sure how the dollar relates to the pound, but several years ago, Cliftons were a real bargain here in the states, but today, I suspect not so much anymore. But dollar for dollar, they are they equal and regarding the iron, to me, maybe more equal.

T.Z.

 

[tnimble]

Stanley never made a bronze plane, now did they?

They have made some bronze block planes and used bronze for knobs on some of the pre 1900s speciality planes, like a petal pattern compas plane.

 

[Vann]

The US release date has been pushed back to the new year now, but as far as I know we will be getting them over here in the spring.

Well it's nearly 8 months since the new Stanley planes were first mentioned on this forum. They're still not on the shelves.

I wonder if they're for real, or were those computer renditions just released to gather reaction. Certainly it's been mostly negative.

I also find it hard to believe that Stanley would launch a range of tools and not have them available at regular outlets (only at specialty stores). Surely they would expose them to the mass market, where the name Stanley is well known and still respected (albeit mistakenly).

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Boz62]

I've just received the 2009 Tilgear catalogue and that shows piccies of real planes (I think). No.4, No.9-1/2, No.60-1/2, No.92. Tilgear prices seem to be 50% more than their standard Stanley range for the blocks, the No.4 is double the price, but the No.92 is 32% less than the standard one!

Boz

 

[AndyT]

Ok so what about Rutlands?

I received a new catalogue in the post today - there on the cover are their new range of midprice premium planes - bedrock frog, £89.95 for a no 4 £99.95 for a no 5 etc - anyone seen any reviews? Anyone want to send me one to review?

Andy

 

[bugbear]

Ok so what about Rutlands?

I received a new catalogue in the post today - there on the cover are their new range of midprice premium planes - bedrock frog, £89.95 for a no 4 £99.95 for a no 5 etc - anyone seen any reviews? Anyone want to send me one to review?

Andy

Try searching the web for "WoodRiver", or this forum for "Grant". Wear an asbestos suit.

(edit) At the risk of sounding like a teenager - OMG!

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psPro ... ::1,0,0,1::

The new Rutland's own brand planes (in their Dakota brand) appear NOT to be the Chinese knockoffs causing so much heat and light in their Tilgear and Woodcraft incarnations - they claim to be American made.

BugBear

 

[Jake]

(edit) At the risk of sounding like a teenager - OMG!

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psPro ... ::1,0,0,1::

The new Rutland's own brand planes (in their Dakota brand) appear NOT to be the Chinese knockoffs causing so much heat and light in their Tilgear and Woodcraft incarnations - they claim to be American made.

Not quite. They claim to be American A1 Grade Steel ... Planes

Not (necessarily) American made or cast planes. Possibly American steel, but it could be as devious as the fact that A1 steel is a grade specified by the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Very opaque - even down to where and in what quantities the A1 is used.

 

[wizer]

OMG:

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/DK1185

That's a direct Boggs knock off!! :shock:

 

[beech1948]

It seems that the Stanley resurgence has a some competition in the US because of the Wood River planes introduced from a Chinese supplier. The FWW Knots forum has a long running and boring discussion of rights and wrongs.

These planes seem to be a mid range, sound copy of the original designs.

Wonder if we will see them here in the UK.

regards
Alan

 

[beech1948]

Wizer,

Looks like a Bloggs knock off but there were several shaves of that design from an earlier age so who knocked off whom.

regards
Alan

 

[bugbear]

(edit) At the risk of sounding like a teenager - OMG!

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psPro ... ::1,0,0,1::

The new Rutland's own brand planes (in their Dakota brand) appear NOT to be the Chinese knockoffs causing so much heat and light in their Tilgear and Woodcraft incarnations - they claim to be American made.

Not quite. They claim to be American A1 Grade Steel ... Planes

Not (necessarily) American made or cast planes. Possibly American steel, but it could be as devious as the fact that A1 steel is a grade specified by the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Very opaque - even down to where and in what quantities the A1 is used.

Yes - the language does seem to imply more than it states.

BugBear