Record v. Stanley planes

[matt]

Record planes seem to go for a lot less (secondhand) than Stanley. Are they really not as good?

Also... No 5 or 5.5? At the mo I only have a Stanley Handyman (horrible, I know...) and a Footprint block plane. I'm after something that strikes a good balance between squaring and smooting sawn edges (in some cases, ready for gluing).

Cheers

 

[Alf]

Record planes seem to go for a lot less (secondhand) than Stanley. Are they really not as good?

No, often they're better. They just don't have X million 'Murricans wanting to buy an American brand. :wink:

Also... No 5 or 5.5? <snip> I'm after something that strikes a good balance between squaring and smooting sawn edges (in some cases, ready for gluing).

Mmm, depending on the length and condition of stuff you're jointing, you might want to consider a #6 or #7 which are "proper" jointing planes. Having said which, using already machined stock mainly 4ft to 5ft long or less, I tend to use a #5 1/2, for what that's worth.

Cheers, Alf

P.S. Moved to Hand Tools in order to catch more neanderthal opinions.

 

[MikeW]

Record planes seem to go for a lot less (secondhand) than Stanley. Are they really not as good?

No, often they're better. They just don't have X million 'Murricans wanting to buy an American brand. :wink:

And I don't know why they don't so as well here, other than there are fewer vintage ones here to begin with.

Heavier castings on some and small innovations on others (like the double fence rods and adjuster on the 078).

Also, on the few Record planes I've disassembled, Record seems to have chosen one of the better frog/main casting machining systems and stuck with it, unlike Stanley who switched things around a lot and some make for better planes than others.

Mike

Mike

 

[Jarviser]

I would say that Record and Stanley planes pre 1970 are much the same, with Record being slightly better, but infinitely better than modern versions. Record/Irwin are now just imported cheapies. If you are not sure how to age a Stanley or Record plane, look out for things like original wooden handles, brass adjuster screws, solid Y levers rather than two piece flat steel, and lateral levers with a rivetted single finger catch rather than a piece of flat steel bent into a double catch. Most of those features you can see even on an eBay photo. You will be more sure of a decent plane of some age. A Record with rosewood handles and a nickel plated cap iron will be around the war years and of best quality. Beware though, I recently I saw a Record #4 advertised in eBay as pre-war because it had "best cast crucible steel" on the cutter, but the construction of the above features made it no older than 20 years. In all cases if you flatten the sole and sharpen the blade as per the many postings in this forum you can make anything cut!