Restoring Stanley #7.... how far to go?


Jfitz

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11 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Now i'm lurking for a #2 idk why but i want one.

I tried one of those... honestly, a standard angle block plane does the same job and it's a lot easier to handle. A #2 will land on the floor more often than you want to. The #3 is small enough already, I really need to pay attention when I'm using it. I've already broken the knob once and this happened to the retaining screw:

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The good news are that LN sent me free replacement parts!

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If i get a Stanley #2 it'll probably be a long time in the future as a collection, the vintage ones are dang expensive.

I'm hoping they have a #2 at the Ln hand tool event so i can see one in person and maybe give it a go and see if i want one as a user. I don't have large hands and as much as saying it's the same size as a block plane the tote and knob might make it more comfortable for me to use than my crappy Stanley block plane for some operations. We'll see I trust you guy's judgement but kind of want to see for myself as well.

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  My 2 #3's came in last evening. They have no identification at all.  One has a frog quite a bit like a Stanley, and it's heavier then the other one. There is no frog on the second one, it just has two posts that the blade rests on.  Whoever owned these, took decent care of them, but they didn't have a clue as to setting them up.  My plan is to get the blades back into decent shape and see how long they hold in the working position. Then I'll either offer them up on ebay, or give them as a gift to an aspiring woodworker as a starter tool.  The soles are in decent shape, and pretty darn flat, which surprised me.  The one with the dark tote and knob, is very lightweight. I'd think it would best be used as two handed block plane.  The light colored tote seems to me it would make a halfway decent smoother.  We'll see what I can get from them.

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Steve it says "Made in USA" And that's it. The dark handled one says the same but it's on the body.  I'll play around with them in a day or two, meanwhile I need to set some plans for two trips in three days,  Florida first, then Kentucky. 

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No, I'm going to Florida for a dedication to something that's being torn down. Something that needed to be torn down 111 years ago, It's a shame that I was a member, but so were thousands of young people.  Then I have to drive like a crazy person to get back in time to follow a neighbor to an Amish farm auction in Kentucky. I've told him for 5 years that I wanted to go with him, but I always forgot  and was doing something else when it was time to go. I'm gonna make it this time. He's picked up some planes there and gave them to me on his trips. He's a good guy, and I don't want to disappoint him again. And maybe I can pick up a couple of useful tools.    Have you ever worked with Persimmon?  I made a lumber connection here, and the guy has some, it's all short and narrow stuff, but I thought I'd try working with some.  They call it "White Ebony" , extremely hard, very heavy and you can't see the pores with a magnifying glass.  The widest is about 6" and not very long, 6' at the most.  Nothing special about the look of the wood, very plain and no figure to speak of.  Damn, that's a lot of typing.    They use to make golf club driver heads from it and match it with a Hickory shaft.

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