A maze of threads. Stanley, Marples, Record and all etc:-

[Scarlet Lancer]

I am using a photo which was originally posted by member Vann with an acknowledgment to the original author.
What I have found in that original post and other descriptions on eBay and other tool related sites is some comments of sellers of taps and dies is that Stanley plane manufacturers had their own special sizes of taps and dies. Which only they can obtain, I can find no basis on which these comments are based. Yes certainly there are one or two that are difficult to find although certainly not impossible. In particular American 9/32-24 tpi UN left hand and right hand threads in particular used for the blade adjusting mechanism and also the lever cap screw.

Where I am truly stumped is that an American manufacturing company would use both UNC/UNF and BSW. Would this mixture be after Stanley started manufacturing in the UK or had Stanley used both from the start?

My next challenge will be to double check the Wm Marples series of metal bench planes and check each thread.

 

[clogs]

upto 3/8ths BSW and UNC are the same....not the correct thread angle but will work well enough....
temp one off taps can be made from Silver steel etc provided its hardened.....

 

[IWW]

True, there is nothing "special" about the threads Stanley chose for their planes, they are perfectly 'standard', just uncommon nowadays. LH taps & dies are almost always considerably more expensive than RH versions due to economy of scale, & only specialist suppliers carry the 32nd sizes. Which means suitable taps & dies for working on old planes are poisonously expensive unless they are modern versions using more common sizes (for e.g. Veritas use 1/4" NC for their tote studs). The 'odd' sizes of taps & dies for old Stanleys (English Stanley used the same thread sizes as the parent company 'til relatively recently), are available at far more reasonable prices from a few places in the US, but postage will take the gloss off that...

Many UNC & BSW sizes are interchangeable for uncritical applications, the difference in thread angle is taken care of by average tolerance allowances. However, apart from the 1/2" size (13 tpi UNC, 12 BSW), there are other exceptions, two of which are in the 32nd sizes (5/32 & 7/32). A 7/32 BSW thread is 24tpi, not the 20tpi of the UNC series.

So it pays to check both your plane & your thread charts before ordering any taps to work on old planes....

Cheers,

 

[Scarlet Lancer]

True, there is nothing "special" about the threads Stanley chose for their planes, they are perfectly 'standard', just uncommon nowadays. LH taps & dies are almost always considerably more expensive than RH versions due to economy of scale, & only specialist suppliers carry the 32nd sizes. Which means suitable taps & dies for working on old planes are poisonously expensive unless they are modern versions using more common sizes (for e.g. Veritas use 1/4" NC for their tote studs). The 'odd' sizes of taps & dies for old Stanleys (English Stanley used the same thread sizes as the parent company 'til relatively recently), are available at far more reasonable prices from a few places in the US, but postage will take the gloss off that...

Many UNC & BSW sizes are interchangeable for uncritical applications, the difference in thread angle is taken care of by average tolerance allowances. However, apart from the 1/2" size (13 tpi UNC, 12 BSW), there are other exceptions, two of which are in the 32nd sizes (5/32 & 7/32). A 7/32 BSW thread is 24tpi, not the 20tpi of the UNC series.

So it pays to check both your plane & your thread charts before ordering any taps to work on old planes....

Cheers,

A very useful exchange of info, tks

 

[bentontool]

Many years ago, when I first started buying and restoring planes, I came across this same problem. Stanley uses "non-standard" threads. My answer was (conveniently) to purchase my first (not last) metal lathe and make my own.
Food for thought...