I bid for this Record 05½ss last November. The seller said the blade was 57mm (=2¼“). It cost me $22 NZD (~£11). It has a crack down one side, and a hang hole drilled in front of the knob, but it’s the “stay-set” version. I bought it not as a user, but out of curiosity (I figured that crack down the side would grow if I use it).
What difference does ⅛” make? Not much, surely? Then again woodies often came in 2”, 2⅛” and 2¼“ widths.
So surely they’ve made it with a standard 2⅜” frog with a bit pared off each side? Nope – the distance between frog screws is ⅛” less than on a 2⅜” Record plane. So these things are real orphans !
I thought that maybe, if I grow to like it, I could send the body to Jim Davey in Aussie to have the crack repaired, the hole welded up, and the whole thing surface ground. That would probably set me back more than the cost of a new Cliffie #-o .
Then in December, while visiting my son-in-law’s workplace, there was this Record 05½, sitting forlorn in the workshop. No cap-iron, 2¼“ frog, and a Stanley (UK) 2⅜” iron jammed in the mouth. I could take it away (no damn good as it was) if I sent them a working No.4 or No.5 to replace it (I must get onto that).
One day I’ll make one good one out of the two.
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