Calvert Stevens

[dannykaye]

Ok [Gloat mode on] I just bought a CS88 for £7 quid in the local antique shop [Gloat off]

However, no blade, half the ss iron or lever cap I gather some replacement blades fit, anyone got any ideas? If anyone has a spare lever cap of course...

Danny

 

[AndyT]

Rob may have some spare halves of SS caps if he gets round to sweeping up his workshop floor... :lol:

 

[Benchwayze]

Rob may have some spare halves of SS caps if he gets round to sweeping up his workshop floor... :lol:

=D> =D> =D>

Cracked me up!

 

[jimi43]

Rob may have some spare halves of SS caps if he gets round to sweeping up his workshop floor... :lol:

Class! Pure Class!!! 8) 8)

Jim

 

[Vann]

Ok [Gloat mode on] I just bought a CS88 for £7 quid in the local antique shop [Gloat off]

:shock: =D>

However, no blade, half the ss iron or lever cap I gather some replacement blades fit, anyone got any ideas? If anyone has a spare lever cap of course...

You can fit a Clifton stay-set cap iron. It has the same profile (I think) so it will look right - as long as you don't get close enough to read the Clifton etch. Or, if it's the main body of the cap-iron you've still got, you may find the deflector of the Clifton fits. However there are some differences between the early Record (angled top) 2 piece cap-irons, and Clifton's design. I don't have any later (rounded top) Record or Calvert-Stevens SS lever caps for comparison.

The CS88 came out with japanese laminated cutting irons, so possibly a "Samurai" iron would be the the appropriate replacement (although a Clifton iron would be more patriotic, but probably too thick).

As for the lever-cap. I bet they're like hen's teeth. You could fit any lever-cap but nothing would be genuine (unless you can find someone who's dropped and broken their CS88 ). As the originals were brass/bronze/gunmetal, the nearest replacement I can suggest is to contact Lie-Nielsen for a replacement part - although Tilgear had a small range of "Grant" (Quangsheng?) bench planes with brass lever-caps, some 2 or so years ago.

Possibly the reason this valuable plane was stripped of those parts is because most CS88s had a casting defect or stress problem (or so I've read) in the form of a lump in the sole behind the mouth. So possibly a lot of fettling will be required.

I'm still envious :mrgreen:

Cheers, Vann.

 

[katellwood]

I've been using a Calvert Stevens for years, originally brought from Tabwell tools Bakewell 20 - 25 years ago and found that with the norris style adjuster I found it better to use a screw type cap as opposed to the one supplied. The one I now use is a record replacement. I find it works better as with a screw cap you can adjust the tension

 

[Vann]

No affiliation with either company.

HTH

Cheers, Vann.

PS All photos copied from the web.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Have just checked Clifton 5 1/2 and CS88 StaySet cap irons. the lower parts aren't interchangeable because of the little locating pegs's location. The whole Clifton capiron assembly will work in a CS, the two assemblies being of the same thickness.
In roundel blue, I only have a T5 StaySet, so couldn't compare that.

 

[dannykaye]

Thamks all, I have asked if the shop can find any bits but I doubt if I will have any luck, I'll post pics of whatever frankenplane I end up with

Danny

 

[bugbear]

It's surprisngly rare to find a CS88 without its box! They were so damned expensive that they were (normally) lovingly looked after.

BugBear

 

[woodbloke]

Rob may have some spare halves of SS caps if he gets round to sweeping up his workshop floor... :lol:

Class! Pure Class!!! 8) 8)

Jim

Got bucket loads of 'em...when they fall off I just kick 'em into a corner of the 'shop :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I know the OP only paid £7 for the CS but I wouldn't 'invest' any more in it. I had one a few years ago and no matter what I did to it, it was never quite 'right'...so I sold it in the end. The CS had the potential to be a really classy and heavy smoother but there was a casting fault in the body so that the critical area just behind the mouth was raised, in other words a 'bump' and on my one it was around .5mm which was enough to make the thing useless without a lot of fettling.
In fact, mine wasn't the only one 'cos I saw another sitting on a shelf in a workshop with exactly the same fault - Rob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Mine was exactly the same too (and I still haven't got around to your clever lever cap mod - will do in the not too distant)

 

[dannykaye]

It is pretty battered, I'll post pics later, anyone got a screw cap for sale that I could modify, pref a pretty brass coloured one?

Could some kind soul post the original blade dimensions please? Are there any tricks to getting it apart? It is really rustyand dirty and I can'actually see the bottom of the frog.

Danny

 

[Alf]

It's surprisngly rare to find a CS88 without its box! They were so damned expensive that they were (normally) lovingly looked after.

In fact, mine wasn't the only one 'cos I saw another sitting on a shelf in a workshop with exactly the same fault - Rob

So "lovingly looked after" or left "sitting on a shelf"? Two possible reasons for finding them in their boxes more often than not, then...

I dunno, Danny, the more I read of this thread, the less of a gloatable price it sounds. But still, definitely gloatable in simply being an exceptional find. Especially without its box.

 

[matthewwh]

Closest I can do is

Lever cap
Cap iron
or single piece cap iron (just to keep Rob happy!)
Cutting irons - Clifton / Quangsheng / Ray Iles

If you need a lever cap screw I'll have a rummage through my spares box, should have something to fit.

 

[bugbear]

It cost 133 quid at launch (in 1988 of course); this helpful site:

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/educatio ... /index.htm

says that would be 292 quid now; Axminster has a Clifton #4 1/2 at 291.50 and the LN at 281; the latter are both Bedrock designs, which the CS88 isn't.

BugBear

 

[woodbloke]

or single piece cap iron (just to keep Rob happy!)

You're too kind Matt :mrgreen: :lol: :lol: - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

As the Calvert Stevens has a Norris-style adjuster, I would fit a screw-type lever cap rather than one with a lever. With a Norris adjuster the cap iron needs to be slackened off when adjusting the depth of cut in order not to damage the adjuster mechanism and this is easier with the screw type. A lever cap from a modern Record which has a screw fitting might fit.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Vann]

I just bought a CS88 for £7 quid in the local antique shop

So that's £7 for the plane; £11.50 for the LC (Quangsheng); £18.30 for the cap-iron (Clifton) and £47.50 for the iron (Clifton). Umm, err, £84.30 for a bitsa - a classy bitsa but still a bitsa. :?

To me, a Clifton 4½ is a better plane than a Record CS88, and with the same Sheffield tradition.

If you're going to invest big money, buy the Clifton. In the meanwhile, fit the CS88 out with secondhand parts to make it a user, and maybe (just maybe) over a period of time you may source some original parts. Until then, it will never be worth a lot.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[woodbloke]

As the Calvert Stevens has a Norris-style adjuster, I would fit a screw-type lever cap rather than one with a lever. With a Norris adjuster the cap iron needs to be slackened off when adjusting the depth of cut in order not to damage the adjuster mechanism and this is easier with the screw type. A lever cap from a modern Record which has a screw fitting might fit.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Spot on here, which is why all Norris bench planes (to the best of my knowledge) had screw type caps rather than the lever variety...slacken off the cap by half a turn, adjust the blade and re-tighten - Rob