Stanley 1-12-136 plane

[steviemac]

Has anyone on this forum bought or tried out one of these planes? I'd be interested to know what you thought. I'd love a Clifton or a LN but they are out of my price range. Are the Stanley planes made in the UK, USA or Europe, or have they joined the inevitable list of products now made in China? It might sound a bit sad, but if I'm going to spend my money, I'd like to support a British manufacturer if possible. Regards, Steve.

 

[adidat]

do you mean a no.4?

adidat

edit: a quick google and i think its this plane your talking about

i expect these are made in china, so you want good, cheap and British nothing new comes to mind unless you want to pay Clifton price. so i think ebay would be a good place to start or trying putting a wanted add up here.

adidat

 

[Vann]

i expect these are made in china...

I believe the new Stanley "Sweethart" range are made in Mexico, but have a UK manufactured iron. It's possible that the plane is assembled in Mexico using Chineese and British parts, who knows...

As for the standard Stanley plane range, they're all made in China or India these days.

If you want to support UK manufacturers you'll have to dig deep and buy a Clifton, or maybe a wooden Philliplane.

Cheers, Vann

 

[condeesteso]

Yes, impossible to buy British in planes other than Clifton and the hand-mades which cost much more still. These Sweethearts were done by Stanley U.S. in response to the onslaught from LN, Veritas, Clifton and QS... but I have seen disappointing reviews (Pop Wood for example). Whilst not actively supporting British manufacturing today, the way forward is good second-hand and my personal preference is vintage Record.
If anyone has a new U.S Stanley Sweetheart, a mini-review would be most welcome?

 

[steviemac]

Thanks everybody, it's much as I thought. I think I'll hunt out a nice 2nd hand 4 1/2 Record. I have an old one but the lateral adjustment lever and the depth adjustment knob are both really worn. Otherwise the plane is in good order.
Can new or good 2nd hand ones be obtained, and does anyone know where from? I've seen a couple of Record 4's on ebay going cheap, are the levers and knobs the same?
It's heavy and when sharpened fairly 'zings' across the wood making that lovely sound a sharp plane makes ......... or is just me who likes that sound?

 

[condeesteso]

Re your 4 1/2, it's quite possible someone here has bits off a Record of that period. Personally I've bought 2 Records in the past 12 months from ebay (a 4 1/2 and a 6) and both have been really excellent... around £35 each. I tend to look for ones with more than 1 pic, a decent amount of blade, clean and original (try to avoid 'restored'). My favourites are the crucible cast steel blades (square not rounded edges), and in both cases I went for the SS version cap-iron (though that generates heated debate... very damn good though IMHO).