Stanley 13-030

[ro]

I have a hate-hate relationship with my electric router. I seem to spend ages setting it up for the worlds most simple jobs and I never get the result I'm after - it falls off the end of the wood or somehow seems to lose it's setting halfway through a cut and the last half comes out deeper than the first half

After spending about 1/2 an hour complaining about said router to my father he disappeared into his shed and brought out a Stanley 13-30 plough plane.

I must admit, when I first saw it I thought it was horrible. A nasty, rubbery handle and what looked like a pressed steel frame - it just doesn't look like a nice tool, more like a reject from a pound store :roll: .

However, last night I had to do some rebates for the bottom of an old tool chest and I thought I'd give my new tool a try.

After spending far too long sharpening up one of the cutters and shaving hair off the back of my arm with it, I plonked it in the plane and set up the plane for the first cut.

The setup was a revelation after using a router, the fence was easy to adjust and the depth setting was far too simple, a tiny little fence hed on by one screw - I thought it couldn't possibly work!

After taking the first cut I was hooked! It cuts effortlessly and leaves a lovely finish. I finished the rebate in less time than it would have taken me to set up the router!

Now i just need to find a way to do curved mouldings with a plane so I can retire the darn router to the back of the shelves never to be seen again?

 

[GazPal]

I recall my first forays into using plough and multi planes during my apprenticeship and used to love using them and - while we moved on to use routers and all things motorised in the workshop - I thankfully never got rid of any of my olde worlde hand tools. One plane I was especially keen on buying was Stanley's #55, but somehow never got round to picking one up until comparitively recently. LOL I thought I'd have to go to college in order to figure out how to open it's box, nevermind use it, but they're a doddle once you get used to them.

I couldn't agree more about the more recent combi/plough planes being a tad cheap looking (Understatement of the year) but they can certainly hold their own when used for their intended purpose. Especially since they're virtually silent in use and the shavings are way less troublesome than getting dust everywhere while producing a beautifully polished finish.

There are some decent woodies out there for radial/curved mouldings and they're well worth picking up if you get the chance. ;-)

 

[Alf]

Heh. Another one slides effortlessly away down that particular sub-section of The Slope. Those later models are pretty hideous to behold and I have never quite brought myself to purchase one, but owners of same often tell me they work an absolute treat.

 

[GazPal]

Heh. Another one slides effortlessly away down that particular sub-section of The Slope. Those later models are pretty hideous to behold and I have never quite brought myself to purchase one, but owners of same often tell me they work an absolute treat.

Aye, but it's a combination multi sub-section, so you get at least three planes for each one you manage to pick up. :lol:

The only comparatively "modern" one I have is a Stanley 13-050 and it works a treat, but look ghastly. lol My go-to is an old Lewin Universal which literally sets up in seconds .......... as long as you don't snag a cuff on one of it's adjustment levers. :roll:

 

[ro]

Those later models are pretty hideous to behold and I have never quite brought myself to purchase one, but owners of same often tell me they work an absolute treat.

So, pray tell: are there any nicer ploughs out there that I can pick up cheap? I do like tools which are nice to look at (and dare I say it nice to pick up and stroke lovingly while checking that the better half isn't watching) and the 13-030 definitely doesn't fall into that category .

All the good looking ploughs seem to be going for quite a lot of money and I've always been a bit of a bottom feeder when it comes to tools .

 

[Alf]

Ah, the Lewin. A personal favourite of mine as well. Retro-tastic.

Hmm, nicer ploughs, cheap. The holy grail. Cheapness is a matter of luck - and I don't seem to have it - but they're out there. The Record 043 and 044 are classics of their breed and crop up quite a bit. The aforementioned Lewin may be a matter of individual taste. Early Stanleys with the floral casting are often very pretty - but equally often not cheap. I'm not a good judge; I like nearly all of them. It's the one area where I admit to being a bit of a collector. 'Course there's the wooden ploughs too. A whole other Slope I try and not slide down - which is why I've been resisting the crispy example with all the irons at the local tool pusher's emporium as hard as I can. It's almost working too...

 

[AndyT]

If you want a cheap plough plane and don't have the energy to go to car boots at 6 am, there is still plenty of choice on ebay.

Decide what you want, stick in a low bid each time one comes up, and sooner or later you'll find you were the only bidder. If you don't mind cleaning off a bit of rust, you'll do fine.

I've a nice Record 50 that I only paid £5.50 for - its blades were for a differnt model so needed a notch to be cut in the right place, but the rest was fine.

I'd recommend a 405 but you will probably need to pay £70-100 for a complete one in a box, but I find it a well-set up tool that is nice to use.

But like Alf says, common wooden ploughs are really undervalued and should be easy to find.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I'd recommend a 405 but you will probably need to pay £70-100 for a complete one in a box, but I find it a well-set up tool that is nice to use.

I'd also recommend the Record #405/Stanley #45. They are very nice planes to use and you can pick them up for far less if you look long and hard enough. It took me a long time to find them but I now have three :shock: One cost £45; the second £40 and the third £20, so they are out there.

One particular advantage of the 405/45 is that blades from virtually any plough or combination plane will fit because of the blade clamping arrangement. Here's a picture of a blade from a Stanley #50 on the left and one from a #405/#45 on the right

The blade from the Stanley #50 will fit the #405/#45 but not the other way round

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Vann]

So what's a 13-030 and what's a 13-050?

The reason I'm asking is there are two tacky modern looking Stanley "three blade Stanley plough" planes listed on Trademe (NZ's e-bay) ATM. I can't make out the model number on the box.

I had considered bidding in order to get my hands on the cutters, as my 043 was purchased with just one cutter. But when I asked the seller the widths of the 3 cutters, he replied "1/4 inch" - which I assume means there may be only one cutter. At $NZ30 (~£14) excluding postage, that's too much to pay for one cutter! Damit, I only paid $NZ40 for the 043 & an old Stanley 50 (although that was a very good price :!: )

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Alf]

If I recall correctly, and with due reference to a 1999 Axminster catalogue, the 13-030 was the Stanley plough that came with three blades (1/8",3/16", 1/4"). Ro? That right? The 13-050 is the combi one, often with the plastic joke-dog-doings coloured handle but later with a black one, and eighteen cutters. There was also a 13-052 with ten plough cutters, metric and imperial.

Sigh. All the available Stanley cutters are listed for sale. Only 11 short years ago...

 

[ro]

Yeah, the 13-030 comes with just three blades. I'm impressed you remembered the sizes of the blades

And yes, the handle does look like dog doings


So, I'm now watching various combi's on ebay having never seen one at our local car boot. Of course one is bound to turn up for about 50p at the car boot just after I bid on one on ebay!

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice

 

[Alf]

I'd also recommend the Record #405/Stanley #45. They are very nice planes to use and you can pick them up for far less if you look long and hard enough. It took me a long time to find them but I now have three :shock:

Somehow I missed this first time round. Three? Three?! I'd have hazarded a guess it's one for each honing guide, but obviously you'd need more than that... :wink:

So there your are, Ro, worry not about ending up with more than one. You can always point at Paul and says "But he's got three". After that, you can point at me and say "And Alf doesn't even know how many she has!"

 

[Paul Chapman]

Then there's always one of these but I wouldn't want to gloat........ :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[AndyT]

Give me an old one every time, but in a quick search round to see if there is anything new for not much cash I stumbled on what looks like a copy of one of those late Stanleys at Tilgear, reduced to just under £60.
Even reduced, it makes the old stuff look good value!

 

[ro]

Then there's always one of these but I wouldn't want to gloat........ :lol:

Oooooh, pretty.....

I suppose I *might* need more than one anyway. They are now old tools so what would I do if one broke :wink:? I'd definately need a backup :twisted:.

And, if new ones are £60 then I can always say "well, both of these cost less than ONE new plane".....

 

[Alf]

Give me an old one every time, but in a quick search round to see if there is anything new for not much cash I stumbled on what looks like a copy of one of those late Stanleys at Tilgear, reduced to just under £60.
Even reduced, it makes the old stuff look good value!

Anant make a couple. I had an email from a chap in Brazil who got one of their A45s, and with some tuning he seems quite happy with it. But then the old tool scene in Brazil is probably on the small side as a place for alternatives. Or there's the nicely affordable Clifton Multi-plane or course. You can justify an awful lot of old ones against the price of that baby...

 

[mahking51]

Paul,
Nice 55!
I think i still have one or two lying about somewhere....
Just sent a beautifully oak boxed one to Russia of all places, could almost buy a Faberge Egg with what I got for it! :lol:
Thats an interesting point - did Faberge ever do Imperial Combination Plough Planes?
If so Alf & I would want one..... :roll:
Cheers,
Martin

 

[Vann]

Then there's always one of these but I wouldn't want to gloat........ :lol:

Damned pensioners with too much money

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Alf]

Damned pensioner who moved like lightning to snap up a good deal, more like. He can make that Zimmer frame really fly under the right circumstances... :lol:

Fabergé Combi Plane, eh, Martin? There's a thought. Peter the Great used to dabble in some woodturning, I believe, so an Imperial plane or two from the Russian Court isn't such a leap.