Stanley No 45 She Has Arrived

[Mezzanine Rob]

As mentioned on a previous thread I have found a complete No.45 and won on ebay.
Well she has arrived and I am very pleased, a beautifully engineered tool that just shouts quality from an era of tool making that will probably never return.
You may have all guessed that I am hooked and now accept that the "slope" is not a myth. (I told the wife I was buying off ebay to cut down the costs!!! What a joke, just another route to poverty)
Enjoyed researching and dating, I think its about 1920ish but just happy with a great tool to use.

Anyway my question is all 20 of the cutters seem to be ground to 20 degrees with no secondary bevel, before I set about touching them all up, as they are dull, is this about right for this type of blade?

The other thing is mine is stamped in the handle with a previous oweners name, would you guys sand this out and refinish or leave as is?

Regards
Rob

 

[Henry Disston]

I would leave the previous owner's mark as part of the tool's history but that is just me.
20 degrees seems pretty steep. It makes it easy to put a micro bevel on, though. I have mine with 25 degree primary/30 degree secondary bevels.
Nice score.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Rob

Leave the name there its history, I have chisels with two names stamped on them.
I must get round to making/buying a stamp.

Pete

 

[Paul Chapman]

The cutters of combination and multi-planes are normally ground and honed at 35 degrees. Do not hone a secondary bevel as it will be difficult to retain the profile of the beading cutters and once lost it's difficult to get back again.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Alf]

Leave the name, and I second Paul on 35° and here's my reasoning as to why.

 

[Henry Disston]

The cutters of combination and multi-planes are normally ground and honed at 35 degrees. Do not hone a secondary bevel as it will be difficult to retain the profile of the beading cutters and once lost it's difficult to get back again.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Doh! I was thinking only of the straight cutters. Shows how often I use the others.

 

[Vann]

...a beautifully engineered tool that just shouts quality from an era of tool making that will probably never return.

Ahem. It has returned.

Clifton make a multiplane which is in effect a No.45.

Of course if you have a spare 1500 UKP lying around you could buy one and see if the quality is up to scratch. (hammer)

Enjoy your new plane. :mrgreen:

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Alf]

Can't say I've had much to do with the Clifton Multiplanes (please see £££ factor mentioned above...) but the one I did spend some time looking at in Axminster some years ago seemed to me to lacking a little in finish quality, which was a trifle disappointing. Especially given the £££ factor.

 

[Argus]

.

Good quality combination planes are not uncommon. Sometimes ex-school planes crop up - generally unused and they sat in the glass cabinet as a trophy of the teachers' abilities in acquiring budgets for shiny gadgets that look complicated and were unlikely to get used.
At least that was the case in the school I went to.

Stanley I believe, marketed the original combination planes as a "Mill in A Box" - in other words something that a site carpenter could reasonably substitute for a boxful of planes when cutting the detailed decorations on second-fix architraves, dado rails, skiting boards and the like on the job. Usually in softwood such as pines - the sort of thing that electric routers do nowardays if decorative profiles are needed at all.

In my opinion the blade angle depends on what you are cutting. 20 degrees is a bit shallow and 30 - 35 is more the norm. Shallower angles may cut the softer stuff easier and support a secondary bevel on straight blades (NOT on curved profiles) if you are so inclined, but it is also more prone to wear and chipping on the cutting edge.
Many tend to be tempered a bit softer than you'd expect form a chisel, so easier to hone.... also wear quicker.

These things tend to struggle a bit with hardwoods - my own preference is to lightly hone the backs of profiled cutters only; if the profile is right, leave it alone. Give the bevel a wipe with a curved leather slip and honing compound now and then.
Straight cutters can be treated and sharpened like a chisel.


As far as the name stamped on the handle - I would leave it; it was common at one time for tools to pass through more than one owner in their working lives and you may see more than one name on old tools.

As you can tell, I have a couple of these..... to be honest, I only use them as plough planes but good ones are a joy to use.




.