Stanley Plane Restoration
Finally a new post and video! I hadn’t really planned on this one, but I purchased an old plane at the Old Tool Swap Meet at Anderson Plywood in Culver City, near Los Angeles. It’s held quarterly and I attend maybe twice a year. At the May event I came across a good deal on a Number 4 Type 11 that I couldn’t pass up. If I was still teaching I would sell it to a student in my handtool class, but that’s no longer an option. Hence, this post.
I walked through the restoration steps in a series of blog posts quite a while ago, but I thought it would make a good video. Longer than I expected, but I go into a fair amount of detail, as is my style (for better or worse).
The restored plane will work as well as most new, premium planes, for a fraction of the price (depending on how you value your time). Someone recently commented on one of my videos that a restored Stanley will work just as well as a new plane. That has not been my experience, but they can come pretty close. Under most circumstances they work identically, but when the grain gets nasty a Lie-Nielsen with their thick blade will outperform this plane.
