Stanley Planes on Craigs List

Eric,

Be careful what you find as a deal. I won’t call these planes junk, they are useful, but I think you would be wiser to find older model Stanley Bailey planes rather than these. Frankly, I think they are limited in their capabilities. You may find that as you improve at using hand planes, these tools wouldn’t be able to grow with you. I’d suggest finding older vintage Stanleys. Spend a little more than what is being asked here. Still, you can learn with these things.

I’d look at the Lie Nielsen’s, get sick to your stomach about the prices, but test drive a few planes. You get a feel for what a plane is SUPPOSED to do. With that feeling, you will soon realize what these new Stanley’s can’t do.

I’d pass.

-- When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there is no end to what you CAN'T do

These are all what I would consider modern planes. I’ve never owned a Stanley that new, so I’m not sure how well the frogs are designed. I’m sure they could be made into good users with some work, but if it were me (opinion only) I would invest the same amount of money in pre-ww2 planes…they are tried, true, and have proven themselves. If you are patient, you can build a set like that for far less cash, and better planes to boot.

-- I've never been accused of withholding my opinion ;)-- Walter M. ~ Missouri

Thank you Dwain,
I dont know enough at this point to tell if these were made last year, or in 1950.
I appreciate your advice, and quick response.

There is a nice looking #4 much closer to my house which I think I will get instead.
#4

-- I love the smell of coffee in the morning, and sawdust in the afternoon

Those are very reasonable prices these days. The
UK made Stanley bench planes have slightly
thicker castings than the US made ones.

Used Bailey planes are not so common to come
by in California. I saw them a lot when I
lived in the northeast, at flee markets and such.
Ebay used to be a good source but prices
have crept up with free Buy It Now listings
and shipping often adds too much to make
many ebay planes a good deal these days.

That number 4 is a nice looking plane. The price is a little on the high side, but not to much. Those others aren’t to high. But like everyone else, go for something older.

A word of warning! Once you start down this road be very careful. Collecting and restoring hand planes becomes very addicting! But damn is it satisfying to take and old rusting plane, Clean it up, get it nice and sharp. Then here that wonderful sound and see that shaving as it slides down a board. Just about as good as popping the top on a can of beer on a hot summer day.

Old tool swap in Culver City:

https://www.andersonplywood.com/572/old-tool-swap-meet/

UK made planes shouldn’t be bad for users.

-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.

I have some Stanley England planes and they are fine, Those prices are good. They are not collecters items they are users,
If you can afford the LN you will find them of much better quality, but you will pay for it

-- nice recovery, They should pay extra for that mistake, Eric E.

Thanks for all the help guys!
I did pick up that #4 this morning, I thought it was a little high, but all the cheaper old Stanley’s I see are rust buckets, and obviously I am not at the level of being able to restore them. I think this #4 is a good starting point for me to learn the mechanics, and maintenance operations.

And, I ordered a #62 LAJ at the Lie-Nielsen show, No Tax, No Shipping, so I have dove into the world of planing. These 2, plus my low angle Block, should have me covered for a long time.

Eric

-- I love the smell of coffee in the morning, and sawdust in the afternoon

Thanks for all the help guys!
I did pick up that #4 this morning, I thought it was a little high, but all the cheaper old Stanley s I see are rust buckets, and obviously I am not at the level of being able to restore them. I think this #4 is a good starting point for me to learn the mechanics, and maintenance operations.

Eric

- EricLew

Bingo!

-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.

The most important thing with hand planes (especially old Stanleys) is to get the iron really, really sharp, and then to mate the chipbreaker properly with it. See Chris Schwarz’s video on rehabbing and setting up a vintage plane for good information. There are a lot of other youtube videos on the topic also.

Eric,

Overall my experience with buying planes off EBay is not good. And if you don’t have time searching for that flea market/garage sale “find” and would rather not spend your time fiddling and fettling, my advice is buy a newer, better made plane. Ending up in a bidding war and $100 (or more) in a handplane is not uncommon.

For comparable money to an EBay, IMO the WoodRiver V3 plane is quite comparable to LN a fraction of the cost. I think this is a worthwhile consideration for anyone starting out. And you can always send it back if you don’t like it (but I doubt you will.) My impression is the LN irons are a bit better but other than that I can barely tell this diff. Yes, it is made in China but they have managed to maintain QC. This can be a big issue for some people, but almost everything is MIC anyway.

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

Thank you, and I agree. I haven’t heard or read a single bad word about the WoodRiver V3 planes. They get rave reviews. I was planning on going that direction, especially since there is a Woodcraft just a few miles from my house, so I can see and touch them without ordering sight unseen.

Since most of the Lie-Nielsens are almost twice the price of the WoodRivers, the WoodRivers are definitely the way for a newbie like me to go, but the Lie-Nielsen Low Angle Jack was only $30 more than the WoodRiver, and since I didn’t pay sales tax, they were virtually the same price, so this was a great deal.

I may still add either a 4 1/2 or a 5 1/2, and if so, that one will definitely be a WoodRiver. Then I will have one of each of the 3 brands to see the differences.

-- I love the smell of coffee in the morning, and sawdust in the afternoon

So Woodcraft now has a 20% off sale on all the Wood River planes.

Since I’m a power tool guy, just starting to get into hand planing. I now have a Stanley Low angle block, a Stanley #4, and a Lie-Nielson Low angle Jack. Which plane would you recommend I add next, or does this pretty much cover it since I dont buy rough sawn wood? I don’t want to miss the opportunity of that sale

Thank you !

-- I love the smell of coffee in the morning, and sawdust in the afternoon

For most power tool-centric shops, a block plane and smoother will cover the vast majority of general planing tasks. If you do much furniture work, then a shoulder plane would be something to consider for joinery.

-- https://www.jtplaneworks.com - In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.