I recently inherited my father’s tools. Among them is a bench plane. The lever cap says “<!—-><!—-> <!—->Stanley<!—-> <!—->”. The sole is marked “Bailey” and “No. 3” near the front handle. Under the frog adjusting screw it says, “Made In USA.
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I remember playing with a bench plane when I was a kid. I think this is the same one, so it must be 50+ years old. Is it a Stanley, a Bailey or a combination of parts? (Pop never threw anything away so it could be cobbled together from parts.)
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The rear handle is broken in two. Is a replacement handle available? Could one of you folks with more skill than me make one?
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I don’t know, or care, if this is a valuable tool. I would just like to learn to use it half as well as the man who owned it. I’ll never get to work in the shop with him again, but it would mean a lot to me to be able to use some of his tools.
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Regards,
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Fred
Replies
Fred,
I have a #3 just like that one. It appears that you have all of the parts and the broken piece of the handle seems to be there also. I would simply glue the handle back together, clean and tune up the plane, add a Hock replacement iron and chip breaker and have fun using it. I added the Hock replacement blade and chip breaker to mine and it is now a real sweet smother. Good Luck.
Bob, Tupper Lake, NY
We're going to lead you down the road here to the "Dark Side" of becoming a plane "nut".
To get you started go here and read a little about Stanley/Bailey http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html
Be carefull planes are infectious.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Hey everyone
"Infectious" to say the least !! When I was 18 (now 49) I also inherited dads Baileys, a jointer a # 5 a #7 and even a few wooden ones every one of them a joy. They are so infectious I am now starting to make them for my self. My only advice is learn how to sharpen them and tune them and they will do all the work.
When looking at the last picture, it looks like the lateral adjustment lever is missing. Either that or it's tilted all the way to right side and I can't see it. In case you don't know, the lateral adjustment lever is a thin piece of metal that is on top of the frog directly underneath the blade that adjusts the plane iron slightly to the left or right. Make sure the plane is complete before investing in a new blade. The inability to skew the blade just a tad can make or break your ability to achieve a truly fine cut from a Stanley Bailey plane.
As far as cleaning it, you should glue the handle back together and clean the metal with some WD-40 and steel wool. You could invest in a bottle of EvapoRust and remove all the rust perfectly clean but if this is the only plane you have, Evaporust may tend to be a waste of money. However, if you are like most folks and get paper thin shavings from your Dad's plane, you will go and hunt down more planes to use and clean up. Owning one plane is like owning one chisel. They work much better in sets.
I think Highland woodworking has replacement parts.
Fred, I inherited a #3 from my father last year. It's a bit older than yours. Seems when he was 12, my grandparents had a work bench built for him. It came with some basic but nice hand tools and a book called "The Boy Builder". When I was a kid, I built many things out of that book. I always thought that was a great gift for a young person. He got a good 75 years use out of those tools and bench. He made half the furniture in his house.
Stanley and Bailey became one company way back. Most of their planes are marked like yours and mine. It's probably not cobbled up. Replacement totes are available. Rockler carries them as well as others, $30-$40.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Well worth it, I have tools of my fathers, my grandfathers, old uncles and even a few old Wood planes from a Swedish Flea market on a trip there. Yep, it may not have value to others, but they are special indeed. Follow some directions from others and you will have a tool to use. My only other thought would be to flatten the bottom. You can use 400 grit wet and dry paper on a table saw top and get it close.
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-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
I, too have inherited some Stanley planes (and that is what you have), from my grandfather and great uncle. None yet from my father. He is alive and well, so any of his tools in my workshop are borrowed or permanently borrowed.
Anyhow, Bailey is the name of the guy who developed some of Stanley's metallic plane concepts. They named the primary line of the tools after him. There is also an upscale line called Bedrock.
Your plane is made for Evaporust -- which won't damage the plating. Just soak it overnight, and then wash it with soapy water and a stiff brush, followed with WD 40 or Boeshield of paste wax to keep it from rusting again -- which it will do very quickly. If you want shine, you can use 400 grit paper on the parts that aren't plated.
You can work the handle over with synthetic steel wool and MS to get it clean and break down the ridges on the old finish. Then glue the handle back together. If you put it in place after gluing and carefully tighten the nut you can use the tightening nut/rod as the clamp for the gluing process. If there are chunks missing at the break, use light colored wood epoxy instead of glue. Either way, you can sand or rasp it to the right shape. A little careful mixing and application with some reddish transtint dye and the repair will mostly disappear.
Finish up by padding some very clear shellac on the wood. Two or three coats -- and a week to dry thoroughly and you rub it out with some 0000 steel wool and good wax.
You will like the results.
Joe
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