Stanley 112136 No.4 Premium Bench Plane

Product Information

As you examine the plane, look for a raised ring that works as a receiver of the knob cast into the bed. In some cases, there is one patent date, and no raised ring, meaning your plane is Type 13, and the dates range from 1925 to 1928. If there is one patent date and a raised ring, the plane type is Type 14, which dates between 1929 and 1930. If there are no patent dates and raised rings, you also have a plane Type 1 to 8.

The blade across the width was totally flat down the length it was slightly concave but the smallest feeler gauge I had 0.003″would not go under the straight edge.The blade came with a sharp cutting edge Stanley Type 9 Handplanes date from 1902-1907. No patent date on the lateral lever. “B” casting marks are eliminated. The number designation is now cast just behind the knob. A smaller bearing surface is cast into the bed. The frog has a slot at its bottom to fit over the ribbed cast in the bed. For other reasons, based on my knowledge and experience as a professional engineer, I bought the Veritas smoothing plane. It does all I want it to and does it well. If I had wanted to save money in the initial expenditure I would have bought the Luban plane. I would never buy the Stanley plane. Suitable for removing very fine shavings from a variety of wood types to leave a smooth finish, when used effectively, the “No. 4” Sweetheart™ Smoothing Bench Plane can produce a finish that equals or surpasses that made by conventional sandpaper. After opening up the mouth I fitted the new iron into the plane and tried it out, it cut shavings ok.Please get familiar with the names of the multiple parts of the tool using a Stanley diagram which I will summarise below. Look for the bed of the plane behind the frog. If you can see any patent dates cast into the bed, note how many are there. The plane iron may also be ground slight differently in shape (as opposed to angle)... but yes, those are the largest differences. They do affect how the plane is used.

Stanley Type 11 Handplanes date from 1910-1918. The APR-19-10 patent date appears with the other patent dates cast behind the frog. There is a new trademark adopted, where “STANLEY” “NEW BRITAIN” “CONN.” “U.S.A.” forms a v-shaped logo. If you tell me that the Stanley planes of 40 years ago are better than the new ones today, I wouldn’t argue. If you try to tell me that these old Stanley planes are as good as the good planes of today then I’ll walk away – it’s not a proposition that is worth discussing. I can’t speak for Paul, and I’ve never used a new Stanley but I would say yes, the quality of Stanley has dropped considerably in my opinion, just like nearly every other tool maker, they wouldn’t be able to stay afloat if they didn’t drop their quality at some point. Many good tool makers have disappeared over the years, many others were bought out or taken over by Stanley and then the great tools that were made well disappeared. They mainly just rely on the name ‘Stanley’, everyone knows them and thinks they are good so that’s how they can keep selling rubbish tools and get away with it. Some tools are ok but I’ve bought some really bad ‘modern’ designs from Stanley over the years. For this, you may need a Stanley wood plane parts diagram and a tape measure. As for the records, Stanley made tools starting in 1843, including a bench plane.Stanley Type 15 Handplanes date 1931-1932. They remove all patent info on the bottom casting. “BAILEY” is now cast behind the knob toward the rib, and the number is directly in front of the knob. Stanley Type 14 Handplanes date 1929-1930. It is from the USA and is now cast into the bed at the toe. A raised ring is cast into the bed to act as a receiver for the knob, and it prevents the splitting of the knob. The chances of splitting are high due to the raised ring and greater leverage capable of being placed on them than on the low knobs. Each type has features that distinguish it from the others, with parts and markings cast into the metal. The variation features are the aircraft number, patent numbers, or dates. Allow me to detail the steps to dating a Stanley plane. Steps for dating Stanley hand planes