another mystery plane
Jack from Maine
>I got a #5 plane from a friend. It has No 5 in raised letters on the tip of the toe.No other stamps or marks of any kind anywhere on the plane except for the Stanley name on the iron ,which means nothing. It has a broken frog. The lateral adjustment lever must have broken off taking the top of the frog with it. I don't have the broken off piece. I assumed it was a stanley so I got a used frog for it but when I went to put it on I discoved it won't fit.
The raised part of the bed where the frog mounts is way too low. I checked other stanley planes of various sizes and ages and they are all the same height. The new/used frog would fit on any one of them. I removed the tote and put it on a #7 and it fit perfectly. So--what is this plane?I read the stanley plane type studies and I couldn't tell from them if this was in fact an older plane by Stanley.
BTW this plane has a nice sole,very clean mouth,no cracks and that rear tote was a nice rosewood one.Also the iron and chipbreaker are in nice shape(low front knob of rosewood).Very little rust. The top of the broken frog(where the iron rests)is solid across it's width,no indentations.
Any clues? Thanks for listening and I hope I'm not becoming tedious. I'm just learning all this stuff.Thanks---Jack
