Craftsman Plane Question

Re: Craftsman Plane Question

Richard Gillespie

>I have several Craftsman planes. These, I believe, were made for Sears by the Sargent, not Stanley. The reason I say that is, I also have some labeled Sargent and they are identical with parts that are interchangeable.

I have tried to tune up these planes and find that like Sargent planes, flattening the soles is a chore. The cast iron on both of these brands is harder than any other brands I've worked on. I have three sitting on my work bench now that I considering taking to a machine shop and have them do it.

For flattening soles I start with 50 grit sanding belt mounted on a glass plate. It doesn't even seem to bite into these. Yet, it works well on others

Re: Craftsman Plane Question

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Sounds like about the equivalent of a Stanley No. 3. If I recall correctly, several manufacturers made Craftsman planes, and some of them made good tools (corollary, unspoken until this parentheses: and some of them made tools that would make good boat anchors if they weren't such awkward shapes). I have an old, old Craftsman plane in the No. 6 size, and it's a great plane, not as good as my Wards Master No. 4, but that wasn't part of your question, so I'll shut up now.

Re: Craftsman Plane Question

Aaron Cunningham

>Thanks, I'll start wandering about looking for info on the Sargent planes.

Now that you mention it, I didn't have a lot of luck lapping the sole of this plane.

Machining, Hmmm... I t just makes me wonder what my grandfater hit to scar the sole thw way it did. I swear the man must have used thist= thing as a paint scraper. :)

Re: Craftsman Plane Question

Aaron Cunningham

>I've been calling it my #3 ever since I did some initial research a year or so ago (based on blade width). I recently found the plane Xref article on this site, and decided to check the dimensions of mine. The additional 1 5/8" of length threw me.

Doesn't really matter, I suppose, it will always be 'Grandy's bench plane', so... :)

No problem, information is always useful. :)

I figured this critter for an anchor until I realized plane blades weren't self sharpening. :)

Aaron

Re: Craftsman Plane Question

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Not surprisingly, plane lengths/widths weren't and aren't standardized, although Stanley's hegemony over the market for the last nearly 100 years has left the impression that there's some government standard about different bench plane sizes. Nothing wrong with that combination of width and size. With my hands, I personally would find a true No. 3 kind of awkward anyway - I've got a Stanley 10-1/2 (like a bench plane, but with a rabbet mouth, iron all the way out to the edge of the sole, poking through holes on each side) that's about the size of a No. 3, and there's so little finger room in front of the tote (rear handle) that when I use it, I just cup my hand around it with thumb and fingers on each side of the plane and push that way.

If it's a good plane, use it with joy. Nothing, but nothing, replaces using a tool your grandfather used. I've got a few of those myself.