Dating Stanley 78 planes
Sanford Levy
>Hi, I have bought a few Stanley bench planes, often on ebay, and seem to be able to figure out pretty well how to date them using the flow chart everyone uses for Stanley's. But what about Stanley 78's? I know they still (still?) make them and do not want to end up with a recent one. All I can tell from the Blood and Gore site is that they added a depth adjustment lever in 1925 and the handles had fish scales around 1910. But suppose it has the lever, is there any way to tell (especially from a picture) whether it is 1925 versus 1975 or 1995? I notice some ads on ebay mention patent dates cast in the plane. Does the present of a patent date help date the 78's? Is there a web site with a flow chart for the 78's. Thanks for any help! It seems someone out there knows something since people are bidding very different amounts for what look to be identical planes! Sanford