Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Saw till
Sanford Levy
>Hi folks. I recently bought a Stanley 75 on ebay and after receiving it, it began to wonder what, exactly, it was used for. Its top is narrower than the bottom making it inappropriate for anything that requires a good right angle there. Does anyone know its original use, or have any suggestions as to what it might be good for, besides maybe removing paint on a window sill (suggested on the Blood and Gore site)? Sanford
Saw till? No, handplane...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>Well it's a bull nosed rabbet plane. A cheap a** one too boot. It's is not known to be a good preforming plane. It's looks nice on a shelf or as a paper weight.
Re: Saw till? No, handplane...
Ernie Miller Topeka
>Yup I'm still wondering why I bought one at a garage sale for $2.00 a couple years ago but then I didn't know any better. Bet I buy more junk before I learn to stop buying junk.
Stanley No. 75 plane
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>This question comes up from time to time. I will express my highly biased opinion that its original purpose was to extract money from the wallets of the unsuspecting seeker of bargains. Through the wonders of modern capitalism, especially as exemplified by eBay, it can continue to do so almost indefinitely, since a 75 will never wear out.
I have both you and Ernie trumped, having purchased mine at retail 25 years ago. Since then, I've tried to use it three or four times, but successfully used it exactly twice: once to remove paint from a windowsill, as Blood and Gore recommends; and one to break the edges of a groove recently, a task that any sharp edge from a carrot peeler on up could accomplish.
Besides its limited ability to maintain a clean right angle due to the inadequate bearing surface, it's, in my experience, all but impossible to grip comfortably. Maybe it works better if you're Martian.
Bill, feeling cranky every time he thinks about how he could have spent that money instead, even though it wasn't much back then.
Re: WMD
William Duffield on the Cohansey
>They're great for throwing at back-fence-sitting late-night-howling songbird-murdering feral cats (Felis catus) and bushy tailed tree rats (Scurrilous carolinensis). If you miss, but happen to hit a nearby rock, the shrapnel is devastating.
It's Dunbar's fault...
Scott in Douglassville, PA
>The oft-recommended Restoring, Tuning, and Using... spends about a page or so describing 75s. Dunbar says, "I own and use a Stanley #75;" while maybe not an explicit endorsement, I'd opine that his comment is fodder enough for a bunch of people to continue buying them. Knowing next to nothing about hand planes, I usually refer first to this book when making any ill-informed hand plane purchasing decisions.
So there ya go.
He He He...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>"Bet I buy more junk before I learn to stop buying junk." Love it Ernie!
That's how the search for knowledge works for me too!
Lid for every pot
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>Well, I guess it works for him. Myownself, I'll never understand how the Stanley Works had the courage to sell them.
Stanley 75
Sanford Levy
>Sorry about the title mix up. I thought I changed it from my previous post elsewhere. Thanks for the comments -- they confirm what I already suspected. I am an idiot. Actually, I will sharpen my 75 and see if I can use it for cleaning paint. But it really is not very expensive for a cute paper weight. That must be what I bought it for in the first place! Sanford.
Re: Stanley No. 75 plane
Ernie Miller Topeka
>Perhaps that is why so many on ebay still have the box? try and use it once put it away and forget about it.
Re: Saw till? No, handplane...
Mike G.
>Bet I buy more junk before I learn to stop buying junk.
Kind of like that broken Stanley no. 180 I bought at a flea market a few years ago. The front was broke off right in front of the blade and I told the wife...Hey, that's a rare Stanley chisel plane. Boy, did I feel like a fool after reading the B & G. I still have it somewhere around to remind myself that I'm not no tool expert.
Mike G.
It lives! *LINK*
Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, South of Miami FL
>As the #12-975:
Stanley Bull-nosed Plane
Re: Klone of the 75 lives too!
William Duffield on the Cohansey
>If you think that's scary, you can also get a shiny new Kunz Klone Bullnose #75 frankenplane for about $40 from the vendor whose photo I have referenced here.
Don't even think about it!
It's like night of the living...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>dead. Green, black... just as rotten. Shoot them all in the head! Come on...lets get on with it.