Stanley Question
David Miller from Iowa
>As you can tell from my incessant posts, I�ve started the Thanksgiving weekend early.
Here�s a question for you Stanley fans. I have one of these �Sweet Hart Defiance Planes� - a #5. How common are these, do any of you own/have seen one? Does this add to the value of the plane? I�d guess not � a factory second iron in a cheapie plane, but why would Walters go on about it? Just a curiosity?
The following is excerpted from Walter�s Second Edition, page 22.
�On May 5, 1927, Stanley experienced a shortage of Defiance Plane irons. To avoid delays in production, the decision was made to use leftover Bailey irons in the Defiance planes. Stanley had been saving second grade materials since 1925, and the irons were graded into two types. The lowest grade irons had serious problems such as temper, thickness, etc. These low grade irons were not to be used. The better grade rejects were those with only surface blemishes. The directive for using the recycled cutters instructed that one-half inch be cut off top of the iron, and the Defiance mark stamped along the edge. The directive was followed to the letter and gave rise to a very interesting mark. The Defiance mark runs clearly up the side of the iron, but also a small �v� (actually the bottom of the Sweet �Hart� logo) exists at the top edge of the blade. The odd marking is a mystery until one overlays Defiance and a Sweetheart iron. As can be seen, the reject irons were originally marked with the Sweetheart stamp. Early Defiance models with these cutters are known to collectors as the �Sweet �Hart� Defiance Planes."
Sorry for the crummy scan, there is the v shaped bottom of the �heart� above the �in� in Made in USA� � I guess you�ll have to trust me since the scan didn�t pick it up.