Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
? on Craftsman #302
Hoa Dinh
>My brother told me that he'd bought a good old Craftsman #302 for $15. From his descriptions to me over the phone, it sounds like an equivalent to Stanley #4 or #3. Which one is it? Will a Stanley #4 blade fit? I have an extra A2 blade he can use.
I'm just curious: what's its value (in terms of usability, not collection) compared to its Stanley counterpart?
I did a search but couldn't find anything meaningful.
Thanks,
-- Hoa
Re: ? on Craftsman #302
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA, the rain's here
>Some of the Craftsman planes were made by good makers (e.g., Stanley, Sargent if I recall correctly). Others, like the one I purchased in the 1970's and later passed on to my brother, seem to have been made by companies that normally made boat anchors.
If it looks like an old Stanley, it's probably a pretty decent plane. As best I know, the iron widths are the same as the Stanley et al bench planes.
Bill, extrapolating wildly from limited knowledge
Pretty good bench planes
Jim Reed @Tallahassee
>The early Craftsman planes were well made. Most I have seen are pretty good copies of Stanley/Sargent favorites. I have a 7C that is one of my best user planes. The good/bad news is that prices are way down--expect to pick up any of them for less than $25. Bad news if you are a seller and good news if you need some good user tools. Blade quality is hit or miss with earlier ones (pre-WWII) seeming better.
Re: Pretty good bench planes
Mike L
>Hi Jim,
Does your Craftsman have a cast yoke for blade adjustment or is it stamped steel? Also, does it have the frog adjustment screw? I ask because I have a few Craftsman bench planes that are supposed to be pre-WWII but all have a stamped metal yoke and no frog adjustment screw. One of them looks to be absoultely unused (i.e. clean, shiny, etc.). TIA.
Cheers,
Mike