Stanley #78 hardware
Jerry Nicholson
>Many of the #78 planes on e-bay are missing the fence and the depth gauge but they are a good deal if you get them cheap enough. Harbor Freight sells a "Duplex Rabbet & Fillister Plane" with model number 90310. This an India made copy of the 78 and its fence, guide rod for the fence, depth gauge, and depth gage lock screw all fit the Stanley 78. I did have to run a 10-32 tap through the screw hole for the depth guage (Stanley seems to have made it a tiny bit smaller than a normal #10 screw) and do a few seconds touch up with a file on the depth gauge guide (where it engages the slot on the 78) to make it seat properly. This is a cheap way to get the missing hardware, $14.99 at HF. Some e-bay folks are apparently buying these at HF and trying to auction them off for more money. I saw one go for about $24 the other day. The HF plane itself doesn't look bad at all although I have no way of judging the quality of the casting and the blade. The casting is quite a bit thicker than that of the Stanley 78.
Just thought there might be someone else that would like to know about this.
Jerry