Re: Rabbet plane *LINK*
Bill Houghton, finally Spring!! in Sebastopol, CA
>You probably have a No. 78 (see link below titled "Patrick Leach on the No. 78").
I've always had the shavings problem too. My tricks for minimizing it are: set the iron for light cuts and reach in with a finger every few strokes to kind of stir the shavings around. I do keep a length of dowel (similar idea to the pencil) on the bench for times when the space fills up.
Stanley still sells parts for these, as far as I know - at any rate, they list them in their parts catalog (page 7, link below in the body of this e-mail because I don't know how to put in multiple links). Stanley is famous for using offbeat thread pitches on odd diameters of cap screws and other threaded parts - and then they'll go and use some stunningly common bit you can replace in any hardware store. What I would NOT do with the fence rod is screw it into the body and then try to bend it straight. Take it to your hardware store and see if it fits common thread pitches. If it does, look for a connector nut (this is a really long nut used to connect two threaded rods together), hold the connector nut firmly somehow (if you've got a metalworking vise, put it in the vise; if not, find a neighbor who does), thread in the fence rod, and gently bend until true.
If the thread pitch isn't standard, I'd buy another fence rod - not too expensive, and much simpler.
Stanley's parts page: http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?TYPE=STATICLEFT&PAGE=partsservice.htm&LEFT=left_partsservice.htm
Patrick Leach on the No. 78