>Hello everyone. A couple of weeks ago a guy I bought some tools from a year or so ago gave me a Craftsman hand plane. He told me that he had some saw blades that goes with the tools that I had bought and when I got there he gave me much more stuff than the saw blades. Anyways, my question is: How do I identify the plane. Are there any markings to look for? I have looked over it briefly and haven't seen anything. He told me that he thought it was an 18 because it is about 18" long. I've not measured it, but it is close. Also, the handle is broken on it and I will have to find a replacement. The knob seems to be in good condition though. All of your help is greatly appreciated.
Re: Craftsman hand plane (longish but well meant) *LINK*
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>If it's a bench plane (see picture, courtesy of a Popular Mechanics website) and 18 inches long, you have what is called a "fore plane," useful for a variety of work. Generally, the longer the plane, the more it's designed to get long flat surfaces; the shorter, the more it can be used to smooth specific areas. For more information, your local library probably has books available, or read through the bench plane part of the link below.
Myself, I like fore planes for smoothing rough wood and hogging off wood, and somewhat for jointing short boards. I think it's an under-respected plane. The iron is wider than the next size down, so you get a workout, but it's good healthy fun.
Some Craftsman planes are very good tools; some are more suitable for keeping shop drawings from blowing around. Generally, the older tools are more likely in the first group. There may be other folks who can help you figure out what company made it (all the Craftsman planes were contracted out, some to major, quite competent makers), which will then give you an idea of how good it's likely to be. If you have a digital camera and can post a picture, that would make it easier. Ultimately, though, the test is using it, for which see below.
How broken is the handle (officially called the "tote")? I've glued handles that were cracked all the way through before. The trick is to understand how to apply your clamping pressure so it runs at 90 degrees to the crack. Those trigger-type bar clamps with big soft plastic faces are surprisingly good at applying the pressure without slipping off. If you don't own one of those, some cleats nailed to a board and wedges, or maybe even big rubber bands could do the job.
If it's broken beyond repair, you're probably best off taking the plane and broken handle to the nearest store with hand tool parts, like a Woodcraft store, and seeing what you can match; or writing Joel at Tools for Working Wood (toolsforworkingwood.com) and seeing if he thinks he can match it. He'd probably want the dead handle to match it.
If you look in the Articles section here, you can find out lots of info on tuning and using hand planes, but a word of advice: start simple. Take it apart, clean it up (notes below), sharpen the iron, and try it out.
Cleaning: Everyone's got a different preference. I like SOS pads and warm water, followed by WD-40 to prevent rust from starting up again. If you have a significant other, DON'T do this in the kitchen sink, or you may be sleeping on the sofa for a few nights; it's messy. Others use mineral spirits (paint thinner). Regardless, when you're done, wax all moving parts including the sole with a decent non-automotive paste wax (auto waxes contain abrasives), available at your friendly local hardware or even big box home improvement store.
If you find yourself getting pulled in, I recommend a book called "Planecraft," available from Woodcraft either in the store or online (also available from half.com at prices exceeding the Woodcraft price - go figure). If you can get past the somewhat fusty British writing, you'll get a great education on how to use a hand plane.
>There used to be a web page that dated the Craftsman logos, but the last time I tried the link, it no longer worked. Millers Falls made Craftsman planes for a while and they're excellent. I have a green Craftsman block plane, maker unknown, but again, excellent quality. If anyone has a current link to the Craftsman logo page, please post it.
>Thank you for your replies. That has helped me out a lot. The handle or tote is completly missing. I misspoke when I said broke. I'll try to take a picture of it and post it tomorrow sometime.
>I have a 21" Craftsman and an 18" Craftsman. They are the same sizes as Stanley #7 and #6 respectively. Mine are older and both have corrugated soles. They are both excellent planes and I use them for woodworking. As others have said, Craftsman quality is all over the board and really depends on who made what and when. As a general rule, however, I have found the larger sizes (6 & 7) to be excellent planes. I have seen some pretty shabby #4 size Craftsman planes and some #5 (14") that lacked quality, but I have never seen a poor quality #6.
>is that you have a pretty good plane. I have never seen a large corrugated Craftsman that was not a good user. The one thing that I really like about mine is that the adjuster wheel works well with very little backlash. I set the blade to just barely kiss the wood and pull a really thin shaving from a test piece of wood. Then I move on to the project and adjust the wheel to get a little more bite. It usually takes no more than a little flick of the thumb (1/10 of a rotation) to find the sweet spot. Good luck with your plane rehab.
>but last time I pulled it up, I got the dread "no can find" message from the internet. I think Sears dropped it, the devils. Maybe we should hound them to put it back up. I've started the ball rolling by contacting them just now and begging. It's not easy to find the webmaster's contact: go to sears.com, click on "customer service" at the top (left of center), then "contact us" at the top right of the page you'll get, THEN find the webmaster link toward the right of the next page (this is for folks in the United States - don't know if Sears is an international brand these days).
BTW, my Sears fore plane, which has the oldest logo (beep beep!), is quite a good plane too.
