Flea Market Find: Hand Plane

Is it a huge score? No, not really, but I think $5 is still a good price. You can tune it up and get some good use out of it. I believe Bandit has a small set (1203, 1204, 1205 I think) of Handymans, and he seems to get good results from them.

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

Hey Mosquito, thanks for the reply. Yeah, not looking for a big score… but looking for a decent plane. Since this is my first, and since I don’t know anything about them, I thought I would reach out to the community.

Thanks again!

If you don’t get many replies to this thread, you could try posting in the Handplanes of your Dreams thread. The guys there will know a lot more about it than me

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/26023
There’s an incredible amount of knowledge and experience in the above thread mentioned by
Mos.
Nice plane SirFatty! Now you get to learn how to tune up planes, way fun my friend.

I think its a great find considering all you have to do is tune it and no restore work. You could have that baby making some great shavings in an hour and some really great shavings in 2 (as long as the sole is not crazy). Plus its a very useful size.

Right now, I have a 1203, and a 1204 handyman plane. I have the #5 sized 1205 on the way to my house. Maybe a look at those two i do have?

My 1204, right after i had refurbished it. Paid $8 for it, after the store wanted $10

for what you see here. Cleaned up nicely. Seems these handyman planes were made by Stanley, so they have “good genes” in them. The 1203?

had a little extra paint on it. You might check to see if there is any extra red on your’s.

Both were tuned up and make some nice shavings.

The 1203 was bought as part of a three plane deal, for $10+S&H Both have been good users. keep yours tuned up, and sharp, and you will swear you have a “Stanley #4”. Well, yes, you actually do, just their Budget Line planes. But those are just as good as their top-o-the line models, when tuned up right.

-- A Planer? I'M the planer, this is what I use

the handyman planes were Stanley’s answer to cheaper planes being dumped on the market. they are a plane that if tuned up correctly can do a good job. they are not a premium plane and weren’t meant to be.That said they sell from 5 to 20 dollars on the open market. they are more usable than lots of the really poor planes like the Windsor designs and the buck brothers.I have found them easy to tune and easy to use.

The first thing you will need to know is what is sharp. Sharp must have a flat back on the blade and a perfect grind and hone job on the blade. Do you know how to sharpen tools? If you do then work your magic. If you dont I recommend you go to youtube. I know there are dozens of videos on how to sharpen a hand plane. Next what are you using to sharpen tools you already have like chisels If you need any help deciding which way to go in the sharpening game PM me I will be very happy to get you going on the right path for your budget. Once you have a single plane working right you will buy more it is a bit addictive.Welcome to the wonderful world of hand-planes.

-- when I am not on Lumberjocks I am on @ http://thisoldworkshop.com where we allow free speech

Yep, $5 is a good price. I’ve restored a few handymans. They can be made to make decent shavings.

As stated above, they are not a premium plane, but as a user they will work. Make sure the sole is flat, the frog is flat, blade is sharp, polish the back of the blade, tune the chip breaker and you should be good to go.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

If all our instructions was Greek to you just pop in to the hand plane thread and post an introduction and say your there to get some help. Don’t bother reading the 15000 posts just to say hi If your stuck the guys will help you and if they tell you something and you don’t know what they mean you can pm me Ill help you out.

-- when I am not on Lumberjocks I am on @ http://thisoldworkshop.com where we allow free speech

Thanks for all the feedback! That’s what is great about LJ’s!

bandit571, Don W: Thanks for the pics, great inspiration!

thedude50, I will take you up on that offer!