# Which brands of old hand plane make good users?



## Smile_n_Nod (Jan 20, 2011)

Obviously, there is a consensus that the old Stanley Bailey hand planes were good tools. There are several other old brands (e.g., Millers Falls, Record) that look very similar to the Stanley Baileys (presumably there was some copying going on after the patents expired). If I'm buying an inexpensive, old user plane on eBay, which brands should I look for and which should I ignore?


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

You'll get a lot of good recommendations here. I generally stick to Baileys and Bedrocks but Miller's Falls and some particular Sergeants are really nice. If you can snag a Clifton or (God forbid) a Preston, that'd do well. Those are the ones that spring to my mind.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

I've owned several Bailey's, Millers Falls, Records, a Bedrock, and a Sargent. It depends a lot on the era they're from, but each of these brands has some very nice planes available. The Bedrock's are all good AFAIK. I tend to gravitate toward the Records and MF….possibly just because their different, or I like the colors, but they're also typically reasonably priced and they've been very good planes.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

I like to look for hand planes that have adjustable frogs. Then I'm interested in the best overall condition. If the blade looks nice enough to be sharpened this is a plus. I avoid any planes that have cracked soles.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

I recently picked up my 3rd Sargent plane. One VBM and two earlier ones. The Sargent VBM seems to be their best planes and much less expensive than the Stanley planes on fleaBay.

http://www.horizontalheavens.com/418vs418VBM%20Comparison.htm


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I like Knuckle-joint block planes. I recently bought one very cheap on Ebay,
I think it's a Craftsman made by Millers Falls. The seller didn't know enough
about planes to identify the possible makers or even enough to describe
it as a knuckle cap plane, which would have increased it's sale price since
I'm not the only guy who likes them as users.

There are some old Records floating around in the USA, but the Stanleys
and other American brands seem to vastly outnumber them.

You won't get the best bargains on Ebay when you buy from experienced
plane sellers, but you will get accurately represented tools. You'll get the
bargains hunting for planes being sold by ignorant seller who don't know 
how to list and describe them to appeal to buyer afraid of buying a 
broken or incomplete tool.


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## dkirtley (Mar 11, 2010)

Get thee to the tool pushers.

Just to complicate matters, some Stanleys suck as well. Until you are educated enough in the differences to know what you are looking at, I don't recommend going it alone. I definitely don't recommend messing with ebay. The online dealers of used tools will give you a good tool for a reasonable price. They will differentiate a good user from the range of collector candy to dog meat. They generally will give you the right of refusal.

I am quite sure that there are some bargain planes to be found on ebay. I have just never personally seen one. It is more common for me to look at the prices that they sell for and just shake my head.


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## bubinga (Feb 5, 2011)

I got a couple of Millers Falls from eBay ,tuned them up,boy I really like them
I also have a newer Millers Falls that's a piece of crap
You can get The Millers Falls for a better price there to ,because of the Stanley name they go for more
10 planes I have bought from eBay where from 25 to 50 dollars the highest being a Stanley #7
After cleaning and tuning ,are very nice working planes
If you don't do a lot of home work ,before you buy, you will end up with crap you don't want
Places to find info
Here is one place--http://www.handplane.com/74/stanley-no-5-plane/
Here a a very good place--http://www.supertool.com/stanleybg/stan0a.html
Great info here-https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/planes101.htm
And one more--http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/Wood_How_To/INDEX_How_To.htm
Millers Falls here-http://oldtoolheaven.com/bench/bench.htm


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

SmilenNod - Lots of solid advise in the entries before mine, especially the caution to avoid any kind of broken mechanics (knobs and totes are a different story, depending on what you like to mess with). I'd further suggest you look for features over brand if it's a quality tool you're after. Such as:

- Solid, cast-iron frog (no bent metal frogs, whatever you do)

- Lateral adjustment levers

- Frog adjustment screw (quality indicator, but certainly not a show stopper)

- Flat (or reasonably so, depending on smoother vs. jack vs. jointer, etc) sole

Each of these are individual indicators of a decent tool and are simpler to remember than individual brands - there are a TON of old planes out there… Just one example: I've owned a Hercules plane (made by sargent) that met the criteria and tuned up to do solid work. Good luck!


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## jonoseph (Dec 13, 2015)

Acorn planes came before the Stanley takeover .I bought a very nice 4 1/2 which has no frog adjuster and was made with a narrow mouth . The lack of a frog adjuster is not a problem . The frog base is slanted upwards instead of having two horizontal bases . It`s like a Bedrock without adjusters .But the plane is well made .


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

I have a bunch of Stanley planes but spend most of my time with two or three of them. When you get a sharp iron and tune that baby in, lots of fun.


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## corelz125 (Sep 23, 2015)

This is an old thread. So doubt the op is still looking.


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## jonoseph (Dec 13, 2015)

I bought a broken 500 Rapier plane last week to convert it to a floor scraper . The front section must have had a crack on one side and the recent knock showed a clean break ,whereas the old crack had a film of rust . It was all rusty and the blade and chip breaker were rusty too . After 5 minutes with a palm sander the rust films were gone . I turned the blade upside down and gave it a 65 degree scraper edge . It makes a good floor scraper now. I only have the edge in contact , with the blade near to vertical . But for this topic the most interesting thing was how the palm sander shifted the rust without adding any scratches . I bought two other working Rapier planes and they have all the necessary adjusters . I prefer screw caps and the 400 smoother was amazingly accurate when I checked the sole for flatness and the sides for squareness .


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## Florida_Jim (Jul 10, 2010)

A while back, I picked an old #3 size Craftsman. It was made by Sargent. 
With a bit of clean up, and serious sharpening, it has become my favorite plane. It's light, very handy, and the iron seems to hold an edge very well.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> This is an old thread. So doubt the op is still looking.
> 
> - corelz125


A timeless discussion though. Someone somewhere will benefit.


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## AMZ (Jan 27, 2020)

For me, it's Millers Falls, but only the ones with the articulating lever cap. The frog bearing surface looks like the Stanley Bedrocks or Bailey Type 11. Very well machined. The MF Buck Rodgers are also tops, but they're more collector grade than user (I have every MF Buck Rogers tool made).


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## DaveS2 (10 mo ago)

My vote is definitely Stanley, pre-WWII vintage Baileys. You can immediately tell those prewar planes by the brass advance knob. After WWII started, bakelite and a composite plastic was used since brass was needed for the war effort. Also, most of the pro-war planes have the patent into embossed on the tail behind the tote.


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