Big Boy Barbies (My Handplane Collection)

scott spencer

Member
Messages
953
Location
Rochester, NY
I've been having a blast learning about, using, and in general "acquiring" as many planes as I can sneak past the CFO! Less than 3 years ago I had a $10 Homier #4 and a block plane junk set, then my aunt sent me my grandfather's old Stanley 220, which I cleaned and sharpened. Then I ran across a couple of nice Baileys at garage sales, and proceeded to jump off the deep end. :rolleyes: By last year I had acquired a sizeable group of various planes, but to pay for my new Shop Fox W1677 cabinet saw, I needed to sell a few of them off. Well, I missed them, so I started squirreling away gift money and spare change to rebuild the fleet over the long winter here.

Here's a pic of the "old" fleet prior to being largely decimated shortly after buying the new saw:
planecollection.jpg


Here's a pic of the current fleet (this is what reminds me of my younger girls playing with their "Barbies"! :eek: :D):
planes2009002-1.jpg

planes2009001-1.jpg

planes2009003.jpg


In all, there's a Bedrock 605, Bailey 5-1/4, 2 Stanley block planes, Stanley #80 scraper, Millers Falls 8,9,11, (two) #14, and an 18 in transit. There's also an older Craftsman #4 and 9-1/2, a Fulton #3, Record 09-1/2, 03 (circa 1931-1939), (two) #04, 04-1/2, 05, 05-1/2 w/Lee Valley blade, 06, and 07...am currently bidding on a 60-1/2. A few odd wood planes from the old pic are missing from the current pic but still exist in my shop.

Here are my larger Record planes....04-1/2, 05-1/2, 06, and 07:
planes012.jpg


The bench planes (3, 4, 4-1/2):
planes015.jpg


The Jack planes (5-1/2, 5, 5-1/4):
planes026-1.jpg


Here's a "before & after" of a Bedrock 605 type 6 (1914-1918):
BR605001.jpg

Bedrock2002.jpg


A good look at my Bailey 5-1/4 type 13...all original. (circa 1928):
type13010.jpg


Feel free to post your collection...I'd love to see them! :thumb:
 
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Well, I must admit that I can't call my planes a "collection" I think I have something like 10 or 15 and a few of them are hand made by me so by no means can them compare to yours, I've got to take pics. Give me some time please
 
Making a plane or 3 has been on my "to do" list for while Toni....I'd consider a handmade plane to have infinitely more sentimental value than most of those that can be purchased. Please post them when you get a chance! :thumb:
 
I guess I tend to be more drawn to the Records and Millers Falls planes than the Stanleys. I've gotten good performance out of both, but I suppose I find the Records and Millers Falls planes to be more unique (aka less common), which has some appeal, and I also like the color schemes.
 
Scott,
I was wondering, not that you've finally gotten a cabinet saw, whether you'd start lusting after an old Oliver / Tannewitz / Whitney, or find yourself a new obsession. Seems like i've got my answer.
That's a nice collection there. Are all of them users, or is the fun in the hunt? Looks like you did a fine job on that Bedrock. And all the Records. Are any of them the "Stay Set" (SS) models? They're the ones with the two part chip breaker that Cliffton now sells. I've got a Record #4 SS with a Hock iron - it's one of my final pass, fine shaving "go-to" planes (the other is a low angle smoother with a high angle bevel for difficult grains).
I think there's no better value in hand planes than buying old and cleaning them up. I even picked up a #2 smoother for my son (little kid - small hands). I wind up using it from time to time because it fits into small places and is surprisingly comfortable even for my big hands.
Other than the standard smoother, jack, jointer, lineup, i've found the following planes to be very useful and versatile. Certainly worth the money:
a medium shoulder plane (if you're doing any kind of hand jointery)
a #78 fillester / rabbet plane (go with the Millers Falls or Record models here - the Stanley's are mediocre)
a #140 skew angle block
a #112 scraper plane
a scrub plane (if you plan on flattening boards by hand)

Keep up the obsession.
paulh
 
Hi Paul - The Record 05 is a Stay Set, but I discovered upon receipt of it that the lower portion of the two piece cap iron is missing....I haven't had a chance to clean that one up and try it out, but I doubt it'll work well without that piece. Hopefully I can find a replacement to make it usable. The others are all users. I call it a collection, but very few have any real collector value...I certainly enjoy acquiring them. "The hunt" is definitely part of the appeal. I believe many refer to this obsession as "the slippery slope". :)
 
From the title, I was expecting them to be pink (I'm not judging you Scott :rofl:). That is quite a colllection. I've got a couple of Baileys myself, but still need to do some clean-up and learn how to use them. Know of any good guides for doing so?
 
Nice looking collection!

Scott,
Cool collection! Yeah, I see you DO have a thing for Record planes!:D

If you've ever seen the thread on the tool cabinet I built you'd see I'm that way with Bedrocks!:rofl:

I used to have a Record No8 Jointer that was tuned to take a very fine shaving. But I ended up selling it to fund the purchase of a LN#9. I had just gotten a 608 and really didn't see the need for an additional huge jointer. (I have a Bedrock 607 and a Union No7).

But really, "Barbie Dolls"? Real men collected G.I. Joes!!! :D And I mean the BIG ones with the King Fu Grip and life like hair (althougth I had some painted hair ones). I used to have the Commander that talked when you pulled the insignia tag on his chest! Ahhhh,...memories!
 
That's a nice collection, Scott. Mine pales in comparison, but it's better now than it was a couple years ago. I've got a nicely rehabbed Stanley Bailey #3 type 11, and a couple 220s that are in less than perfect condition, but usable. The others are various off-brands that may or may not tune up OK.

You mentioned that you prefer the Record and Millers Falls planes over the Stanleys, and I wonder if it may have something to do with just not wanting to "run with the pack". I recognize some of the characteristics, since I have them myself. Sometimes I'll choose something of similar quality that's different than what the majority seems to go with. When everybody seemed to be buying Grizzly bandsaws, I got a Shop Fox (similar to you and your tablesaw). I had an Ovation Breadwinner when everyone was buying Fender Strats. I have the only purple air compressor and dust collector on my block. :rolleyes: (On the other hand, I have no regrets about jumping on the Powermatic 3520B lathe bandwagon.) :D
 
Yeah, I was definitely into GI Joe's many moons ago Dominic! I remember the Gemini space capsule. "Barbies" came to mind because my daughter's had every Barbie, Ken, and Kelly doll they could scrounge (and some of my son's GI Joe's) laying on the same table the day before....complete with a photo shoot of course! I was pretty much just "playing" with my planes! ...still young at heart I guess! ;) Post your Bedrock's here Dom....I'd love to see them. :)

Vaughn - I think you're right...Stanley makes some great planes but they're fairly common and generic looking to me. Baileys were some of the first planes I went for, but had less interest in them once I got more into it. My Bailey 5-1/4 with the sticker is pretty cool to me though. :thumb: I definitely like the fact that the Records and Millers Falls are less common and look different. A guy's got to keep his individuality ya know! :biker: Some day I may swap a few in favor of the higher end LN, Cliftons, or Veritas planes, but for now I'm enjoying acquiring the blue and red ones, and am getting all the performance I need. (BTW, my Millers Falls 18C just showed up this morning in great shape....a BD gift from dear old Ma! :))
 
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