Stanley 102 reborn

The weather is finally starting to turn here in central Illinois, and since I don’t have any major projects in the works, I worked on refurbishing this old block plane over the last few weeks. It’s a Stanley #102 type 2, so old is the keyword, because it’s at least 139 years old. I didn’t take a lot of photos during the refurb, but i did get the before and after photos below.

It costs less than $20, and I won’t be complaining

John Economaki over at Bridge City Tool Works recently published a blog post titled $5 for a 1/8? Twist Drill? Only in America… (it’s a great read). I won’t spoil it for you, but during his tour of a Chinese factory a worker tells John “In America, if it cost less than $20, nobody complains about quality—everybody in China knows this”.

Today I Purchased a new smoother from eBay. It’s a Stanley #4 type 14 that I picked up for $19.99. It only has two things wrong with it that I can see; The lever cap is not original, and the tote is broken (easily fixable). Even if it shows up with a defect that makes in unusable, I can still sell the parts on eBay and make more than I paid for it. Thus, I can promise this is one purchase I won’t be complaining about.

Refinished #15 Block plane

As promised, Here are some shots of the refinished Stanley #15. I’ve only spent about an hour using this plane, but I like it’s size and lateral blade adjustment a lot more than I do my #60-1/2. Within a minute of putting in a new Hock blade, I was using it like a miniature smoother, and taking full width transparent shavings in scrap cherry. I also like the size of the #15 better, it’s greater length and width fit’s into my hand better than the #60-1/2.

Stanley #15 Block plane

I haven’t spent much time in the shop the last month or so because of a big project at work. Thankfully that project is now over, and I’ve been able to get into the shop again. One of the projects I want to get completed before Christmas is refurbishing the Stanley #15 I picked up on eBay about 6 weeks ago. I picked it up, because I wanted A regular angle block plane to supplement my #60-1/2. I’ll probably do the refurbishment after I finish Rebecca’s Shoe Rack. The following shots (I went a little overboard) are as I received it from the seller.

A Stanley #60-1/2

I picked this little beauty up on eBay a few weeks back and finally got around to cleaning her this weekend. She’s in pretty good shape, so after a quick cleaning, lapping and sharpening she is now ready to make shavings.