Perfect for shop class. I bet a lot of the aluminum planes went there so they could survive being dropped.Here are all my aluminum block planes. They include Foster, Utilaplane, one with casting numbers of P3958 on the body, 3959 on the levercap, and 3960 on the thumbwheel. The last one is umnarked.
That, and they are lightweight. Too light for my preference.
I was thinking the same thing. Aluminum planes are interesting, but having a little mass feels right on most plane work.
). A little weight makes shaving feel smoother in use.I found some similar on e-bay. They say its an American Boy Mfg. by Delta Specialty Co. Milwaukee,Wisc. Sold in Woolworth stores.Need help identifying this block plane. It has an unusual lever made from stamped steel. There are no markings anywhere on the plane or the blade. It is coarsely finished.
Was thinking maybe a Sargent based on the A.A. Page patent 585889 (July 6, 1897) but they typically had a blade that narrowed at the clamping end.
I looked at the pointy lug at the heel and compared it to Millers Falls and Union. The unknown is conical where the others are more bullet shaped.
Then I compared the front knobs and the Pexto is the closest. Plus they were good at forming steel. Perhaps?
It will do, unless the top of the door, then it might be a little hard due to grain reversal from the top anf vertical boards
As stated a Stanley 220, which I will trust. It's a maroon era, so a bit newer. I have one from my uncle somewhere, just as an heirloom
Decent, you could do worse
More or less material removal. A smaller gap means less. You might need to adjust the blade and the mouth together.
See above
The adjustable mouth Stanley
Unfortunately, the quality started dropping off quickly with the "cordovan" era planes but the parts are all there and the steel in the iron is good you can make a silk purse out of it with some elbow grease. It's not quite as good as an old "sweetheart" era plane,
It's a "bevel up" plane, so it doesn't have a chip breaker, the idea on a bevel up plane with an adjustable mouth is to choke the mouth up to the edge so that it helps keep the fibers from splitting up and leading to (more) tearout. That said, the 9 1/2 has a lowish angle which helps it cut end grain like on the top of the stiles of the door for example where the mouth wouldn't be as critical. With any plane, "sharp" cures most of the problems, if it's not sharp, it doesn't matter how good the tool is. How to get it sharp is probably worth it's own thread.
