# Are these good planes?



## wretched64 (Oct 4, 2017)

My boss said his ex wife's father gave them to him. One I can see is a Stanley no.220. The other is a DE no.4. What is DE? Are they good planes and what is the resale value?


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

In the shape the two planes are in, I would give about $16 for both of them. 
Not worth much in IMO.


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## sunnybob (Sep 3, 2016)

usable with a bit of work, but as far as value, dont give up the day job.


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## wretched64 (Oct 4, 2017)

Toolman50 said:


> In the shape the two planes are in, I would give about $16 for both of them.
> Not worth much in IMO.





sunnybob said:


> usable with a bit of work, but as far as value, dont give up the day job.




Thanks guys. I was just checking. Kinda nostalgic to me never hand planed but could learn with them I'm sure. Tips on what each is designed for?


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## sunnybob (Sep 3, 2016)

lifted from an older forum thread......

With a sharp blade and its wide mouth, the 220 makes a great plane for cleaning up glue lines on panels.

i think the "DE" is a makers mark, I havent seen that before. The no 4 plane is a very common size and a good all round smoother;

The No. 4 Bench Plane
Sole length: 9″
Cutter width: 2″
The No. 4 smoothing plane is historically the most common size. It is an excellent balance of sole length and cutter width to be useful for typical furniture parts. And the last part of that sentence is what is important here: typical furniture parts. Typical furniture parts range from 2″ wide to 24″ wide and 12″ long to 48″ long. That’s a gross generalization, but it works.

Here’s another clue that the No. 4 is useful and popular: When you are searching out a vintage one, you’ll find 10 No. 4s for every one No. 3.

I use a No. 4 for most of my typical cabinet work. And because I work with hardwoods, I have equipped my No. 4 with a 50° frog, which helps reduce tearing (a 55° frog also is available for reducing tearing in curly woods). This is not the tool I’ll use for really tricky domestic woods or exotics – I use a bevel-up plane for that (see below).

Another important detail of the No. 4: It’s not terribly heavy and won’t wear you out as quickly as the bigger smoothing planes.


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## Brian72 (Jun 10, 2018)

Do some research on restoring old hand planes. It takes a little work but well worth it. If the irons are too bad you can get new ones. Most of Lie Nielsen planes are based on old Stanley designs. I'm fairly new to hand planes myself but it's very enjoyable using them. 

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Brian72 said:


> Do some research on restoring old hand planes. It takes a little work but well worth it. If the irons are too bad you can get new ones. Most of Lie Nielsen planes are based on old Stanley designs. I'm fairly new to hand planes myself but it's very enjoyable using them.


It takes A LOT of work, but once done, the hand plane will give you a lifetime of service with just a little maintenance.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

DE is Diamond Edge:

http://www.thckk.org/history/shapleigh-history.pdf


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## lightcs1776 (Aug 30, 2013)

I rarely post here, partly because of my limited knowledge of woodworking but primarily due to the lack of time for both woodworking and the forum these days. However, hand planes are one of the things I really appreciate about what is a hobby for me. Restoring a hand plane takes a bit of work but it is very rewarding. You get to see a rusted tool go from a step away from the trash to a usable tool that can become indispensable in your work. You will have a sense of pride that you are the one responsible bringing new life into the tool. I hope you find it as rewarding as I do.


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

Just because we use power tools doesn't mean we don't need some hand tools. I think every shop needs chilies planes hand saws and the like. My block plane is the plane I use most but I have a #4 on the way and a #5 that I have had for a while. I like using hand tools but I don't want to rip a long board with a hand saw. :sad2:


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## gmercer_48083 (Apr 9, 2016)

Wretched64, 
Both of the planes shown can be disassembled, then all the metal parts can be soaked/submerged in Evaporust (available at Harbor Freight) and using a brass detail brush can be cleaned almost like new. Evaporust will not remove any paint like other cleaning solvents, it only removes the rust. It can be saved back inti the bottle and re used many times before ineffective. Rinse with water, dry and wiped down with 3in 1 oil or similar. Once cleaned the planes should be tuned and sharpened...there is a wealth of info on the internet about that. Any hand plane can be tuned to work very well. The most useful/widely sold plane ever was a #4 smoothing plane, all of which are decedent's from the original Bailey design.

The most complaints that I have heard from others about using hand planes... are really caused by their inability to sharpen correctly followed by poor tune up. Once you learn that any plane works great. Good luck.


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