# Anyone know about these??



## bigg081 (Dec 23, 2012)

Does anyone have any knowledge of these planes? My father found them about 7 years ago. They are not I'm my possession but I can get further info. 





























Thanks for any help.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Well apparently you do - your father found them. :laughing:

Sorry could not resist a leg pull.

Many companies made tools for the big stores, Sears, Wards, even some of the big hardware stores. They had the "store" label.

Some of these were very similar to the Stanleys at the time, frequently some features omitted to save price.

There are a lot of no-name around. If you get this you may find some stamping on the blade, sometimes no markings at all.

The middle plane is a transitional - as in these were part metal - the portion to hold and adjst the blade - and part wood. In between the wood planes and the later all metal planes.

Transitional planes are loved by some, and hated by some. I had one, and did not like it so I passed it onto Chris Curl who does seem to like it.

These are potential users, but you may have to put in some elbow grease to tune them in order to get decent performance.

Frequently the old planes have bad sharpenings, or have not been sharpened for a long time.

If you can get these, they are worthwhile to have, even if only to learn about tuning planes, sharpening blades, etc.


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

Dave Paine said:


> If you can get these, they are worthwhile to have, even if only to learn about tuning planes, sharpening blades, etc.


+1 I'd never pass up the opportunity to acquire more planes. I think all three could be good user planes once tuned up. The Wards Master is a relatively common plane that I've seen quite a few around. 

Look on the front of the wood block on the transitional, they are sometimes stamped there with a model number or manufacturer. It is similar in size to a SB #35 that I have. Like Dave mentioned, it's a love/hate relationship. Sometimes it works really well for me and other times I want to smash it on the concrete.

Even though the totes are split, you should be able to glue them back together and make them useable. If you decide you want to get/keep and use the planes you can then make some new totes if you want.


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## bigg081 (Dec 23, 2012)

So the Transitional is more than likely the oldest of the bunch...im guessing anyway. Are these worth anything? My Father is going to give them to me and Im not planing on selling them but curiousity always gets me. Im sure they arent worth a bunch. Not like the Stanley #1 I saw on eBay for $1500!!!! YIKES!!!

EDIT: Spoke to my Father again and he said that the wooden one had "JFB" stamped or burned on the side.....does that mean anything?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

bigg081 said:


> So the Transitional is more than likely the oldest of the bunch...im guessing anyway. Are these worth anything? My Father is going to give them to me and Im not planing on selling them but curiousity always gets me. Im sure they arent worth a bunch. Not like the Stanley #1 I saw on eBay for $1500!!!! YIKES!!!


On EBay I see what I consider junk sometimes going for high prices.

This is my EBay search for Hand Planes in the Collectibles. Take a look through the auctions will give you a feel.

Some transitionals can be valuable, it depends on whether folks are eager to own. The Stanley No. 1 going for $1,500 is not a surprise. Rare and for some reason folks want to own them.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Planes-/13874/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=&LH_PrefLoc=3&rt=nc


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

bigg081 said:


> EDIT: Spoke to my Father again and he said that the wooden one had "JFB" stamped or burned on the side.....does that mean anything?


Back in the day of these tools it was common for the owner to put his name on the tools. As you can imagine the work sites back then, with everyone having similar tools, you wanted to ensure you knew which were your own.

Name or initials are common.


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## bigg081 (Dec 23, 2012)

I figured initials but it was worth asking. Father said I can have them when I come to visit but little does he know that he is going to have to ship them to me because I dont want to wait!!!! HAHA


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## texasfl0od (Nov 28, 2012)

good evening to you all ! the wards master was sold by montgomery wards and manufactured by stanley as well as some other companies, not sure about dating a wards master - the transitional looks like a #35 ( i am guessing due to the length of the plane) . there is a very knowledgeable fellow on e bay that does a beautiful job restoring planes and we have had several conversations about dunlap, wards master , millers falls and of couse stanley planes . he is an older felloe from oregon and loves to talk about old tools and i try to absorb as much as i can from him !


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

I've got a Wards #4, which I quite like. It needs a bit more tweaking (it was in pretty rough shape when I got it, mechanically speaking), but it works well.

A #5 and a #4 are good planes to start with -- the 9 1/2" size is roughly a number 4. They'll handle a lot of smoothing work.


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