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Stanley 50 help

M

MattS

Nordic Pine
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I picked up a Stanley 50 yesterday, it was a bit of a risk, I knew it had parts missing but got it cheap alongside a lovely 5 1/2 and a brace and bit set.

I haven’t used one these in over 20 years since my Grandad helped me with a school project. Whilst I wasn’t looking for one I’d love to get it working as I really don’t like routers!

Can someone tell me if there’s an alignment issue? The two sides of the body don’t line up as nicely as I thought they would and it seems like the sliding part is pulling the blade out of square when I seat it. Any advice?

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No expert here, but it looks to me as though it's been dropped. A close Mk1 eyeball inspection from somebody more knowledgable might be able to give a better opinion - Rob
 
I did a very quick google and someone was selling one on eBay and one pic shows it tightened up like yours and with the same angle.

Could be that that one is buggered too but seems coincidental.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Thanks guys, my boss has been using the lockdown to build a workshop and turns out he has a 50 so a video call later and there is definitely something wrong with mine :eusa-doh:

The mouth in front of the blade should be bigger on the sliding side but behind the blade aligns perfectly. It’s odd I agree with Rob that it’s probably had a knock but the bottom of each side aligns perfectly but not the blade bed!? I’m going to borrow his soon and can try different parts and work out what is wrong with it. Not giving up on getting it sorted.
 
I’ve got a box of router plane bits unfortunately I cannot get to any of my stuff due to building works.

Rod
 
I have a 50, and I had a look yesterday evening to see what was what. All I can suggest is that you unscrew the rods and put them on a flat surface, then give them a roll. I'll bet you find one or more have a bend in them. Then your only option will be to take a hammer to them.

Missing bits, BTW, are the difference between this being an ornament and a very useful piece of kit. And you won't find any replacements, I promise.
 
New boy here, first real post….. and on this initial exploration, I came across this post about a Stanley 50.

For what it’s worth, here’s a little input. As MikeG said, there may be some rod misalignment, so it’s worth a roll-check, however the Stanley 50 throughout its production was not a piece of precision engineering as such and a certain amount of racking took place between the fixed and moving soles when the blade was clamped. Stanley knew this and added a fix.

If you invert the plane with a blade mounted, you’ll see that the tightening screw is aligned behind the blade in its slot and it will tend to pull the moving sole out of line when tightened up. Looking at the rear of the sliding sole, near the back rod, you should see a long machine-screw with a slot in the head. This was added to allow you to mount the blade loosely with the wing-nut just finger-tight, then run this screw forward and turn it until the soles are parallel – follow that by nipping it up on the wing-nut. If it all aligns up using this procedure, try it out – it should work. The screw is there to iron out racking which is worse on some planes than others.

You can get the instruction leaflet that came with it if you search the internet, which lists the various bits that made up the complete outfit. It outlines the bracing screw I mentioned but doesn’t say much more than that.

Hope that this works for you.
 
I don't have a Stanley 50 but the Record version is very similar and it does have the screw Argus has described so I agree with what he said and I am sure that's your problem.

Like he said, you can find the instructions online - they are here:

https://archive.org/details/StanleyComb ... 1/mode/2up

and you can see that the screw in question is part L, the sliding section adjusting screw.

BookReaderImages.php


If you don't have one, it might be hard to find a replacement as many Stanley parts used odd threads. The simplest way out is probably to drill and tap to the next biggest metric size - but say if it is missing and if you don't want to change the plane as there may be other options.
 
Nice post with the instructions, Andy. I was looking for a pdf of mine...... you beat me to it.
I think that Matt's plane has the screw, it's lurking in the left side of the top picture.

Matt, I'm sure that it will work. As Andy said, spares are hard to find and tend to be a bit pricey. However, it will usually accept other makes of blade if you are prepared to disable the adjuster lever and adjust the blades by hand.
 
Ooooh, I'll have a look tomorrow and see if mine features that screw. It's certainly something I haven't used. These tools are a real fiddle to set properly, and one of the reasons is the play on the slot which takes the blade. Touch the adjustment lever and the blade goes up to the top of the slot, and then works its way back down again in use.
 
Mike, I can see the screw in the top picture.

It's one of those things that are often overlooked on those planes. To check it, put a blade in. Nip it up with the wing nut, then adjust the screw so that the two skates are parallel, set the depth of cut then tighten down on the wing-nut to stop it moving.

I found that a lot of these planes were side-lined when newish because they came from the factory requiring, how may I put this politely, "fettling". In other words, a little 'touching up'. Once this was done, they were good little users.

Fetting these planes involved ensuring that the bases of the skates were dead flat (they sometimes showed milling marks and could be uneven), cleaning out the two side slots that hold the blades (sometimes needed a little filing to ensure that the blades fitted and protruded - most important - the sides and corners of the blade are crucial for good cutting.

good luck
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I missed these and have just read as I’ve come back to update. I had used the adjuster screw to try to get the blade straight which helped but didn’t solve it. The rods are straight but actually I never thought these would be an issue as when the sliding body is tight to the body the rods can’t really move it much.

I’ve just picked up another 50 in a bundle of planes and having swapped components the sliding body aligns as badly on my new 50 and the body off the new one sits flush with the main body on the old. So I think that’s the faulty part. Good news is that I now have a complete 50 :eusa-dance: new one isn’t in quite as good a condition (though not as bad as some of the planes I’ve just bought) but it has all components and came in original though ropey box. The wing nut for securing blades has one wing broken and the box of blades is incomplete but I can take these from the old one and can probably sell the left over parts.
 
For what it's worth, I share your frustration: I have a Stanley #50, given to me by my father-in-law, who, I think, was also frustrated by it. Even after a bit of practice, it still takes me bloomin' ages to get the two sides parallel, even with the aid of digital calipers. And yes, the various set screws and the adjuster don't want to stay put.

I think there's a good reason why "Saint Roy" used other models, which were also carefully set up off camera, rather than the #50. Mine looks posh - it has the rosewood handle insert - but it is hard work, and, IIRC, the #45 has a threaded cutter height adjuster rather than the lever, which is a lot better. At one point I considerd modifying my #50, but there's really nowhere you could easily fit any sort of thread to do the same task.

All that said, I have got more used to it, and better at sharpening the cutters, too. I almost dare use it for "production" work now... :-0

I have a suspicion that the initial customers for it were already adept at using moulding planes, and it probably scored for convenience (packs up smaller than a box of moulders).

Back to AndyT, who always has sage thoughts on such matters...

E.

PS: I have wasted a lot of good hardwood offcuts playing with the beading cutters. They remind me of those early computer games, where you could never overcome the dragon on level five, as it always did something differently nasty.
 
I have two, one gifted by my father and another bought for the long arms. I find them absolutely frightful and have never really got to grips with them. I have a large collection of moulding planes I have built up over the years which get used more often as they are much much easier to put to work.
 
Is it an optical illusion that makes the cutter clamping screw in the second photo appear to be on the squiff ?

It is of course possible the parts have already been assembled from two different planes each of which have been carefully but separately fettled to work properly.... or that some hand matching was done at the factory.
 
And then the router was invented......and everyone lived happily ever after.
 
AJB Temple":rsez54d4 said:
And then the router was invented......and everyone lived happily ever after.
Click to expand...

In other news, I was pleased by Matt's reference to a "bundle of planes" he has now bought! ;)
 
AJB Temple":t7kysa1o said:
And then the router was invented......and everyone lived happily ever after.
Click to expand...

Not happily for me. Nervously more like it. I've had couple of occasions I've found the cut getting slowly deeper from my router, and discovered the cutter slowly slipping out of the collet. Despite being well tightened. The thought of the energy that would part company with put me right off. It is now in a bottom drawer in the garage, and a couple of boxes of woodies and a Record 050C (yes the one usually despised because of the plastic handle) do most of what it used to do.
 
From the few tests I did when trying to work out the blade issue I can understand all the comments about fiddly set up! In reality I’m not sure how much I’ll use it but I will give it a go. Fond memories using one with my grandad and the initial one came with another plane and bit and brace set which are far more useful and what I really wanted!

In other news, I was pleased by Matt's reference to a "bundle of planes" he has now bought! ;)
Click to expand...

Yes I’ll start a new thread on those :eusa-dance:
 
Eric has already pointed out the answer above for anyone who finds plough or combination planes fiddly to set up - follow St Roy and have one for each size or iron, permanently installed and optimised. This may take a little bit more space than the commonly advocated strategy of having an auger for each size of bit, but is surely something we can all aspire to! :eusa-whistle:
 
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