Where is moderator??
I'ts important.
Thank.

This thread passed 1 million hits today.  Many thanks to everyone who has been reading, following and commenting all these years.  I do appreciate it.

Jim C.

DonnCarr . Are the ratchets you are referring to a Female Hex Drive? If so , what size?

Hello hand plane enthusiasts!  Lately I’ve noticed an upturn in visitors to the thread.  That’s a good thing.  I guess if people are still interested, I still have more planes to feature, demonstrate and discuss.  Since I retired a little more than six years ago, I’ve been eyeball deep into my woodworking hobby and virtually everything I make has some sort of hand plane component.  It’s not a conscious effort on my part to make sure that hand planes are involved in the construction process, but rather a natural response to the task at hand.  Basically, there are times when a plane is simply the best tool for the job.  My very first encounter with a plane was most likely in junior high wood shop glass.  The experience I gained there was invaluable and set me on the road to what has become a lifelong passion.  What I do find alarming however is the lack of vocational arts being offered at the junior high school and high school levels now days.  I would think those institutions would be the genesis for instilling a lifetime love of woodworking and the tools/processes associated with it. Like I said, that was the beginning for me.  Obviously times have changed.  Hand made stuff is becoming a thing of the past while digitally made stuff is here to stay.  I sound like an old man…….. Anyway, since I’m talking about junior high and high school shop classes, I thought I would feature a plane that was specifically made for those exact circumstances.

Stanley #5 1/4C:

More than once or twice you’ve heard me say that Stanley made a hand plane to satisfy every conceivable niche, real or imagined, within the realm of possibilities.  If you go back through the thread, you’ll see several that may have been better off on the drawing board versus in actual production.  Other offerings did genuinely answer a need.  One need in particular was to make tools and planes that were suitable for use by kids who were taking junior high and high school woodworking shop classes.  Back in the 1970s, I was one of those kids.  Although I don’t specifically remember anything more than using an abused block plane in junior high, I do specifically recall using equally abused Stanley #5 Jack planes in high school.  They were never sharp, the totes and knobs were cracked, and they were typically missing their lever caps.  Still, somehow I managed to learn enough about them to make me want to know more.  So here I am today.

Stanley came up with a few different hand planes that were specifically designed for young woodworkers.  The #118 and #203 block planes come to mind.  Maybe one might not think of a bench plane however.  That’s where the #5 1/4 size fills the niche.  It’s an odd ball size. There’s the classic #5 jack plane and the larger #5 1/2 jack plane, but Stanley, who was always looking for an opportunity saw a need for something smaller, the #5 1/4. It was first introduced in 1921 and came with a smooth or corrugated sole.  With the dimensions of a slightly longer standard #3 smoother, I don’t think the # 5 1/4 was very popular with adults.  Most probably ended up in junior high and high school shop classes and were likely misused and/or abused.  The corrugations were eliminated in 1942 making the #5 1/4C somewhat scarce.  The smooth sole version was manufactured into the early 1980s. The corrugated example depicted below was likely manufactured at some point between 1933 and 1942.  Amazingly it seems to have avoided the abuse suffered by many of its siblings.

As I recall, my high school shop teacher had one #5 that he and only he used.  He kept it in a locked metal cabinet behind his desk.  It was in tip top shape and always in good working order.  He used it for demonstrations and for situations that required its use.  Students never touched it.  As a result, it probably survived.  Perhaps the plane shown below was the “shop teacher’s plane” as well. I don’t know that with any certainty.  I bought this plane from a fellow collector and got zero background information with it.  As I mentioned before, the #5 1/4C is rather scarce.  If you come across one, try not to let its rarity affect your judgment.  Don’t pay a collector quality price for a user quality plane.

Jim C.

A bag full of inexpensive picks at a local estate sale.  Xcelite, Craftsman Yankee screwdriver and sockets, Red Devil scrapers Stanley Handyman egg beater drill, and Bluebird battery pliers.