MF 14

[rusty]

This was my other flea find today, it's ugly, dirty, and just a touch rusty, but it works and all the parts move, and it's still (somewhat) sharp, go figure. And it is just what I wanted for shaving door edges, and , well, $5 seemed like a decent price....

PS: And I don't care if it says Stanley, and I don't care whose was better LOL)

[jimwrench]

 Not really in bad shape at all It will clean-up nicely plus the handle is'nt cracked. Millers Falls is a quality plane.

[Jim C.]

PS: And I don't care if it says Stanley, and I don't care whose was better LOL)

I have a ton of old Stanley planes, and I'm not sure that they're any better or worse than Millers Falls, Sargent, etc.  I think that if you clean up your plane, and tune it properly, it will provide some pretty good results.  Many of these old planes made by companies other than Stanley have some "gimmicks" and design "innovations" because they wanted to compete with Stanley, but they're really all the same at heart.  Clean it, tune it up, and make sure the iron is super sharp.  Do those things correctly and it won't matter who manufactured it.

Jim C.   

[rusty]

I spent a little time and took it all apart, mostly to make sure everything came apart, and there weren't any hidden surprises. Remind me next time not to take the frog adjusting screw out...
I also gave it a quicky bath, put it together (several times), and set it up.

The blade is a total disaster, it's curved/worn on the edges by a huge amount, and it barely shaves soft pine. I guess the last fellow used the creative sharpening method, but everything else seems ok. I already like it tho, the handle fits my hand, and it's fairly easy to adjust (except the frog grrr)

So..I guess I will be doing a bit of sharpening next....LOL

[Jim C.]

Sounds like you're having trouble with the frog adjusting screw.  What's the problem?  The frog should adjust smoothly.  I think that you'd want to remove that screw for cleaning, etc.

Jim C.

[BruceS]

The blade is a total disaster, it's curved/worn on the edges by a huge amount.   Just what do you mean by curved ?   Your MF looks to be a #5 Jack plane and not a #4 Smoother.   Jacks generally are ground with a slight crown on the blades,  But I have three #5's with the irons ground with different crowns,  from straight like a smoother to 1/8" crown for the extreme with a very open mouth that I use as a scrubber.

Not known for a fact,  But I have a MF block plane that is a clone of a Stanley down to the enth detail, other than the name on the blade you couldn't tell them apart.   Wonder if Stanley did work for MF ?

[rusty]

>Your MF looks to be a #5 Jack plane and not a #4 Smoother.

Supposedly it is the equivilant to a Stanley #5, so yes...

 >  Jacks generally are ground with a slight crown on the blades,

*duh* ...so...I knew that too, I dunno why I wasn't thinking along those lines....

Probably because I was thinking of that I wanted to use it for instead of what it was intended for...

> from straight like a smoother to 1/8" crown

Probably 1/32 or so, so that makes perfect sense. It still is dull as a butter knife tho...It will put dents in pine without biting ; P

Now I have to rethink the blade a bit, what I really want to use it for is more along the lines of planing the edge off a board type of thing, I wanted a plane with a wide enough cut to do the entire width in single pass. Not ideally what this plane was designed for, but planes that are designed to do what I actually want to do are pricey and hard to find, and I don't do it enough to justify the price....
 --

>I think that you'd want to remove that screw for cleaning, etc.

The screw doesn't have to come out, the frog is slotted and lifts off it after you remove the  mounting screws , If I had just left it alone, I could have dropped it back in the same location it was before. Probably just as well, tho, I have no idea if the last fellow put it where it was supposed to be anyhow..Plus it has been a while since I put plane back together, so I got to puzzle out a few things i forgot ;P

 >Wonder if Stanley did work for MF ?

Not impossible, MF is known to have outsoursed at least some tools....

When you find a MF with a heart stamped on it....

[BruceS]

 
(Probably because I was thinking of that I wanted to use it for instead of what it was intended for...)
You wouldn't believe how many times I use a tool for an un-intended purpose. !!!   As they say necessity is the mother of invention.  If it works do it.  Nobody sees the process, just the end result !!!

[scottg]

Its a jack plane
 Jack of all trades.
Its often the case when  guy will keep more than one for various jobs. Its faster than changing them over. 

 I keep 4 jacks in constant service.
 1 MF (marked Craftsman, a second line MF) with somewhat cambered blade for rough service. Taking out tool marks etc.
 
  1 Sargent fitted with a heavy woodie, straight ground blade, for heavy smoothing.
 
 1 Stanley Bedrock set whisper thin for small work jointing and large panel final smoothing.
 
  1 all wood heavily cambered, very thick blade, wide open mouth, for scrubbing.
   
 The 2 part lever cap is a cool feature of thsi period millers planes.
 yours Scott
 

[Branson]

Exactly so -- jack of all trades.

>Probably because I was thinking of that I wanted to use it for instead of what it was intended for...

It was just intended to work for a living.  Don't get CDO about "intended use."  If a blade sharpened like a smoothing blade is what you are looking for, grind the blade that way, or get a second blade and grind it like a smoother blade.  It will work fine.

The first wood work project I did in 8th grade was a cutting board, and the first thing I was instructed to do was smooth it with a jack plane.  Worked fine.  And I still have the cutting board over 50 years later; it sits on the kitchen counter and gets used just about every day.