Stanley Number 78 plane

[Bill Houghton]

I've got a made in England Stanley No. 78, purchased from a dealer for $15, that's served me quite well.  People say the quality is lower, but you couldn't tell by this plane.  That said, I don't know its age; it's certainly generally true that newer equals lower quality as far as the classic Stanley line.

Hard to beat them for what they do best, if you're doing remodeling.

[scottg]

I've got a made in England Stanley No. 78, purchased from a dealer for $15, that's served me quite well.  People say the quality is lower, but you couldn't tell by this plane. 

  Nope, you would.
I have an English 78 too. It was the first rabbit plane I owned, and I learned on that plane, and of course I love it.
  I have several English Stanleys  (they are the cheapest on the collector market) and all can certainly be made to work.  All of mine perform admirably because I made them work.
 Newer tools are mostly Xerox copies. Accurate, but no heart.   
 
    But I have older model Stanley tools too, and believe me, there is a difference.
 Subtle rather than overwhelming, but there truly is quite a difference.
 
 Those details are important for your head somehow. You see it from a distance, pick it up and you feel it.   
 The old, everyday, better be to work on time tools,
  of yesteryear.   
 yours Scott
   

[Branson]

Yes, there truly is a difference in the old Stanleys.  It's often subtle, but having used old Stanleys, I'm never quite comfortable with newer ones.  I've heard that the older process included setting aside the castings for a year before machining them, letting them season.   

Interesting that the English 78 came up.  I bought one last weekend at a flea market.  Something heavy had been dropped on it, breaking off the handle, but it came with the fence and the depth gauge as well as the blade (looks like it had seen no use whatsoever.  Got it for the parts.  I'll see if JB Weld will do anything for the handle -- just for kicks -- but the parts will be added to 78s I already have.

I tried out a German made spoke shave back in the '80s.  Expensive critter, a ringer for one of the Stanleys.  But like you said, Scott, a "xerox copy."  It never quite worked like my old Stanleys.  Gave it away.

[scottg]

Yes, there truly is a difference in the old Stanleys.

I tried out a German made spoke shave back in the '80s. ...........

  The major difference is in the quality of the basic iron itself.
  In times past they really knew how to cast buttery smooth, fine grain gray iron.
  This seems to be lost now.
 
   Try a new cast iron skillet. Just try to season and cook with it.  Even if you regrind and polish it out yourself.  Just try.
 Now get an old Griswold and try that.
  The difference is enough that you will love the old skillet and probably use it the rest of your life.
And throw the new one directly into the garbage.  You won't even want to give it to a relative you never particularly cared for. 
   
  The German and the Chinese cast iron are both horribly coarse and grainy iron.
 They can never be made smooth. I have tried. 
 The English is better, but still not up to snuff.
     That could change at any time, of course.
  But so far it hasn't.
    yours Scott

[Branson]

Heh heh.  All my skillets in the kitchen are Griswolds.  Mmm, there may be one Wagner.  Those are my "new" skillets.  The rest are mid-19th Century cast iron that I used for living history.  My deep lidded Griswold skillet has already made it through two generations.