Maybe it’s just me but I don’t typically have much luck at garage sales. By that I mean I don’t usually find hand planes. I have found old tools that are okay, but not any hand planes to speak of. When I do find one, it’s almost always a block plane, and on occasion a common, off brand, bench plane. Very often those planes are of low quality, and made by companies I’ve never heard of. On more than one occasion, I’ve found a plane that from a distance looks promising, only to be disappointed by missing parts, broken parts and heavy rust. All that being said, I almost always stop at garage sales hoping to find even a common block plane that’s in good, or better, useable condition. By now I’m guessing you know where this is headed.
Almost fifteen years ago I was in a neighborhood I had never been to on business. I made my stop, took care of things and started driving out of the neighborhood. As I was coming up to the main road, I stopped at the corner where a “Garage Sale” sign was planted in the sod. There was an arrow on the sign pointing back into the neighborhood. Okay. It would have bugged me all night if I didn’t at least go take a quick look. So, I made a U-turn and followed a few more signs to the location. I pulled up in front of the house, rolled down my window and asked the “garage sale attendants” if they had any tools. I got a, “Yeah we got some tools here.” response. I parked the car, walked up the driveway KNOWING I wasn’t going to find anything. Sure enough, rusty sockets, screwdrivers that were used as pry bars, a few foreign made adjustable wrenches, a hammer with a cracked wooden handle……. and two hand planes at the end of the table. One was the obligatory garage sale block plane and the other was a less commonly seen #3 size bench plane. As I approached the planes, I could see that the block plane was in bad condition. It had had a very hard life, but the bench plane….. I was thinking, “Look at this! LOOK…… AT……. THIS! No way!! How did this plane end up here with the rest of this junk?” I held the plane just long enough for the man running the sale to ask, “Hey, do you wanna buy that? My answer, “I’m just looking it over, but I think so.” Then his wife (I think), pipes in with, “The longer you look at it, the more expensive it gets.” Me, “Okay, I’ll take it.” So the firm asking price was more cash than I had in my pocket. I was at a garage sale and they don’t take debit cards!! I wasn’t leaving with out this plane. Then I remembered I had a few bucks in quarters in the cup holder in my car. Seventy-five cents short!!!! Thankfully, they let me have it anyway.
Stanley #10 ½:
This is definitely not your typical garage sale find! At least it’s not for me. I’ve never seen anything like it at a garage sale before or since, but finding it did solidify my determination to stop at every garage sale I see. Anyway, looking at the Stanley #10 ½, one sees that it really resembles a typical bench plane. As I stated above, it’s about the same size as a standard #3 bench plane. The #10 ½ is actually referred to as a “bench rabbet.” Stanley made several different sizes and models of bench rabbet planes. By now you’ve probably noticed the cut out sides of the plane and the fact that the iron extends from side to side though the arches. According to advertising, the bench rabbet planes were made to satisfy the needs of timber framers and carriage makers. Basically the planes were designed to fit large tenons into large mortises and cut rabbet joints on large work pieces. Back in the day, the planes probably did fill an existing niche. Notice there’s no spur/nicker in front of the iron. In instances where the user was cutting across the grain, say while cutting a tenon, a batten would need to be in place to guide the initial passes thus forming the joint’s shoulder, and although a spur isn’t needed to cut with the grain, a batten would still be needed to form the shoulder of a rabbet joint. With a sharp iron set for a light pass the plane actually does a nice job of fine-tuning, and creating large joints.
The Stanley #10 ½ was offered between 1885 and 1964. The very earliest versions of the #10 ½ had an adjustable toe section, out in front of the iron, that could be set to open or close the throat of the plane depending on the user’s preference and desired results for the job at hand. Those are definitely less common versions of this plane. The arched sides on any rabbet plane can be fragile. They crack! When I bought the plane depicted below, that’s the first thing I looked at. I also looked to make sure the chip breaker extended from side to side across the iron. If you find a #10 ½ with a chip breaker that does not extend from side to side, it’s very likely a replacement from a standard bench plane. Also, take a look at the iron itself. Only a small section of it can extend though the arches. Unlike a common bench plane iron that can be used almost forever, the bench rabbet iron only has about one inch of useable steel. Make sure there’s something left if you decide to use this plane. From a collector’s standpoint, make sure the iron logo matches the age of the plane. Notice the letter “B” casting mark on the main body of the plane. That’s an early casting, as is the logo on the plane’s iron, which dates from about 1909 to 1912. The plane’s squat knob and straight-sided brass barrel nuts also attest to the plane’s early vintage. Those clues, taken into account with the plane’s consistent patina, well, it’s the real deal and I found it at a garage sale!
Jim C.
(For more details and information relating to the Stanley #10 1/2, please refer back to Bill Houghton's comments on page 45, reply 662.)
