Picked up an 1880s hand plane at an estate sale for $12 last Saturday

I used to just grab whatever random plane was cheapest at the big box store and fight with it for hours. This old Stanley plane is from around 1885, and after 30 minutes sharpening the iron and flattening the sole, it cuts better than anything I bought new. The guy running the sale said his granddad was a carpenter in Vermont and this plane was his daily driver. Has anyone else stumbled into old tools that just work better than modern ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_price2d ago

Is nobody else tired of spending a whole afternoon just to get one old tool to work right? I bought a "diamond in the rough" at a flea market once and after two hours of flattening and sharpening the thing still left tracks on my wood. By the time I got it cutting okay I could have bought a new plane and finished my project already. Not saying new stuff is perfect but at least I can use it right out of the box without becoming a hobbyist machinist first.

nora_wells582d agoMost Upvoted

A guy on YouTube spent 8 hours restoring a 1900s Bailey plane and it still had a warped sole when he was done. That's basically a whole weekend traded for a tool that barely works while a $60 new plane would have been cutting square in 10 minutes. I get the appeal of old iron but sometimes you gotta ask if your hobby is woodworking or just sharpening metal.