12/22/24

Type 17. Planes made by Stanley 1942-1945.
  • All of the features of the previous, except:
  • These are the war production planes, and all bets about what is and isn't proper on these examples, and those made in the years immediately following, are off. This is an area where the type study is very weak, in my opinion. But it's understandable since there are so many configurations of these planes. My observations tell me that any combination of the following features is possible for these planes. And, to make matters worse, some of the examples have the standard features (rosewood, brass) of the previous type in conjunction with some of the features of this type. This all is likely explained by the fact that Stanley was using stock on-hand, where parts made prior to the war were simply being used.
  • Handle and knob are hardwood stained red or painted black.
  • Depth adjustment now is smaller, made either of steel or hard rubber.
  • Oddly, the bottom castings are much thicker and heavier than other models.
  • The type study doesn't mention this, but my experience tells me that nickel plated lever caps went belly-up during the war. The lever cap have a rather coarsely machined surface.
  • The type study also fails to mention this -- the normal two-piece construction of a brass cap and a threaded rod, used to secure the the wooden parts (tote and knob) to the bottom casting, is now a one piece construction (like a long screw).
  • Some examples have no frog adjusting screw. It's strange that on the examples I've seen, the hole is tapped for the screw in the bottom casting, but the frog isn't. It's like they did half the work, but all for nothing. On other examples, neither hole is tapped.
  • Some examples have the old-style hole (keyhole-shaped) in the lever cap.

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Copyright (c) Joshua Clark 1997-2009