I got an early Stanley No 78 off of ebay last week and I finally had some time to clean it up tonight. I spent a little time with some sandflex blocks and it cleaned up really very nicely. I bet it looks a whole lot like it did 100 years ago. The iron still has a lot of life and there was just a little rust on the back by the patent date. It did come with the spur and screw, but the screw is a little rusted and I didn't want to try to put it back on. I picked up an early fence and rod that appeared to be in pretty good shape. I just need to get a depth stop and thumbscrew and probably another spur and screw.
I'm pretty pleased with my $20 plane. I showed it to my BIL's son when it got here. He saw the '83 patent date and said "It's 4 years older than me!" I informed him that it was 1883. "Wow, cool!" he said.
It looks like it came from the Sessions factory as there is an S on the body and on the back side of the cap. Does anyone know how often Stanley changed the design on these 78s? I know a lot of the planes got changed around 1902. I figure this thing was made at least before 1900, probably before.
The iron has a very slight camber and came pretty sharp. I was wondering if they were supposed to be honed with a camber or square?
I'm pretty pleased with my $20 plane. I showed it to my BIL's son when it got here. He saw the '83 patent date and said "It's 4 years older than me!" I informed him that it was 1883. "Wow, cool!" he said.
It looks like it came from the Sessions factory as there is an S on the body and on the back side of the cap. Does anyone know how often Stanley changed the design on these 78s? I know a lot of the planes got changed around 1902. I figure this thing was made at least before 1900, probably before.
The iron has a very slight camber and came pretty sharp. I was wondering if they were supposed to be honed with a camber or square?
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