How to tell who made your hand plane 

I have a 14" hand plane that has a red frog and is stamped near the toe that says Made in the USA, it says Victor on the chip breaker and has a red wood tote and front knob. I'm trying to figure out what version of hand plane this is.

ECE stands for E. C. Emmerich and they have been making planes in Germany for five generations (1852).

I made it to the end. My brain hurts. Very impressive. What about Buckeye planes? Were they not made in the my native state of Ohio?

I have an ECE Enneruch #711 smoother. In general I am a Stanley guy, but I love,this,plane. Lignum vitae sole for,that unmistakeable wood-on-wood feel and a backlash free on the fly adjustmemt. Great tool.

Great fun facts. I think like this always wanting to compare individual parts of many planes. I will need to watch this several times. I do have many of those planes but certainly not all you showed. Keep up the good work. Something I also have wanted to do was test and record the hardness of the various parts and tie that to the type studies. I often wonder about the various foundries that made the casting and the steel mills that made the irons. If someone had access to the equipment could a trail be identified using metallurgy testing? Thanks again.

Yep, you know way too much about laterals...😅 Nice job on pulling it all together and threading it all together with the Stanley baseline.

Hey MJ thanx for putting n the work n making ur helpful n informative videos, is there a way to check ur invetory for parts were lookin for ?

The plane I have was my father's, probably acquired around 1950. My thought is that it was at the cheapest end of the scale at the time. The only markings I have found are Wards Master on the lever cap (raised letters on a rectangular recessed red background), and the number 13 on the frog. The frog has crinkly red paint, including the areas where I see a machined surface in pictures of Stanley and others. The same red crinkly is the finish on the entire interior. Handle and front knob appear to be plastic. Length is maybe 14 1/2 inches. The lateral is one piece stamped, with the disk offset from the riveted pivot point, and the long end twisted. I never saw dad use it, not even once. I assume Wards meant Montgomery Wards, but could easily be mistaken.

The wooden plane with the horn, I think ir is from Germany (or at least the original design)

Speaking of Standard Rule, I have an Upson Nut number 7. It's my understanding that at some point in time, the two companies were affiliated. It is an awesome plane, almost indistinguishable from a Stanley including the lateral and frog. Small brass right handed thread adjustment nut.

Great fun facts. I think like this always wanting to compare individual parts of many planes. I will need to watch this several times. I do have many of those planes but certainly not all you showed. Keep up the good work. Something I also have wanted to do was test and record the hardness of the various parts and tie that to the type studies. I often wonder about the various foundries that made the casting and the steel mills that made the irons. If someone had access to the equipment could a trail be identified using metallurgy testing? Thanks again.

Another great video. Really like the Buckeye. Plenty of great tool manufacturers from Ohio.

You're doing God's work!

Great Job! A lot to take in, will have to watch again.

That was cool! I like the info on the oddballs. I buy any local plane for $20 or less and have quite the variety. My favorite non Stanley was a Sheldon No. 4 sized, while not unique in feature it is extremely well made. I say was because I gave it to my sister in law after I got it useable. My No. 6 sized Craftsman (Millers Falls) is also interesting.

A + +

Nice to see a Turner plane with the distinctive ruby red handle. They manufactured down the road from where I lived in Nunawading until the 1970's untill Stanley bought them out. The factory had the Stanley name on it through to the 1980's.

Found this very useful for judging a plane’s age and quality with a quick look. So today I was at the PATINA annual tool sale in Damascus, MD, looking for a No. 3. I picked it up for a closer examination and heard a familiar voice asking if I needed help. It was MJ. Thank you again for your help today and for the wisdom in your videos.

🐸

Wow nice job and great info. Just bought 3 fruit boxes of plane parts this past summer. In the process of sorting. I have alot of frogs with no bodies. So this will help greatly Thanks

A walking talking encyclopedia of knowledge! Nice job MJ, appreciate your depth of expertise.

MJ very informative. Another good production. Thank you sir.

Very interesting and informative. Thanks Michael.

Great video! A lot of the twisted laterals have different shapes though, so you can tell the manufacturer from the shape.

Enjoyed that immensely. Just got into restore/ refurbishing hand planes a couple years ago so my knowledge is quite limited. I started this hobby to maybe make a few bucks but that hasn't happened. Probably because I haven't tried to sell anything 😂. Thanks

Great video! Wish I had this information a while back. Love looking at all those different types of planes.

I have to watch this later. Going to a tool meet now.

Great video by the way