Ha! last night I was gazing off into a void and then a Lee Valley catalog came into view. Today I called them and the store in Victoria BC (Canada) said that they had one manual left and I bought it this afternoon. It covers all three combination planes. I may not be the best but at least I have a complete list of parts for each machine. Only $10. Thank you, Lee Valley Tools, keeper of everything obscure.
I acquired two 45s in a recent sale and have begun the task of restoring and learning to use these jewels. Thank you for the great info that is going to make using these much easier. What a joy to journey back to hand tools after fifty years of power tools. I am finding your videos most informative. And your teaching style is very patient and complete. Thanks Chester, for sharing your knowledge.
I have a 45 (newer model) and a full set of blades that I bought nearly 40 years ago. I have a manual, but this video makes it all so much more understandable.
I purchased a 45 with 22 cutter in pretty good shape. Even though it had the booklet, your video is an excellent tutorial on basic set up and use. Many thanks for taking the time to put this out for users new to the plane. Top notch.
Great video, greatly appreciated. My grandfather had one of these and as a kid he showed me briefly how to use it once or twice but that was about 30 years ago so needed a refresher. My Uncle inherited those tools but I recently acquired a damaged no 45 combination plane with one blade included that I would like to get operational again. I think your video has covered enough for me to clean and repair it with confidence.
When I looked at photos of these tools, I would go into a mental vapor lock. If I were given the opportunity to fly a helicopter or to use this plane, I may have chosen the former. The helicopter at least has a cockpit with some similarity to a car (very little similarity, I would guess). I at least would know that a helicopter is a vehicle. It’s purpose is to move occupants & cargo form here to there. The plane left me awestruck and clueless. Exactly what could it do, for what purpose and how? You are correct if you guess I am new to the world of planes. Your video showed me this contraption is a just tool,. You defined why I would want to use this tool and how I might go about achieving my objective through its due. Thanks to you, I am able to relate to the plane like I do with my lawn mower. Before the video, it was a heart lung machine. Your efforts were not in vain. Thanks.
Unbelievable! Now we use a router to do most of this work. However, I cherish the old tools as you never know when things will go dark and you will be working by old school ways. I am very appreciative of the knowledge, I have a #45 that my dad had but I never saw him use it, so I suspect that it was my grandfather's. Just yesterday, found to little tin boxes (OXO cubes) that had all of these mysterious pieces of what could have been parts for a plane and I only had the Stanley Pat'd # to go by and here I am! Bruce Felix is correct! Choose either flying a helicopter or use this plane! i cannot believe that someone could make such a detailed hand held machine! Thank you Chester.
Chester, thank you for both videos, I recently bought a 45 and refurbed it using your instructions. It appears to be a type one, but has a rosewood fence (may not all be original). It also has two knobs, one on the main body and one on the fence. Thank you for your expertise and willingness to share it with us.
Love it Chester, very informative. we have a couple of 55s in work which i adore. never tried the 45 very similar i never knew what that cam was for, now i do.
Great video Chester on the two types of 45 planes. Thank you for sharing. One topic that would be interesting is the sharpening of the various cutters and nickers for these planes. I have a Sweetheart 45 and Sweetheart 55 that I use all the time.
Thank you for your praise. I. Dry much appreciate it. I will do as you say and add it to a list I am keeping if requests on topics. I do think it may be valuable.
Dear Sirs, I have recently bought a Stanley No.50, with the full compliment of cutters. I am completely baffled as to how you can install, but most importantly, Be able to adjust the 1/8th cutter and to actually hold this thin blade tightly. My one just keeps on falling out! Yours truly, ross
Pura vida Chester great video with a lot information about that amazing combination plane. I have a doubt regarding Stanley plane 55 cutters blades could fit with Stanley plane 45
You can certainly do that with the younger 45’s but it is not possible with the types prior to 5. I’m not sold that there is a great advantage to that as there is little to no deflection across the blades.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of how to work with the Stanley 45. Would it be possible for you to do a video on the Stanley 46? There is little to nothing on youtube on the 46.
I purchased a box locally with cool old stuff in it, looks like a type 1 no 45 is there, but no cutters and no rods. hmmm not sure if I should bother getting those parts or not. any recommendations? what would you do?
I’d love to see some pictures of what you have. It’s always worth putting a plane back in order, but can be pricey if you want the parts quickly. A lot to me would depend on the condition of what you have.
In my opinion no, unless compactness is an attribute o e looks for in the plane. I believe the positioning of the handle on the 50 and 44 makes these planes top heavy and the direction of force applied is uncomfortable to me. The 45 on the other hand is more comfortable to me. In the case of simply plowing any of the three will accomplish the job but my preference is still the 45 or 41.
There are a lot more things that the modern one can do including beading, using the beacon gauge, etc. but I am always afraid of boring people if I run in too long. I hope to do a video soon on the 46!and using the more modern 45s in different setups. Thank you for the comments and for watching.
