Patrick Leach wrote:
Leonard Bailey, inventor of the common bench plane (as we know it)
sold
his patents to Stanley Rule and Level Co back in 1869. Mr. Bailey got
a bit
cheesed over the fact that he wasn't getting his just desserts from
the
burgeoning corporation, so he decided to invent another line of
planes. This
po'd Stanley, who sued Bailey in an attempt to stop him from making
planes,
called The Victor Plane. Even though the adjustment mechanism was
different
from his first patents, a judge ruled that the Victor mechanism was an
in-
fringement of the exclusive rights of Stanley. Things bounced back and
forth
for several years, and Stanley decided to become an agent for the sale
of
Bailey's Victor Planes due to the good press (in the trade rags of the
time)
they received. Finally, Stanley bought the Victor series outright,
made them
for a few years more (until late 1880's) and then chucked them
altogether
for the original Bailey design. The only plane that endured was the
#20, but
it underwent many modifications over its lifetime.
There are two basic adjustments characteristic of the Victor planes.
The
first, used on bench and block planes, has a circular disc, onto which
an
eccentric lever device is fixed. This device engages the cutter to
raise or
lower it whenever the disc is turned. There were three basic designs
of this
mechanism, but all operated on the principal of turning a disk,
located at
the top of the frog, to regulate the cutter.
On the #20, the Victor adjustment is a large, horizontal adjusting
wheel,
which is held captive in the main casting of the plane. Through the
center
of this wheel passes a large threaded post. When the wheel is turned,
the
post is raised or lowered (depending upon whether the screw is turned
clock-
wise or counter-clockwise), which in turn adjusts the sole of the
plane to
make it convex or concave. This adjustment mechanism is the best of
all
Stanley's circular planes, since there are no gears to strip (like the
#113),
and because it adjusts uniformly (unlike the #13 which requires the
front
and rear of the sole to be adjusted individually). I think Record's
version
of the circular plane is based on this design.
BTW, I should mention that this description is of the common,
Stanley
produced mechanism. The original #20's don't have the horizontal
wheel.
They have a large thumb screw-like threaded post, along with two large
medallions attached to the body.
|> As a last note I found a Stanley #4 for $20 with very little rust and nickel
|> plating in good shape. It has a strange 'b'ish shaped hole for the cap iron
|> to clamp onto the blade. Any idea on the age, and is it a reasonable price?
The little hole you describe sounds like the one for the lever cap,
not
the cap iron. This is the kidney-shaped hole, which was introduced in
the
early 1930's. I buy every #4 I can find for $20, as long as they are
in
useable shape.
--
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Patrick Leach
Just say I have a nice #20 for sale.
etc.
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Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1