What is this hand plane?

[Tynyyn]

I got this plane at an antique store today.  I guess it's a Chaplin.  Looks nice, no heavy rust, just a lot of patina.  The handles are wonky.  I saw on Bob Kaune's site that there were a few versions of differing sizes.  Anybody got some input? 

[Bill_Houghton]

Info about the Chaplin patent planes

Sold by Tower and Lyon.  I owned one, but never tried it out, so I can't report on how well it works. The longer ones, like yours, don't seem to have as much collector value as the little short ones.

Back when it was being produced, lots of people were trying to come up with The Best Plane Solution. Stanley's Bailey model won the battle of the planes, in the U.S. at least.
[url=http://www.petermcbride.com/chaplin/][/url]

[Tynyyn]

Bill, you are a wealth of knowledge. I appreciate your help whenever I have a question. In a former life you must have been a rocket scientist.

[Bill_Houghton]

Bill, you are a wealth of knowledge.  I appreciate your help whenever I have a question.  In a former life you must have been a rocket scientist.

Thanks, but I couldn't even play one on television unless they needed the Dumb Rocket Scientist character.  But I've stuck around long enough to have learned a few things.

When I owned one, it lived on the bookshelf at work.  It was rare for someone to comment on it.

[Alan S]

It's likely true the small ones have more value than the big ones, but in terms of utility I think the larger Chaplin's patent planes are nice. That's because the soles are not just corrugated on the bottom, the corrugation makes the sole significantly lighter while retaining stiffness. The blade advancing lever is very quick to adjust on the fly, but its weakness is that it is tricky to move a small amount. Both those features seem more helpful in a larger plane.