Stanley 5-1/2 puzzlement

[Bill_Houghton]

I've got a Stanley 5-1/2, picked up at a yard sale, that's got me stumped.  It's from the last series right before the change from a 2-1/4" wide cutting iron to a 2-3/8" wide iron.  The iron simply won't "show" at the sole.  The frog seems to be correct to the period, and the bedding for the frog at the mouth and at the back seem consistent with a sample No. 5 in my toolkit; and the slot in the chipbreaker to engage the yoke is the same distance from the front of the breaker on both the 5-1/2 and the 5.  But, on the No. 5-1/2, the finger on the yoke itself, where it engages with the slot, is 1/8" further from the sole ("higher" measured along the length of the frog, at bedding angle) than the finger on the No. 5.  I've never seen this before.  Was this another difference on the 5-1/2s with the narrower cutting iron; and, if so, why is the slot on the chipbreaker not also 1/8" higher?

[wmickley]

Maybe the yoke is backwards.

[bandit571]

Chipbreaker is from a transitional Stanley plane....their slots were different than the Bailey style planes....sometimes, you will even find one with two slots.....Put a proper Bailey sized chip breaker in..and see how that does....and not the No. 27's

[Bill_Houghton]

I considered that, Warren, but, no, it's oriented correctly; and I measured the distance with the finger on the yoke at the same angle - straight up, basically - on both planes.

And, Bandit: I measured the chipbreaker from the No. 5-1/2, and the chipbreaker on the No. 5, and the slot is the same distance from the front edge of both chipbreakers. My first thought was that the chipbreaker was from a transitional plane; but I don't think that's the case.

[Derek Cohen]

Bill, in my experience, the chipbreaker is usually the problem, with the projection slot in the wrong position. The one you have may be the same as the other chipbreaker you have, but that may be correct for a different generation. Have a look through the planes you have and see if there is another with a different slot position.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Charlesworth]

Bill, in my experience, the chipbreaker is usually the problem, with the projection slot in the wrong position. The one you have may be the same as the other chipbreaker you have, but that may be correct for a different generation. Have a look through the planes you have and see if there is another with a different slot position.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Bill,

I have encountered this problem several times over the years.

There was clearly some variation of manufacture in the past.

A different chipbreaker will fix it.

Incidentally most manufacturers will produce custom lengths if you are prepared to wait for the next production run.

Best wishes,
David