#45 Irons

[Admiral]

Screwed up my neck raking leaves (getting old is a b**ch) and have been laid up for this past week, but decided I'd get some shop time in, and thought of low impact stuff I might be able to do. So I pulled out my #45, complete, in the wooden box, and started sharpening all the irons. Other than two headers, and three straight irons, the rest had the original factory grind and the backs were not flat. So I started and got about halfway thru the irons before i decided to take it a bit easier on myself.  But it always amazes me that the majority of irons were not touched by the prior owner. Just thought I'd share this observation.

[Daniel S]

I've only used a few of the irons for mine. None of the irons with mine had ever been sharpened and I don't think the plane had ever been used.

[Bill_Houghton]

I understand that an iron for a No. 45 should curve over its length, with the concavity on the beveled side.  The logic, apparently, is that, when the clamp pulls in, a curve will ensure that the operating end is firmly in place.

Internet, not personal, knowledge, and worth what you paid for it here.

[lilrichard2]

Screwed up my neck raking leaves (getting old is a b**ch) and have been laid up for this past week, but decided I'd get some shop time in, and thought of low impact stuff I might be able to do. So I pulled out my #45, complete, in the wooden box, and started sharpening all the irons. Other than two headers, and three straight irons, the rest had the original factory grind and the backs were not flat. So I started and got about halfway thru the irons before i decided to take it a bit easier on myself.  But it always amazes me that the majority of irons were not touched by the prior owner. Just thought I'd share this observation.

You're just a youngster Rich - wait a couple of decades, the you can talk about getting old.

Now, about your original post - I picked up a Wards Master 45 today that has a full set of cutters - non show any sign of ever having been sharpened since leaving the factory. It had two extra spurs also.

I think you're correct about owners not using them  - one has to wonder why.

r2

[gMike]

I have my Grandfathers 45.  He used his to make window sash for a number of buildings (Chicago & Northwestern Railroad buildings).  A few 45s did get used but it isn't the easiest or quickest plane to set up and use.  I think the idea of a 45 or 55 is much better than the actual use of the plane.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Funny, I have noticed the same thing about other Stanley planes. Newer models seem to have had little use. Of the hundreds I have played with, most came from the wild. It is common for an early plane (pre WW I) to have a blade sharpened to a nubbin. Planes made in the 1940s and beyond often have blades that were never even honed.

[Skip J.]

Funny, I have noticed the same thing about other Stanley planes. Newer models seem to have had little use. Of the hundreds I have played with, most came from the wild. It is common for an early plane (pre WW I) to have a blade sharpened to a nubbin. Planes made in the 1940s and beyond often have blades that were never even honed.

When my FIL passed 2 decades ago, his 1950's era Stanley #4 came to me, and started me down this road.  Getting the sole flat was a real challenge, and the blade had never been sharpened.  He owned/used it nearly 20 years as a house painter to trim sticking doors and windows.  Maybe he had honed it a little bit over time because it wasn't very dull.  I would doubt that he had used it more than 20 times total, and then only for a few swipes.  It is the closest I have been to NOS rusthunting in all the time since.  Still, I bought a Hock blade for it and am happy with the blade now, just not the sole flatness.

[Admiral]

. . . . a few 45s did get used but it isn't the easiest or quickest plane to set up and use.  I think the idea of a 45 or 55 is much better than the actual use of the plane.

That's the problem with any multi-use tool, compromises are made in terms of set up and utility.  Because 45 bodies are often found without cutters and other attachments, I have a spare body that I keep set up for beading work.  In fact, I may pickup another and dedicate it to another function as well.

[Admiral]

It is common for an early plane (pre WW I) to have a blade sharpened to a nubbin. Planes made in the 1940s and beyond often have blades that were never even honed.

Basically the Sweetheart planes were heavily used; I was just looking at one last night that I'm cleaning up, and its replacement iron (dated "243") was almost used up.  We sometimes forget that folks made their livings with these tools.  I guess the modern analogy could be the boxes of dead drill batteries  and bare cordless tools I see at the markets, used up making a living. . . . .

[Bill_Houghton]

After World War II, power tools became a far more important component of the homeowner's toolkit.  The advances made in size/efficiency/weight of fractional-horsepower motors during the war years made it affordable for the homeowner to have an electric drill, circular saw, etc.  But all the books on DIY said you had to have a basic hand tool kit.  I suspect a lot of homeowners bought a plane because, well, you had to have one; but never learned how to use it.  We're now finding them in the wild, nearly untouched because, in fact, they were nearly untouched over years of ownership.

I remember going down to Dad and Mom's place a few years before he died to do some maintenance.  One of the doors was sticking at the top - the house must have settled a little, and the door was binding on the jamb.  I pulled it off and corrected the problem with a few swipes of a plane.  Dad, who was watching, said, "You can't fix that problem with a plane."  Not sure what he thought I should fix it with; he was a master with his little Skilsaw - he used to cut rabbets on plywood with it, entirely guided by hand - so maybe that's what he had in mind.

Edit right after I posted: as to the irons for 45s, I'm reminded a little of my realization that much computer software offers a vast array of features, of which most people use about 5-10%. I used Microsoft Excel a LOT in my last ten years at work; but, when our data analyst and I were asked to present some data for a working group, she and I had to learn how to turn the data we worked with all the time into charts. In nine years, we'd never before used this quote helpful feature of Excel, because we just didn't need it.

People bought 45s because they needed them for certain procedures, used the irons that supported the work they did, and never touched the other irons.