I sharpened 4 of my #4 planes and just for Mark I included my Record #4 (best I can recall it was bought in the late '70's early '80's). So the line up was the Record with a Hock iron, a Type 13 Stanley with a Japanese bi-metal cuter, a LN with a Veritas O1 iron, and The stock Clifton.
While the cutters were sharpened by hand so all things may not be equal the sharpness should be reasonably close, at least good enough to get a feel of each plane. Of course something like this is totally subjective.
Cut to the chase: the order of comfort/pleasure/ease of use was: Stanley, LN, Clifton, and sorry to say Record. The Record sucked hind tit mostly because of its tote, by the time this one was made both Record and Stanley were not producing well made planes. The tote is almost unfinished and rough, add in the bent metal adjuster and if it weren't for sentiment the Record would walk the plank.
The LN is just heavy, it brings a little to table because of quality of build but that is not enough to beat the Stanley. The Clifton I wanted to love but no joy. The quality of build is great, as good as the LN, but the screw head on the knob extends above the knob making it uncomfortable to hold and it really is too damn heavy.
The Stanley, while not as well made, fits my hand better. The sum is greater than the parts. I know everyone would have a different opinion but whatever the Stanley blows my skirt. Of course I kinda knew that going in 😇.
ken
I am not really surprised. Years ago we organized a plane extravaganza in Ottawa and we got our hands on a lot of planes to play with. I brought mostly type 11 Stanley, but we had Veritas, LN, Cliftons and etc. My results and those of many others were similar. Weight balance form and fit, the old Stanley had it all.
ReplyDeleteBob,
DeleteI wish someone would get smart enough to make a Bailey plane with modern material and tolerances. It could be a great plane that probably wouldn't sell because the snake oil runs deep. That's the bad news, the good is there are still a ton of type 9 through 13 planes out there. My biggest problem is finding good cutters and chip beakers for 'em.
ken
I'm genuinely surprised to hear the Record fared so ill; neither of the totes on mine feel unfinished and Record hadn't really started to go downhill by the 70s - they hung in there pretty much up till Thatcher came along and they got bought by Rubbermaid, from what I remember. I'm now wondering, if this is unfinished and it feels fine, what have I been missing? :D
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stochasticgeometry.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_2688a.jpg
Mark,
DeleteI'll take another closer look at the Record later today. There are three possibilities, my memory could be bad and it could be an mid to late '80's plane. At my age that is a strong possibility. The plane has sat for many years with no attention and the finish could be flaking off, and it could be just the fact it was in a group of "posh" planes and the Stanley was from the height of the Stanley line. I'll take a closer look once I get to the shop to see if I can tell which is likely.
ken