Part I of this post introduced you to Justus Traut’s patent No. 316,079 granted on April 21, 1885.  This patent very clearly illustrated and described what became the Stanley #72 Chamfer Plane (See Figure 1). The patent also included a drawing of the “spokeshave” style chamfer plane discussed in Part I (http://eaiainfo.org/2018/01/06/trauts-model-shop-chamfer-planes-part-1/).  For consistency, the […]

From its inception the Stanley Rule & Level Company was very attentive to its customers needs and desires.  Their salesmen were instructed to listen carefully to comments and suggestions from their customers about the tools they manufactured and bring that information back to the foremen in the shop.  Because of the nature of the “inside […]

This post is a bit longer than those I’ve written in the past, but I hope you’ll enjoy the story that’s in here about another interesting plane from the Stanley Model Shop. 1873 to 1879 were tough years for the Stanley Rule & Level Company as well as the rest of the U.S. economy.  The […]

It’s late in the year 1875, and Justus Traut and the men in his shop at Stanley Rule & Level Company are still diligently working on a cutter adjustment mechanism for the Stanley #110 block plane. Traut and Henry Richards, one of the “mechanics” working in Traut’s  shop, produced the block plane prototype shown in […]

October 29th, 2016, Radisson Hotel, Camp Hill, PA By: John G Wells Prices realized in this article include a 13% buyer’s premium. A 3% discount is available for cash or a good check. Prices enclosed in square brackets are pre-auction estimates taken from the Brown auction catalog No. 49. The condition of all items was […]

The 48th Brown Tool Auction was held at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania on April 2, 2016.  Prices realized in this article include a 13% buyer’s premium.  A 3% discount was available for cash or a good check.  The condition of the items was taken from the auction catalog and does not reflect […]

By John G. Wells Brown 47th International Antique Tool Auction was held October 30-31st 2015, at Camp Hill, PA Prices realized in this article include a 13% buyer’s premium.  A 3% discount was available for cash or a good check.  The condition of all items was taken from the auction catalog and does not reflect […]

Stanley introduced the #144 corner rounding plane in 1925.  They advertised these planes as “designed for rounding corners on wall board battens, casings, shelving, etc.”¹ The design patent, #68,402 for this plane was granted to Edmund Schade on October 6, 1925.  When doing tool research and looking at patents we’re usually looking at what are […]

  Joseph Fuller (b. 1746 – d. 1822) was one of the most important American planemakers during the later 1700’s through the early 1800’s. He was making and selling planes as early as 1773 in Providence, RI, and died there in 1822. (1) He seems to have been quite successful in his trade and produced […]

I’ll readily admit it, I’m a “tool collector”.  I’m fascinated with all kinds of tools, but learned early on that I had to focus my energies and tool collecting funds on a narrower field, so I chose  woodworking planes.   I love those early Leonard Bailey, Charles Miller, and Stanley Rule & Level Company planes.  […]