Help Me Identify This Block Plane part 2 - and Can the blade be sharpened?

[Ann_from_Chicago]

See The original post from 2013 by  lauver from Texas

Well I can not tell you how happy i am to find this Website!  I just joined today. 

   I have a very similar planer (same exact numbers) C-255
and have been trying to figure out what brand it was.  the good news is i know its from the 1960's early 70's because the one i have is my Dads.

Yesterday, i found it while cleaning out my tool box and  I  took the planer apart after finding this FORUM! I was not even sure the tool was called a planer. But i guessed.

The blade was so dirty and i did not even see there was text etched into it, but after cleaning, there it was...STANLEY.

As the original post from lauver said "the blade on his planer said STANLEY".
Well, i know for a fact my Dad never changed the blade because he probably used it 3 times building stuff in the basement as a kid in Chicago suburbs of Wheeling IL. 
My dad is still alive and i am going to show him this forum.  i borrowed the tool 30 years ago and I'm sure he wont mind. 

  The numbers on the Maroon base read C-255 and the blade reads NO. 220 (13-220) MADE IN THE USA.  (see photos)

Oh, i was wondering. can the blade be sharpened? I don't know if a replacement blade would be an option? ?

[Ann_from_Chicago]

testing .....

[coolford]

Your plane is a Stanley, but it is a 220 not a 110.  Check the differences, cutter says 220, not 110 and the adjuster is at the back, not under the cap.  Welcome to this site from the Missouri Ozarks.

[p_toad]

Ann,

First of all; welcome to the forums.   It's a great place and if you want to read a lot about tools...   a great many knowledgeable and gracious folks here to help you.   

Second:  Your plane blade can be sharpened (mostly depending on how good the current condition).   Some folks use a guide to hold the blade and some just "free hand" it, but I would NOT use a grinder or a sanding belt (especially just starting out).   
I would recommend either some graded diamond stones or go to youtube and look up the "scary sharp" system of using various
grits of "sandpaper" to sharpen the blade.   You can get a shaving edge either way (and if it shaves, it cuts...so use some caution).

There's and excellent (long) write-up about planes that Jim has posted on this site and it's great reading.

[Bill Houghton]

Ann,

Welcome!  I hope you'll enjoy it here.

Before you put much time or money into it, find some suitable straightedge (if you've got a combination or try square, the rule part of that will probably work) and check how flat the sole - bottom - of the plane is.  By the time Stanley was painting the planes that color, often called maroon although Stanley thought "cordovan" was a more appropriate term, quality control had slipped.  A lot.  If you can slip a piece of card stock (like, say, your last birthday or holiday card) under the straightedge, especially near the mouth, you may have trouble getting good use from the plane.  I'm not saying you will - not necessarily every maroon-painted plane is poor quality - but you might.

Either way, sharpen up the blade and give it a go.  The 220 is a nice, serviceable plane.  Start with the blade not sticking out, then advance it slowly, using the knob, until you start to get shavings.  Sight along the sole from the front.  Does the blade stick out more on one side than the other?  Use your fingers on the back end of the blade to push it gently sideways until it's pretty even, and adjust how much it sticks out again.

If you have to back it up to adjust how much it sticks out, back past where you want to be and come forward again.  The adjuster should always be pushing against the blade.

As a side note, your post gives me the impression that you're starting out with tools.  It's good to have a basic orientation to the subject as you learn.  Regardless of whether you learn by reading or by watching videos, your friendly local library will probably have resources for you.  You've paid for their services, so take advantage of them.  Read every book or watch every video you can find on the subject of basic woodworking.  You'll find some contradictions from one book/video to another, which is normal; there's often more than one way to do things, and a given person will have chosen one over another at some point.

You can find lots of stuff on the internet, too, but the internet's got some real garbage (not that libraries are proof against garbage, but they've usually filtered out the trash).

Bill

[mikeswrenches]

Hi Ann, welcome from sunny day Florida. Click on the link below for Pat Leach's Stanley web site.

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

Mike

[Plyerman]

Greetings Ann!

[Yadda]

Howdy from Houston!

I wouldn't swap the handle.  A little bit of scraping sanding and shellac will bring you home.