By Eric Brown
Vintage #4 metal bodied Smoothing Plane Weight Comparisons
A smoothing plane needs several things in order to operate properly. Obviously the bottom needs to be flat and smooth. It needs a sharp blade, properly bedded and adjusted with a tight mouth. In use, heavier is sometimes better. For best results with more difficult grains, a chip breaker is desirable. A frog adjustment screw is handy and provides more support to prevent the frog from moving, but once the frog is adjusted properly it probably will not need to be adjusted again. Below is a group of ten vintage planes from various makers. They are arranged from lightest to heaviest. As with most things, looking at just one feature does not necessarily mean it’s the best way to determine “the best”. The following will list the weights and then individual descriptions of features.
From Left to right:
Shelton 504 2lbs 9oz (1156g)
Fulton Tool 3lbs 3oz (1446g)
Stanley 3lbs 4oz (1476g)
Keystone 3lbs 4oz (1476g)
Shelton No 9 3lbs 7oz (1565g)
Sargent Hercules 3lbs 11oz (1660g)
Macrome 3lbs 13oz (1721g)
Millers Falls 209 3lbs 13oz (1721g)
Craftsman 3lbs 14oz (1747g)
Not shown above – reference only
Veritas #4 Custom 4lbs 5oz
Lie Nielsen #4 Iron 4lbs
Lie Nielsen #4 Bronze 4.5lbs
Brief descriptions of #4 sized smoothing plane good and bad features.
Shelton No 4. This plane does not have any adjustment for mouth opening. No chip breaker.
(Not recommended for smoothing)
Shelton 504 This plane does not have any adjustment for mouth opening. No chip breaker.
(Not recommended for smoothing)
Fulton Tool Frog adjustable but no adjustment screw. Chip breaker.
Stanley Type 13 Frog adjustable with screw, chip breaker
Keystone Frog adjustable but no adjustment screw. Chip breaker.
(Not recommended due to poor quality)
Shelton No 9 Frog adjustable with screw, chip breaker
Sargent Hercules Frog adjustable but no adjustment screw. Chip breaker.
Macrome Frog adjustable but no adjustment screw. Chip breaker.
Millers Falls 209 Frog adjustable with screw, chip breaker
Craftsman Frog adjustable but no adjustment screw. Chip breaker.
Obviously the above list is not a complete list of all #4 planes ever made. It also does not cover infill or wooden planes. Many of the above are available on the used market. So which do I think are good?
All of them with adjustable frogs and chip breakers will work. Ones with an adjustment screw for the frog position are better. The name brands, like Stanley, Millers Falls, Sargent etc., will typically have better fit and finish. A step up from these would be any of the new planes made by Lee Valley (Veritas) or Lie Nielsen. Some of the other new planes on the market might also be good, only requiring some tune up work. I usually have the Stanley #4 and Craftsman planes in my tool chest and usually pick the Craftsman first. For smoothing I sometimes also use a #3 Stanley. Depends on the task.