A further couple of things about the Stanley 46: Early models did not have a fence, they used a "guard plate" that attached to the left skate instead. You can always use a scrap of wood if the guard plate is missing. The skewed angle means the sliding section does not support the left side of the blade. Supposedly this may allow chatter with wider blades in harder woods but I've never experienced it.
I just dug out my dad’s #46 with the full set of blades in the box. It was assembled wrong and that took a few minutes to figure out but I got it back together correctly.
I have recently acquired both a 45 and a 55. Nice to look at a 46. Thank you for showing us around. You mention that two blades can be run in a 55 at the same time. Can you demonstrate that please.
No problem, happy to talk about my toys ;-) I’ve mislead you on the 2 blades thing. I’ll run through the 55 next. What I was trying to demonstrate (using 2 blades that were on hand) is that the 55 has some blades that are a different depth on 1 side compared to the other. That the 55 can adjust the height of a skate to support a lopsided blade. I probably should have got one of those blades out to demonstrate. Sorry for the confusion. But I’m glade you enjoy the video. Hope you enjoy your acquisitions, I find the 45 and the 55 to be a lot of fun to use.
Thanks for posting. I purchased a Stanley 46 several years ago with no blades but otherwise complete, it is good to see someone showing the features. Mine must be quite a bit older as it came with the black Japanned finish. Are you aware of anyone posting videos about setting up and using them?
There is not a lot available specifically for the 46 but if you have a look at 45 & 55 planes, it is basically the same. The only real difference being the skewed blade. You might want to check Rob Cosman’s video on sharpening skew blades for a block plane… ua-cam.com/video/rTGiyXqKa_8/v-deo.html I will probably do a video on it being used at some point.
Do you have to sharpen the blades by trial and error, or is there a specific angle you can set a sharpening guide to get the right angle? I bought an old Frankenplane with no blades and bought a set of new made blades and am trying to set it up to use.
I would suggest not. Without knowing the particular plane you refer to, I suspect that the plane in question is similar to a Stanley 93. The 46 has a flat side from top to bottom and the cutting edge is a skewed angle. You could take a 45 or 55 blade and recut it with a skew but you will lose a lot of blade length. You’d probably have better results cutting one from a lawn mower blade if you have the tools to do so.
Mate, do your skates line up true or dead flat when set right next to each other? I recently purchased a 46 and it seems that the sliding skate is a hair lower than the main skate.
I’ve just gone and checked mine and it appears to be flat at the back and the sliding skate appears to be about 2 10ths of a mm higher than the main body skate at the front. Not enough to effect the results for me. Hope that helps.
A further couple of things about the Stanley 46: Early models did not have a fence, they used a "guard plate" that attached to the left skate instead. You can always use a scrap of wood if the guard plate is missing. The skewed angle means the sliding section does not support the left side of the blade. Supposedly this may allow chatter with wider blades in harder woods but I've never experienced it.
Thanks for the extra info. I wasn't aware that early models didn't have a fence. I need to investigate the guard plate situation.
😉
I just dug out my dad’s #46 with the full set of blades in the box. It was assembled wrong and that took a few minutes to figure out but I got it back together correctly.
What a nice memento from your father. Sounds like you have a great family heirloom to help pass on the valuable skill of manual wood working with.
😁
I have recently acquired both a 45 and a 55. Nice to look at a 46. Thank you for showing us around. You mention that two blades can be run in a 55 at the same time. Can you demonstrate that please.
No problem, happy to talk about my toys ;-)
I’ve mislead you on the 2 blades thing. I’ll run through the 55 next. What I was trying to demonstrate (using 2 blades that were on hand) is that the 55 has some blades that are a different depth on 1 side compared to the other. That the 55 can adjust the height of a skate to support a lopsided blade. I probably should have got one of those blades out to demonstrate. Sorry for the confusion. But I’m glade you enjoy the video. Hope you enjoy your acquisitions, I find the 45 and the 55 to be a lot of fun to use.
Thanks for posting. I purchased a Stanley 46 several years ago with no blades but otherwise complete, it is good to see someone showing the features. Mine must be quite a bit older as it came with the black Japanned finish. Are you aware of anyone posting videos about setting up and using them?
There is not a lot available specifically for the 46 but if you have a look at 45 & 55 planes, it is basically the same. The only real difference being the skewed blade. You might want to check Rob Cosman’s video on sharpening skew blades for a block plane… ua-cam.com/video/rTGiyXqKa_8/v-deo.html
I will probably do a video on it being used at some point.
Do you have to sharpen the blades by trial and error, or is there a specific angle you can set a sharpening guide to get the right angle? I bought an old Frankenplane with no blades and bought a set of new made blades and am trying to set it up to use.
I believe the angle for the 45 blades is 35. I've never checked mine. I just sharpen them by hand to the existing bevel angle by feel.
can a shoulder plane from woodcraft blades be use on a stanley 46?
I would suggest not. Without knowing the particular plane you refer to, I suspect that the plane in question is similar to a Stanley 93. The 46 has a flat side from top to bottom and the cutting edge is a skewed angle. You could take a 45 or 55 blade and recut it with a skew but you will lose a lot of blade length. You’d probably have better results cutting one from a lawn mower blade if you have the tools to do so.
Mate, do your skates line up true or dead flat when set right next to each other? I recently purchased a 46 and it seems that the sliding skate is a hair lower than the main skate.
I’ve just gone and checked mine and it appears to be flat at the back and the sliding skate appears to be about 2 10ths of a mm higher than the main body skate at the front. Not enough to effect the results for me. Hope that helps.
@@SomeKindOfView it does and thank you for getting back to me. I plan on using it a bit and seeing what happens. Just need some more cutting irons.👍👍
yeh,the cutting irons aren’t easy to come by at good prices. all the best on your search.
Show it cutting.
will be in a future video 😉