Stanley 21 transitional smooth plane

Stanley 21 smooth plane (transitional)

offered 1869 - 1917

7" long with a 1 3/4" cutter

Scarce No 2 size plane with wood bottom - aka as transitional plane i.e. part wooden plane, part metal plane.

Sole or bottom part is beech. . The wooden part is the Achilles heel - if you pardon the pun. Avoid badly worn and scratched soles, discoloured wood, wood-worm damage and any examples with a sickly looking pale finish. No amount of linseed oil can transfuse them back to life.

I am convinced that transitional planes have been under-valued for a very long time - especially in the USA. Most of them are old enough to qualify as antiques, 100 years old or over. They are attractive and they carry the Stanley name, so what's the hang-up? Down under they certainly had a better run. Not so much by tradesman, you won't find many "trannies" that were actually bought over the counter of an old hardware shop in rural Australia. Most of the planes offered over here have been imported by collectors and tool dealers in the last thirty years or so. In the mid 90s I used to buy them by the box load from dealers all over America, had them shipped to my pal in St Louis, Missouri, re-packed with loving care and miles of duct tape, then shipped down under. The "scheme" became unstuck when American tool dealers started telling me that the going rate had increased by 50% because of strong local demand. Only then did I realize that I was the source of this sudden "local" demand that had dealers buying transitional planes from each other. In the last 5 years or so eBay has opened the flood gates once more and prices are back to the levels of the mid 90s. However, I don't think it will last much longer. Already the numbers have decreased , so has the quality. Get them now, good examples will become scarce in no time.