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Stanley 54  Plough and Rabbet Plane

offered 1937-1950

9 1/2"  long with a set of  8 plough cutters, sizes 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2 & 5/8

Early models nickel plated, WW2 and later black japanned with nickel plated fence. Similar to No 50 but without a depth stop and no spurs. The first model did not have a depth adjuster for the cutter. 

I have a feeling this plane was manufactured for Australia! Well, maybe not exclusively but the idea of a plough with a traditional set of 8 cutters must have been extremely well received down under. As far as I know Carter Australia is the only plane manufacturer in the world who copied this design with their 54C plane. It's also worth noting that Stanley UK later adopted this idea with their 50S model - that one simply was a 50 with a reduced set of cutters. That model, too was very popular in Australia.

Stanley used the basic design from the 50 with a couple of obvious changes:  no spur holes were drilled and the spur holding slots were not finished. Likewise, the depth stop slot on the sliding section was left unfinished. All models I've handled had the No 54 cast into the side handle. Note that the 54 kept the same design i.e. cast iron handle for the entire production period - unlike the No 50 that ended up with a rosewood handle.  I think all models, except the pre-adjustable, had a set of long and short rods. The 50 never had short rods.

WW2 model black japanned finish body and sliding section, fence is nickel plated. Fence and long rods are the only interchangeable parts with a 50.

This model came in a cardboard box, similar to the No 50 box but with a pale finish. Later type boxes had a cardboard partition and the 8 cutters were stored in a cardboard sleeve or in one case, in a small cardboard box with lid with orange Stanley finish.  I've never seen the cutters stored in a wooden box that looked like it was factory made. I've handled one plane that came in a flat cardboard box, similar to a 78. Unfortunately I haven't kept pre-digital images.

This plane was made in the USA but I think we can safely claim it as a true blue Aussie. Nobody else has as many as we do!

Stanley 54 down under - war effort or dumping ground?  Given the large number of these American made planes that keep surfacing in Australia there is much speculation about a huge shipment brought here during WW2. It's an interesting story  and one that actually could have some merit. General MacArthur's  headquarters in WW2 was Australia. Huge numbers of troops and support personal were stationed here to build everything from roads to wine racks and make ready to re-take the South Pacific. Whilst commercial shipping was all but dead, the armed forces had unlimited access to material and the means to ship it down under.  It's interesting to note that rationing in Australia continued well after the war  - in other words, shipping restrictions would have made it all but impossible to commercially ship these planes down under for most of their production period.  This was the very reason for Carter Australia to start manufacturing their Australian made version of the 54 around 1945. There is absolutely no doubt that this plane was -  and still is,  fairly common in Australia. In fact, I have found just as many 54s at sales as USA made 50s. There can be no doubt that these planes arrived here in large numbers. Only question is: when? Certainly not before WW2, the nickel plated models are far less common. So did General MacArthur's carpenters really land a container-load of 54s in Melbourne for the allied war efforts?  I actually hope it's true - the only other option I can come up with is far less romantic: The possibility that Stanley couldn't sell this "economy" version to the American chippies and that management ultimately decided to dump them down under. I hope some day some bloke from Texas or Arkansas will send me a message along the lines: "Buddy, I unloaded that container with my own hands!" I have my reply ready: "Mate, I shipped most of them back to America!"

Postscript: No American contacted me about unloading a container but I seem to have put a few Yankee noses out of place.  To all the American Stanley experts who won't believe that an Aussie bloke actually knows his Stanley 54 planes: there was a pre-adjustable Stanley 54 and picture one clearly shows that model. No, it's not a 50 posing as a 54. You can't marry a 50 with a 54 body - the slots for the spurs are not finished in the 54. That plane is a pre adjustable 54 with the unfinished spur slots - I don't understand why that should upset anybody.

instructions

Detail 2 shows vacant spur holding slots, not needed for the 54  - compare pic 50