Conclusion & Readings


		Conclusion
		By 1962 Stanley ceased to make the 45 and 55. This was no surprise. The market of carpenters who needed to make moldings from scratch had long vanished or had been replaced by the portable electric router. A surprising percentage of 45 and 55's that turn up for sale are in very good condition suggesting that the tool wasn't used much even early in its life. All of these tools are great tributes to nineteenth century engineering and design. However this exhibit isn't about nostalgia. Working a moulding by hand is a very quite and satisfying experience that cannot be duplicated by power tools. But what is truly grand about these tools is that in places such as the workshops of the MacLachlan Woodworking Museum young people can safely produce wooden objects by hand and learn about history, woodworking, tradition, and develop dexterity. Tools in a glass case are simply objects. On a workbench, in use in the hands of a person young or old, they are the living connection to our past.

References and Suggested Reading

Type Study, Stanley's No. 41,42,43,44 Miller's Patent Plow Planes
Charles and Walter Jacob, STCN 1995

Patented Transitional & Metallic Planes in America 1827-1927
Roger K. Smith, 2nd ED. 1990

Patented Transitional & Metallic planes in America - Vol. II
Roger K. Smith, 1992

The Stanley Plane - A History and Descriptive Inventory
Alvin Sellens, Early American Industries Association, 1990

Antique & Collectible Stanley Tools - A Guide to Identity and Value
John Walter, The Tool Merchant, 1990

Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic Woodworking Tools
Michael Dunbar, Sterling Publishing, 1989

Stanley Catalogue Collection, Vols. I and II

Stanley Combination Planes