Stanley number 90 bull nose rabbit plane?

You'll get a lot of opinions, but all I can say is I have had an
english 90 for the past 7 years and it works well, was made well, was
square new, is square now, and is a really handy plane. My experience
tells me new or old in this particular plane does not make any
appreciable difference, at least in this price range. You can pay
more elsewhere for the same function, but get a finer tool that will
be an absolute joy to use and keep you coming back to it time after
time, but that's true about most tools, and women, for that matter.
Just check it out carefully before you buy it to make sure its looking
good, but I do that no matter what tool I buy. Mutt

Scott Duncan <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I?m getting ready to buy one. Is there any difference between the older
> ones built in USA versus the newer ones built in England? Are the new
> ones the same as the old ones or have they been changed in some way? I
> see that the old ones sell on Ebay for almost as much as the new ones so
> I might as well buy a new one unless the old ones are better some how.
>
> Thanks,
> Scott

Scott Duncan wrote:
> I’m getting ready to buy one. Is there any difference between the older
> ones built in USA versus the newer ones built in England? Are the new
> ones the same as the old ones or have they been changed in some way? I
> see that the old ones sell on Ebay for almost as much as the new ones so
> I might as well buy a new one unless the old ones are better some how.
>
> Thanks,
> Scott

The older planes made in the USA are generally considered to be of better
quality than the ones made in England. Follow this link for more info:

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan11.htm#num90

However, might I suggest that you *seriously* consider one of these planes
instead of a #90:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=49709&category=1,41182,48945&ccurrency=2&SID=

The Veritas is of a MUCH better design than the Stanley, and I doubt that
you'll ever regret laying down the extra cash.

--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, change the chemical designation to its common name.

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 22:29:25 -0400, Scott Duncan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I’m getting ready to buy one. Is there any difference between the older
>ones built in USA versus the newer ones built in England?

English are _much_ better quality. It's rumoured that the bench
planes were better quality in the USA, but this is a very subtle
variation if anything. However the #92 and #93 US models are infamous
for warping problems the UK models just didn't have.

The #90 family have rarity value in the USA, but not in the UK. I
think the #90 (like a bull nose #92) is fairly common, but the fixed
body #90A and #90J and real rarities in the USA.

Personally I find a #92 to be a useful dado plane, an unimpressive
rebate plane (they jam with shavings) and a lousy shoulder plane. Get
one, because they're cheap, but they won't replace a real shoulder
plane like a 311

--
Smert' spamionam

In article <[email protected]>,
Scott Duncan <[email protected]> wrote:

> I’m getting ready to buy one. Is there any difference between the older
> ones built in USA versus the newer ones built in England? Are the new
> ones the same as the old ones or have they been changed in some way? I
> see that the old ones sell on Ebay for almost as much as the new ones so
> I might as well buy a new one unless the old ones are better some how.

My experience with a new 92 was that the castings were very rough and
not square. It took a couple hours to fine tune it. The old ones were
likely made to a higher quality standard - IOW, go old if you can find
and afford it.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
Offering a shim for the Porter-Cable 557 type 2 fence design.
<http://www.flybynightcoppercompany.com>
<http://www.easystreet.com/~onlnlowe/index.html>