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08/19/2026 |
Between 1905 and 1943, Stanley manufactured the No. 52 Chute Board and Plane. In 1909, the Chute Board Plane No. 51 was made separately available.
While a modern chop saw or table saw can instantly create a glass smooth square cut, hand saws can give an accurate cut, but not something glass smooth. I have never owned a table saw; I have done all the work in making furniture completely by hand. I didn't do this because of high-minded purity. But as someone who lived and did my furniture-making in an apartment, I simply didn't have space or soundproofing for a table saw. With practice and paying attention, sawing something square is not that difficult. But even a great saw edge isn't perfect because the saw marks leave a rough surface. For joints that are not seen, that's usually fine. For anything visible, however, you need a clean straight edge.
The way you create a clean straight edge is by shooting the edge with a plane. There are millions of guides on the internet on how to do this, but the basic theory is you place the work flat in a fixture, and - with a plane on its side - you plane the end grain front to back. Chute board planes were invented to make this easy. Most chute board planes had a skewed blade to promote a slightly better attack angle on the end grain of a wood. The skewed blade also helped push the wood down against the shoot board that the wood was braced against. The better planes also had angled handles - easier to hold. If you used a Stanley No. 9 Cabinetmaker's Block Plane for shooting, you could get an accessory "Hot Dog" handle that fit on the side so that the plane was easier to hold. With a traditional miter plane, or a regular bench plane, you just grabbed the side of the plane.
With an accurate shooting board, you could not only make the edge of a board clean and smooth, but also dead square. The work rests against a fence on the shooting board, and the plane is guided square by riding in a trough on the side.
With a fence on a shooting board set at 45 degrees, you also can make perfect miter joints.
For centuries, wooden fixtures were the way this was done. Making what is essentially a bench stop with a ledge for the plane is pretty straightforward. The trick is building a fixture with a perfect, accurate, 90° fence. In 1905, Stanley introduced a very expensive, but not very popular, Chute Board Plane and Board. It was $10.00 in 1915, which was a lot of money. I've had one for about 30 years. What I love about mine: it's actually pretty comfortable to use with that slanted handle; it's dead accurate; and it produces a great result. I attached a wooden sacrificial fence to mine, because when I'm doing something precise I prefer having support all the way up to the edge of the work. I've never really used it for any miters. Both Lie-Nelson and Lee Valley have created their versions of this plane.
The original plane had a holddown for the work. I didn't get it with my plane. Aftermarket replacements are available, but I never got around to getting one, and I've never really missed it. The plane is heavy and there's momentum behind it. It is beautifully machined and extremely accurate. I find just only has one flaw with it: unlike every other Stanley bench plane, it has a frog that is not adjustable. So you cannot stick a Hock or other aftermarket thicker blade (with their performance benefit) into the plane without widening the mouth with a file - which I'm simply not willing to do. Such an alteration would seriously affect the plane's resale value. When I got my plane I did need to replace the blade and I got a replacement blade from Karl Holtey, who ground one up thin for me special in an exotic alloy. It's an awesome blade.
When I'm doing cabinet work, the plane rests against a stop on the right side of my bench. It happens I don't use my vise much so it never gets in the way. Most my clamping is done with holdfasts and a tail vise on the left hand side of the workbench.
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A few years before Lie-Nielsen released the #51 (several years ago now), Thomas Lie-Nielsen asked me in email correspondence about my impressions. This was the first I was aware that LN were planning to offer this plane – and what really interested me was that LN was planning to modify the original design by incorporating the standard frog from a #5 ½ jack. This made perfect sense to me, so-much-so that I said to Thomas that I would buy one when it came available. And I did! What a combination - LN #51 and Stanley #52.
Regards from Perth, Derek
Regards from Perth, Derek