Lost Art Press

A Special No. 5 Handplane

Posted on by Lost Art Press

What do you get for the woman who already owns all the blue fleeces on the planet?

I’m talking, of course, about Megan Fitzpatrick, who celebrated a birthday on Aug. 7. After much thought, I decided to get her something that would indirectly benefit me. You see, Megan is constantly borrowing my beloved old Stanley No. 5, which I have owned since I started woodworking.

I don’t mind her borrowing it, except when I need to use it. My No. 5 is – far and away – the handplane I use the most. I bought it before I knew a lot about handplanes from a stoner at an open-air market. And it was the best $12 I ever spent. 

It’s a Type 11 Stanley plane, which means it was likely made between 1910 and 1918. Stanley made tons of these planes – they aren’t rare. But they are spectacular. Rosewood knob and tote. A frog with lots of bearing surface. And – in general – superb fit and finish.

So I decided to get Megan a Type 11 just like mine, and I pieced one together from a good basic plane and some donor parts. But I decided that wasn’t enough. Megan works hard every day to keep me sane at work.

The sidewalls of my No. 5 plane are engraved with the logo for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” which Catharine Kennedy engraved for me about 11 years ago (she is now retired from engraving). For Megan’s plane, I decided to ask Jenny Bower, who both Megan and I admire greatly.

Jenny agreed (yay!), but she was concerned because she hadn’t engraved the particular metals used in the old Stanleys. What if the lever cap didn’t engrave well? She was concerned she might ruin a valuable and old plane.

Then I told her I’d get another lever cap for $10. And I explained how the tool itself – while spectacular – isn’t rare at all. What was going to make the plane special was the engraving.

We received the finished plane this week, and it is better than photos can convey. Jenny is a hand-engraver, and the results are incredibly three-dimensional. If you ever have thought about getting a tool engraved, I recommend her highly. Check out her Instagram feed to see the sort of work she does (and the fun costumes she makes, too).

During the last 11 years, a lot of people have asked questions about my engraved plane. (My favorite: “Isn’t it amazing that you found an old plane that had already been engraved with the logo from your book?”) The most common question people have is: “Why did you get the plane engraved?”

Usually I make a joke at first: “Now it’s a tax write-off.” But the serious answer goes something like this: “My tools are my ticket to work for myself, outside of the corporate world. They mean the world to me. Engraving a common but incredibly useful tool forces people to regard it differently. When I’m gone, I hope a future owner will pick it up at a flea market and understand just how much this common-as-dirt No. 5 meant to its owner.”

Oh, and if you want to read more about Jenny’s journey as an engraver, woodworker and person, check out this Little Acorns profile Nancy Hiller wrote about her.

— Christopher Schwarz

39 thoughts on “A Special No. 5 Handplane”

  2. Now THAT is a magnificent present. Useful, thoughtful, and beautiful. May this plane serve its mistress well for many years to come, and then whoever takes it on after her!

  3. Holy Mackerel! Did you at least warn Jenny that you were going to put this up on your blog? The poor woman is going to be overrun…

    I mean, yes, it’s definitely a top-tier mitzvah to make sure a crafts person like that has work, but after seeing what you did to miller’s falls miter boxes on eBay once upon a time, I hope she knows she’ll have to raise prices, and hire a stout guy with a sheleighly to keep the unwashed masses at bay…

  5. I was wondering if Catharine was still working. I’ve seen several planes she has engraved, and they are phenomenal.

    And I’ve been following Jenny’s work for a couple of years, and her talent is off the charts. Just amazing.

    I’d like to have a tool or too done, but would like some sort of logo, perhaps made from initials. Can you recommend someone to design something like that? I’ve tried, but I haven’t been happy with my attempts.

  6. I have a type 8 No. 5 that I bought without really knowing what I was getting. I’m curious about the previous owners as the plane looks to have been dropped, cracked in half and brazed back together. Someone must have loved the tool very much to go to effort to fix it.

    2. I had a plane like that, too. I kinda wonder if it’s 100% that they loved the tool, or that brazing was a more common skill… or that someone who could braze well inherited a free broken plane.

  8. I just took the ATC class from Megan at the Fla School of Woodworking. If anyone deserves this tool, it is her! She’s a wonderful instructor.

  9. Megan will probably still use Chris’s so she doesn’t have to sharpen hers as often.

  13. Oh yeah, I knew I had heard of her and seen her work. It was from Nancy’s blog, which was an excellent blog post. Her work is incredible, would love to get a bronze LN smoother and have her engrave it some day.
    I have actually wanted to try some basic engraving after watching Uri Tuchman’s videos, he is one of few people I subscribe to on Youtube, I highly suggest checking out some of his videos if you haven’t, and he actually shows how to make your own starter graver and tools. Maybe some day after i finish these current projects.

  14. Old Stanley #5 $15. Custom engraving a couple hundred. The look on Megan’s face when you gave her the plane was probably priceless. Very cool.

  15. Ooh! Ooh! I was SO hoping there’d be cats. Happy birthday Megan, and nicely done Christopher.

  17. Happy birthday Megan! Awesome gift, Chris. As for your #5 Chris, holy cow, iron worn down to a stub… when is it time for a new-to-you replacement?

  18. Awesome! I’ve often thought of learning how to engrave so I can make some of the metal tools I own nice. Several years ago, for my 50th birthday, I went to Cody WY and spent several days at the multi-museum they have there. I probably spent most of my time in the room full of engraved firearms. Just love engraving on metal.

  22. Engraving a no 5. is the perfect combination of ubiquitous and unique, that is a wonderful gift.

    1. For a jack plane, I don’t see the need to get a heavier blade. I have the stock Stanley blade in mine. For Megan’s, I used an old Millers Falls blade that has a lot more life left in it.

  25. Nice! This had me check up engraving on youtube, and made me curious about trying it out.

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