Always Understand What You’re Getting Into – Especially With Penny Slots. The name alone is what. What are the types of coin-operated antique slot machines? Old slot machines come in a wide variety of categories. While you may see token slot machines, the tokens work the same way that coins do. If you want a slot machine only for decoration, you might be able to purchase a non-functional slot machine for a lower price than a working model.

• Free Slots Penny Nickel

by John Robison
Do the slot machines on the ends of aisles pay better than the machines in the middle? How about the machines near the table games? They’retight, right? And are the machines near the coin redemption booths loose? Join us on our journey for finding loose slot machines.
The loose slot machine is the slot player’s Holy Grail. Much as King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table searched Britain for the Holy Grail of myth, slot players search casinos for loosemachines. Slot players have formulated many theories about where casinos place their loose machines to aid them in their quest.

Before we can figure out where the loose machines are, we have to figure out what they are. There is no U.S.D.A. system for grading the looseness of machines and no national orinternational standard that determines whether a machine is tight or loose.

So, what is a loose slot machine?

Say we have two 94% payback machines. Are they loose? I bet some people say yes and some say no. Why isn’t there agreement? Let me add a little more information to thescenario to see if it gives you an idea of why one person calls a 94% payback machine loose and another calls it tight. What if I told you that one machine was a nickel machine and theother a dollar machine? For most people who play nickel machines, a 94% machine is among the best-paying machines in their area. For most people who play dollar machines, on theother hand, a 94% machine is among the worst-paying machines in their area. The person who called 94% loose probably plays lower-denomination machines, while the person who called 94%tight probably plays higher-denomination machines.
Let me add one more piece of information. The dollar machine is a video poker machine. Dollar video poker players would rather have root canals onall their teeth with no anesthesia while their fingernails and toenails are ripped off than play a 94% payback machine. They have many adjectives for a 94% payback machine, but loose isnot one of them.
You see, loose isn’t an absolute. Looseness depends on your frame of reference. Looseness is actually a comparison. We shouldn’t say “loose.” We should really say“looser”. We should really be asking where the looser machines are. But let’s bow to common usage and continue using the term loose machine.

So, what is a loose machine?

Quite simply, a loose machine is a machine that has a higher long-term payback percentage than another machine. The loose machines in acasino are those machines that have the highest paybacks. These are the machines that will take the smallest bites out of your bankroll in the long run. No wonder slot players areconstantly searching for them.
Over the years, players have developed a number of theories about finding loose slot machines. Casinos place loose machines near the entrances, for example, so passersby can see playerswinning and are enticed to enter the casino and try their luck. The loose machines are also at the ends of the aisles to draw players into the aisle, where the tight machinesare.
And, of course, a loose machine is always surrounded by tight machines. You never have two loose machines side by side. That’s done for players who like to play more than onemachine at a time. If they should happen to stumble upon one of the loose machines, they’ll be pumping their winnings from it into the tight machines around it.
More theories. The machines near the table games are tight because table games players don’t want to hear a lot of bells and buzzers going off and happy slot players whooping it up aftera big win. Another reason the machines near the table games are tight is because table games players will occasionally drop a few coins into a slot machine and they don’t expect to winanything, so why give them a high payback.
Similarly, the machines near the buffet and show lines are tight. People waiting in line are just killing time and getting rid of their spare change. They’re not going to play for along time or develop a relationship with those machines, so the machines can be like piggy banks – for the casino! Money goes in and rarely comes back out.
The machines near the coin redemption booths, on the other hand, are loose. Players waiting in line for coin redemption are slot players and the casino wants them to see other playerswinning. Seeing all those players winning will make them anxious to get back on the slot floor to try their luck again.
Finally, finding loose machines in highly visible locations is most likely. Again, casinos want players to see players winning and be enticed into trying to get a piece of the casino’sbankroll themselves.
These are the theories I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe you know of some others. Most of the theories have a basis in psychology. When we see others winning, we’llwant to play too because 1) we’re greedy, 2) we’re envious, or 3) we see that at least some machines really do pay off and if we keep trying we might find one too.
Based on my own discussions with slot directors, interviews with slot directors, and seminars I’ve attended, I don’t think these theories are relevant in today’s slot world. To see why,we have to look at how slot machines and slot floors have changed.
Picture a slot floor of 10-20 years ago. Even if you don’t go back that far, I’m sure you’ve seen pictures on TV or in books. The slot machines on a casino floor in that era arearranged in long rows, much like products out for sale in a supermarket aisle. There’s no imagination used in placing the machines on the floor. The machines are placed using cold,mechanical precision.
On page 193 in Slot Machines: A Pictorial History of the First 100 Years by Marshall Fey, there’s a great picture of Bally’s casino floor in Atlantic City that illustrates my point. Thepicture shows hundreds of slot machines all lined up in perfect rows like little soldiers. The caption reads, “Like a Nebraska cornfield, rows upon rows of Bally slots extend as far asthe eye can see.”

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Compare that image with the slot floor layout at a casino that was designed in the last five or so years. Studies have shown that players feel very uncomfortable playing in longaisles. They feel trapped when they’re playing in the middle of a long aisle, particularly if the casino is crowded. As a result, modern casinos have shorter aisles and when a long aislecan’t be avoided, it will be wider than others so players won’t feel like they can’t get out.
One of the finding loose machines theories has casinos placing loose machines at the ends of aisles to draw people into the aisles. Having shorter aisles means having more machinesat the ends of those aisles. Can all of these machines be loose?
In addition to being uncomfortable in long aisles, players are also uncomfortable being put out on display for the other players. Perhaps they feel like they might become a target iftheir good luck is too visible.
One slot director I heard speak said that he tried to create “comfortable niches” for his players. Instead of being in a fish bowl, visible to most of the slot floor, players in hisniches can be easily seen by only the other players in that niche.
Another theory about loose machine placement is that casinos place them in highly visible areas. Modern casinos still have highly visible areas, but the areas are visible to a smallernumber of players. A loose machine in this area will influence fewer players than before.
The last change in the slot floor that I want to mention is perhaps the biggest change of all. Casinos used to have hundreds of slot machines. Now they have thousands. Oneslot director in Las Vegas said in an interview a few years ago that with so many machines on his floor, he didn’t have time to micro-manage them. He and his management decided the holdpercentage they wanted for each denomination and he ordered payback programs close to that percentage for his machines. Furthermore, he said this was the common practice in LasVegas.
As much as the slot floor has changed, the changes on the floor are dwarfed by the changes in the slot machines themselves. One thing that struck me about that picture of Bally’s is howall the machines look alike. They really do look like soldiers being inspecting, all standing at attention and in identical uniforms, or like rows of indistinguishable corn plants. In fact, it looks like there are only three different games in the 10 machines in the first row in the picture. Granted, the majority of the machines in Bally’s casino were Ballymachines. Still I’m surprised by the lack of variety in the machines in the front row in the picture.
I heard that one theory why Americans have gotten heavier is that we have access to a wider variety of foods today than we had before. When meals consisted of the same thing time aftertime, it was easy to pass up second helpings of gruel and eat just enough to no longer be hungry. But now we have Chinese one night, Mexican the next, followed by Thai, burgers, pizza,and pasta -- it’s easy to overeat on our culinary trip around the world.
Just as variety in food creates desire, so does variety in slot machines. “Hey, I used to watch The Munsters all the time. I’ll try that machine.” “I never miss TheApprentice. I’ll give that machine a go.” “I played Monopoly all the time as a kid.” “I have a cat and a dog and a chainsaw and a toaster.”
Not only is there more variety in themes on machines, there’s also more variety in paytables. Back in the 1920s, a revolutionary change in slot machine design was paying an extra coin fora certain combination. Adding a hopper to the machine in the electro-mechanical era made it possible for the machine to pay larger jackpots itself instead of requiring a handpay from ajackpot girl. Adding a computer to the slot machine made it possible for today’s machines to pay modest jackpots of a few thousand coins all the way up to life-changing jackpots ofmillions of dollars.
The computer also makes it possible to add more gimmicks to machines. Gimmicks like “spin-til-you win,” symbols that nudge up or down to the payline, haywire repeat-pays, and double spinall add more variety and interest to the games.
Today’s machines are immeasurably more interesting and fun to play than those of even just a decade ago. Each new generation of machines has crisper graphics and better sound than theprior generation. Slot designers are working overtime to devise compelling bonus rounds that will keep players playing for just one more crack at the round. How many people playingWheel of Fortune are trying to win the jackpot? Not many. Most people keep playing to get one more spin of the wheel.
Slot directors today don’t need to pepper their slot floors with loose machines to stimulate play. Today’s machines themselves generate more desire to play than seeing a player doingwell.
Now I'll finish our discussion of where slot directors place loose machines with some additional thoughts, with a few anecdotes I've heard at slot seminars, and with what I think will be thefinal nail in the coffin of loose machine placement philosophies.
One of the placement theories says that tight machines should be placed near the table games because the table games players don’t like a lot of noise while they’re playing. Have the peopleputting forth this theory ever been near a craps table? A craps table with a shooter on a hot roll has to be one of the loudest places -- if not the loudest place -- in the casino. Crapsplayers can be a boisterous lot even when the table isn’t hot. Okay, I can see players needing peace and quiet at blackjack tables (It’s difficult to count cards even in a quiet casino.), butnot at craps, roulette, Let It Ride, and other tables. In any case, the casino can adjust the volume level on a machine. The slot director can put a very quiet, loose machine near the tablesand not disturb a single table games player.
Another problem with following a loose machine placement philosophy is that it limits the flexibility slot directors have in moving their machines around on the slot floor. If the directors aregoing to give up a little bit in payback on some machines, they certainly will want to get their money’s worth and ensure that these machines are in locations where they’ll be played, be seenbeing played, and entice other players to play. Slot floors have only a limited number of high visibility areas. Slot directors won’t want to waste any of their high-paying machines in the morenumerous less visible areas, where the machines won’t be encouraging other players.
Now I’d like to share some anecdotes I’ve heard at panel discussions during the big gaming show (first the World Gaming Congress, then the Global Gaming Expo) that’s held in Las Vegas eachyear.
First, one slot director described an experiment he conducted in his casino. He had a carousel of 5 Times Pay machines that all had the same long-term payback. He ordered new chips to lower thepayback percentages on a couple of the machines to see if anyone would notice. The machines with the lower long-term paybacks received just as much play as the higher-paying machines. Noplayer, furthermore, ever complained that some of the machines in the carousel were tighter than others.
In another seminar, a slot director shared the philosophy he used to place some machines that he had inherited from another property. These machines, he said, had lower long-term paybacks thanthe payback he usually ordered for machines on his slot floor. He said, 'I read the same books that the players read. I put these lower payback machines in the spots that the books said shouldhave the high payback machines.'
My last anecdote is about a decision made by the slot director at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas many years ago. He was ordering 10 Times Pay machines for his slot floor and he was concerned aboutthe low hit frequencies available for those machines. (Machines with multiplying symbols tend to have low hit frequencies, and usually the higher the multiplier, the lower the hit frequency.)The slot director was afraid that his players would think the machines were very tight because they hit so infrequently. He said that he ordered higher paybacks than he usually does for thosemachines in an attempt to offset the low hit frequency. The machines would still have a low hit frequency, but at least the average value of a hit would be a little higher than if he hadordered a payback percentage nearer the percentage he usually ordered. He hoped that would be enough to keep his players from thinking these were tighter than the other machines on his slotfloor.
Although I think these anecdotes are the exceptions that prove the rule that some casinos at least order the same long-term paybacks for machines of a particular denomination, there is evidencethat some casinos may not. In the first edition of Casino Operations Management, for example, Kilby and Fox list a number of “general philosophies that influence specific slot placement”including: “low hold (loose) machines should be placed in busy walkways to create an atmosphere of activity” and “loose machines are normally placed at the beginning and end of trafficpatterns.”
They then say that “high hit frequency machines located around the casino pit area will create an atmosphere of slot activity.” I’m not sure whether they’re saying high hit frequencyshould or shouldn’t be placed near the pit. In any case, note that one philosophy said that loose machines create an atmosphere of activity and another said that high hit frequency machinesalso create an atmosphere of activity. This is the perfect segue into what I think puts the final nail in the coffin about loose machine placement theories.
There is no correlation between long-term payback and hit frequency. A low hit frequency machine can have a high long-term payback. High hit frequency machines, in addition, can have lowlong-term paybacks. Larry Mak, author of Secrets of Modern Slot Playing, recently queried the Nevada Gaming Control Board to find out the payback reported on penny machines. The Board said itwas 90.167%. Most of the penny video slots have very high hit frequencies, yet the overall average long-term payback is very low.
The usual reasoning behind putting loose machines in highly visible areas is so slot players can see other players winning. Maybe we should be more precise here and say that players will seeother players hitting and assume that they are winning because they are playing loose machines. But because there’s no correlation between hit frequency and long-term payback, these players canactually be playing machines with low long-term paybacks.
I don’t put much stock in loose machine placement theories, but I do believe slot directors may follow a hit frequency placement philosophy. Slot directors may try to place high hit frequencymachines in visible areas to encourage play. This philosophy says and implies nothing about the long-term payback of the machines.

John Robison is the author of 'The Slot Expert's Guide
to Playing Slots.' His website iswww.slotexpert.com

Quick Find:#46, #47, #48, #49, #50, #51, #52, #53, #54

#46 Adjustable Dado and Plow Plane, 10 1/2'L, various widths, 5 3/4lbs, 1874-1942.

This plane was designed by Justus A. Traut, a German immigrant, who was generally known as 'The Patent King of the United States.' He held at least 145 patents, ranging from woodworking tools to bottle openers. He held the basic patent for the #45, but this, and the following plane, the #47, are commonly known as 'Traut's Patent Combination Plane'.

This is yet another in a series of combination planes offered by Stanley. The distinguishing characteristics of this plane is that it has fewer cutters, all of which are ground straight across, and that they are skewed, which makes the plane more versatile when used across or against the grain. Most of the planes are found missing all but one of their cutters, with the only one present being the one left in the plane from the last time it was used. Cutters from the other combination planes will not work in this one as the edges of the #46's cutters are beveled (relative to the cutter face). If you need cutters, you often will pay more for a complete set than you did for the plane itself.

Like the #45, this plane originally was cast with floral motifs on its main stock, sliding section, and fence. Prior to the addition of its #45-like fence, which was introduced ca. 1900, the sliding section doubled as the fence when the plane was used for ploughing and rabbeting. A detachable guard plate, which is often missing from the plane, was screwed to the sliding section's skate for this function. The guard plate extends the depth of the sliding section so that it can reference the edge of the stock and position the cutter at a constant distance from the edge. If you note two holes in the sliding section, and there's nothing filling them, your plane had a detachable guard plate, which long ago became detached from your plane. A lot of guys are looking for guard plates, and the screws that hold them to the plane (they are rather fragile), so you'll have plenty of shoulders to cry on while hunting for yours. Do be sure that you're after the proper guard plate as there is a very subtle difference between them where the earlier ones have small thumb screws to fasten the guard plate to the sliding section and the later ones have slotted screws to accomplish the same. Test that your guard plate's inner face is flush with the inner face of the sliding section, when the guard plate is attached.

Another commonly missing part is the wrap around depth stop, which came with the earlier models of the plane. This fence, made of cast iron, straddles the main stock and fits over the top of the regular depth stop. This stop is superflous, and many guys just tossed them, using just the regular depth stop instead. This wrap around depth stop is probably the hardest part to find for this tool. And while on missing parts, it should be noted that this plane only came with a single depth stop (unlike the #45) and that only one thumb screw was supplied to secure the depth stop; there are two positions for the depth stop and it and its screw are swapped to the desired location.

After the guard plate was dropped for the fence proper, the plane pretty much followed the #45 in its evolution - the plane dropped the japanning in favor of the flashy nickel plating ca. mid 1890's, a rosewood strip was added to the fence ca. 1905, the rosewood handle style changed over time, etc... One notable difference is that the rosewood front knob always remained on the main stock, and was not repositioned onto the fence as in the case of the #45. Also, the floral casting was continued on the #46 until its production was KO'ed permanently during the big war.

When the guard plate is removed from the plane, which is what's done when cutting dados, a batten must be used to track the plane. The batten is tacked along the right side of the dado's position on the wood so that the right side of the plane has a consistant reference to cut the dado. The depth stop is positioned on the sliding section, which is opposite when grooving or rabbeting where the depth stop is positioned on the main stock. The spurs - one on the sliding section and one on the main stock - are lowered so that they can score the wood prior to the cutter doing its cutter thing. The spurs are arranged so that their bevels face each each other. It's surprising how many planes can be found with the spurs turned around with the bevels facing outward from the cutter. Speaking of spurs, many of the planes are missing theirs. Like the guard plate, there are two basic kinds of spurs: those that are wedged into milled slots and those that are secured with a small screw. The latter spurs are the easiest to use, and they can be flipped end for end when one end of the spur no longer has any more life left to it.

The plane should be inspected for cracks or repairs to the castings. The plane is a rugged one, but like any other piece of cast iron, it cannot withstand body slams to concrete or the like. Check the looping portion of the casting about the handle, the casting on the fence where the arms arch upward, and the skates of the main stock and sliding section. On this plane, and the #47, the skates are cast integral to the plane and are not made of steel pieces pinned the castings like they are on the #45 and #55. You should also unscrew the arms to make sure that they aren't bent

This plane is a fabulous worker, much better than the #45. The simple act of skewing the iron makes this plane plane dados around the #45. It also does a fine job of cutting cross grain rabbets, a common function when making lipped drawer fronts. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, and are given the chance to buy one, and you dig working wood with handtools, buy this tool! A good working example of this plane will cost less than the number of wooden dado planes alone that it replaces. And, unlike the wooden dado planes, this one won't warp on ya, which is the kiss of death for wooden dados (warped wooden dados will have your dados in a bind).

There is one minor nuisance that bugs me about the plane - I find that its arms are too long for cutting dados. The arms need to be as long as they are so that the tool can cut grooves over the same range that common ploughs do. Stanley must have recognized that the long arms bugged other guys since they quickly added the #47, with its shorter arms, to their arsenal of planes. And while on the topic of arms, make sure that the arms are proper and not replacements off a #45. The #46 arms measure 5' long (not counting the threaded length) on the earlier models, while the later models (the later production of the nickel plated examples) have arms of 6 1/2' long.

The following cutters come with the plane:

Cutters First Offered in 1874

Cutter First Offered in 1884

Cutter First Offered in 1919

Again, you'll note the presence of the mysterious 13/16' width, which appeared simultaneously with the cutter provided for the #45 and the introduction of the #39 13/16. The astute observer will also note that Stanley never offered a 3/4' cutter with the plane. Kinda makes it tough on us modern woodworkers, no?

#47 Adjustable Dado Plane, 10 1/2'L, various widths, 3 3/4lbs, 1876-1923. *

This plane is a funky hybrid of the #46, and was designed to function only as a dado plane as evidenced by the short 4' arms that are provided with the plane. The arms are only long enough to accomodate the widest cutter and the sliding section. The plane is never marked #47, since the #46 casting was always supplied as the plane. In fact, the plane is embossed 'No. 46'.

Other than the conspicuous short arms - they measure 2 1/2' long over the unthreaded portion - there are two other distinguishing ways to identify the plane: 1) the front right housing for the depth stop is ground off; 2) and the sliding section never has holes to receive the guard plate (remember, the guard plate is used only for ploughing and rabbeting on the #46). The depth stop is always positioned in the sliding section, to the left of the cutter, just like it is on a wooden dado.

A fence was never supplied with the plane, nor were there as many cutters supplied, but both these facts are no guarantee that you have a true #47. It gets very confusing on the last models of this plane, since they are identical in every way to the #46, except that they were shipped without the fence, have fewer cutters, and the rightmost depth stop housing is not ground off. These planes are always nickel plated. I'd be wary of these later models, if you're collecting, unless they come along with their original box marked with a #47 label.

I discovered a very rare variant of the #47, and it's surprising the thing was never offered this way (and on the #46, too). There is a problem with both the planes when using the narrowest cutter - only one spur, the rightmost (carried on the main casting), can be used as it's impossible to move the sliding section close enough to align with the cutter's leftmost edge. This is obviously suboptimal. On the one example I unearthed, Stanley milled an extra recess on the left side of the main casting for an auxilary spur thus making it possible to remove the spur from the sliding section and placing it in the main casting (you can see the extra recess in the image to the right - the recess is directly below the flat milled area). The narrowest cutter now has a spur aligned with either side of the cutter, making the plane function as it should. Perhaps Stanley found this milling too costly, and it seems odd that only one example has turned up, which suggests that maybe it was a custom order by a smart-thinking tradesman.

Like the #46, these planes work marvelously for dadoing and do so without the risk of ripping your fingers to shreads like those 'lectrical ones can. The #47 isn't encountered nearly as often as the #46 is, and it's a plane that gets little respect by collectors and users. Do your part to change this by adopting one that happens along your way.

The following cutters come with the plane:

Cutters First Offered in 1876

Cutter First Offered in 1884

Cutter First Offered in 1919

Hey, there's that funky and whacky 13/16' cutter again! JANE, STOP THIS CRAZY THING!

#48 Tonguing and Grooving Plane, 10 1/2'L (8 3/4'L 1939 0n), 5/16'W, 2 3/4lbs, 1875-1944.

This is one of Stanley's better planes to use, and even the most ham-fisted power tool junkie can handle this plane and be amazed by its results. It works well, is practically indestructable, and is very versatile - it is designed to work stock from 3/4' to 1 1/4' in thickness (the groove centers on stock 7/8'). The only general negative about the plane is that its tote is all metal, which makes for some discomfort when using the plane in colder weather - metal sucks the heat right out of your hands.

There are two separate lever caps, one on each side of the main casting, to hold the cutters in place. They are both activated by dedicated knurled screws. Examine these lever caps for any damage since they are somewhat fragile. The most common damage to them is breakage down where the cap places pressure on the cutter. Make sure that ends of the lever caps are not flared away from the main casting too much. If they are, the plane is apt to choke since the shaving can become lodged between the lever caps and the main casting. I can't recall seeing a plane with the lever caps butted perfectly against the main casting - they all have some degree of flaring to their lever caps - but some flare more than others. The nickel plated models seem to have lever caps that flare outward more than the earlier japanned models do.

This plane normally is found with just two cutters, each 5/16' wide. The original cutters of these planes do not have a circular notch cut on their right side up toward the top. If you see one that does, it's a cutter from a later #45; the notched cutters fit the plane perfectly and work as well as non-notched ones, but if you're into originality you'll need to find a cutter without the notches.The early #45's cutters don't have the cutout, and if one of these are used as a replacement cutter, it's impossible to tell whether the cutter is original to the plane.

An extra wide cutter (5/8') was also shipped with this plane, making for a total of three cutters on complete examples. The wide cutter is positioned into the right side of the plane so that it can cut tongues on thicker stock. If this cutters isn't with the plane anymore, you can still cut tongues on wide stock, but you'll need to remove the narrow strip of remaining wood on the rightmost side of the wood with a small bench plane or whatever else you use for lightweight trimming.

To the left of the cutters is a fence, which can be rotated end for end about its midpoint. There is a little locking pin on the forward portion of the main casting, just below the knob, which engages the fence to lock it in position. Check that this pin is there and that it works properly (there is a coil spring on the pin to keep it in place). When the fence is locked in one position, both cutters are exposed, and, thus, cut the tongue. When the fence is swung end for end, and locked into its other position, only one cutter is exposed, which then cuts the groove.

The fence can sometimes become wobbly from years of use. On these planes there is generally evidence of a quick fix, where the screw that holds the fence to the main casting is munged from over-tightening. You can also find washers jammed between the fence and main casting to make the fence steady.

There is a turned rosewood knob on the front of the plane, and a cast closed tote, both of which allow the plane to be worked easily. The knob is prone to chipping about its base, and you'll sometimes find some hack repair jobs to the nut and rod that fastens the knob to the main casting. The early models of the plane, those that are japanned, have the characteristic bead turned at the base of the knob.

The plane, when put in full production, was japanned, with brass lever cap screws (for the cutters). Most of these earlier japanned models have the patent date, 'PAT JULY 6, 1875', depressed below the handle. A few of the earliest japanned models do not have the depressed date, but, instead, have 'PATENTED / JULY 6. 1875 stamped into the sole on two lines. The date on these earliest planes is very tiny and is not noticeable with a casual glance. However, the fence on the earliest model is about 2/3rd's the thickness as that of the more common japanned models; the earliest being 7/16' and the later being 3/4'. The thinner fence probably didn't offer enough lateral stability to the plane during use, and thus was increased to the thicker 3/4'. The earliest planes have a pronounced bead turned at the bottom of the rosewood knob.

Ca. 1900, the plane was nickel-plated, and is the most commonly encountered version of it. These nickel plated planes can be found with and without the floral motif cast into the tote; the earlier nickel plated models have the vines, while the later nickeled models have the fish scale pattern cast into the tote. World War II era planes are japanned due to the shortage of nickel, and are fairly scarce. It's very easy to distinguish the earlier japanned models from the later World War II japanned models - the earlier models have a vine decoration cast into their totes whereas the World War II models have the fish scale-like casting to them. Further, the World War II models don't have any patent date information on them.

During this plane's production, and the #49's as well, it was equipped with more variations of lever cap screws than perhaps any other plane made by Stanley. Nicely knurled brass screws, slotted brass screws, nickeled screws cast with coarse knurling, nickeled screws with fine knurling, and slotted trumpet horn-shaped nickeled screws can all be found on these planes. The order in which they are listed appears to be the chronology in which Stanley used them. Only the japanned models used the brass screws.

There are some very scarce models of this plane, made by Union Manufacturing Company of New Britain, Connecticut, which Stanley modified and then sold under their name (Stanley had a 'incestuous' relationship with Union and finally bought out their entire plane line ca. 1920). These planes resemble the later nickel plated Stanley-manufactured #48's, but have black japanning in the depressions of the tote and the fence. Stanley ground off the UNION name (cast in the handle) and their model numbers (cast in the fence) from the plane, and then filled the areas with the japanning. Remnants of the Stanley decal can sometimes be found applied to the japanned area of the handle. They also did the same treatment on the narrower #49's made by Union.

An early 'prototype', which may have served as the inspiration for this plane, is cast with an integral fence; i.e., it doesn't flip end for end. It has much more detailed floral motifs cast into it than the conventional models of this plane. This plane was patented by Charles Miller, the same guy who designed the famous #41 through #44, and the first model #50. Miller, undoubtably, had to be familiar with the wooden match planes that have both the tongue and groove functions built into them, and from these he likely modeled this metallic prototype.

#49 Tonguing and Grooving Plane, 10'L (9'L 1937 on), 3/16'W, 2 3/4lbs, 1877-1944.

This plane is identical to the #48, except for the width of its cutters, each of which measures 3/16' wide (it, too has an extra and wider cutter so that it can work thicker stock). It is designed to work stock 3/8' to 3/4' thick, and centers its groove on stock 1/2' thick. It's less common than the #48. Like the #48, the early models are japanned, with the later ones nickel plated. The true type 1 has the patent date stamped into the sole of the plane, not depressed in the casting directly below the tote. I can't recall seeing a japanned World War II model of this plane, but I'm sure they must exist.

The plane was shortened by about an inch during the late 1930's. These shorter examples are not found nearly as often as the earlier and longer examples. Furthermore, the planes really aren't as long as the propaganda claim (which I use as a reference above). They are really closer to 8' long. These short planes have the smaller, slotted, trumpet horn-shaped, and nickel plated screws.

#50 Adjustable Beading Plane, 9 1/4'L, various widths, 3 1/2lbs, 1884-1962.

This is another combination plane, though not nearly as complex, nor heavy, as the #45. When it was offered in its first full production, it was done so only as a beading plane, but someone got clever and decided it could also function as a ploughing plane with little modification. The plane seemed always to be in a state of change, as Stanley was adding this or changing that on the tool over its lifetime of production. Since there are numerous parts to this plane, and because it didn't come packed in a rugged box - cardboard was the common material, but there was a short time when it was offered in a metallic box - the plane is often found missing parts.

The plane has two threaded arms that are screwed into a main stock. There are holes at the end of each arm to permit a nail, or something similar, to tighten the arms to the main stock. Only one set of arms, about 7' long, come equipped with the plane (the first model of the plane has shorter arms, about 5' long). The arms carry a simple cast fence that is secured with screws (the earlier are brass flat-headed, the later are nickel plated thumb screws) at the appropriate distance for the cut. The fence never was offered with a wooden face, like those on the later #45's.

The main stock doesn't carry the cutter so much as it butts against the cutter's right edge. A sliding section, similar to the function of the #45's, and roughly one half the length of the main stock, fits onto the arms and butts against the cutter's left edge. The two castings, therefore, sandwich the cutter. The way the two castings keep the cutter locked firmly in place is via a thumb screw. The thumb screw fits onto a threaded rod that's fixed into the sliding section. The threaded rod pokes through the main stock, and it's there that the thumb screw makes contact with the main stock. This thumb screw pulls the sliding section toward the main stock as the thumb screw is tightened. It's a rather primitive, albeit effective, way of holding the cutter in position, and the hassle of trying to align the cutter so that it sticks out just beyond (to the left and right of) the 'skates' is solved automatically with this design.

There is one slight problem with this design of sandwiching the cutter between two castings to hold the cutter in place, and that is that the narrowest two ploughing cutters (1/8' and 3/16') aren't wide enough to be secured in this manner. A holding screw was added when these two cutters were provided starting ca. 1936. The holding screw has a head that measures 3/4' in diameter, and it's this wide head that holds the cutter in place; the sliding section is removed, and the holding screw is substituted. The same wing nut that pulls the sliding section up against the left edge of the cutter also pulls the holding screw's head against the left edge of the cutter. The holding screw is normally MIA.

Sometimes, the sliding section doesn't; i.e. it doesn't want to move easily when inserting or removing the cutters. The wing nut can pull the sliding section toward the main stock effectively, but there wasn't any fine adjuster to push the sliding section away from the main stock for the times you wanted to insert a wider cutter. Stanley solved this problem with the addition of a small, slotted screw at the rear of the sliding section. The end of the screw butts against the main stock, and as it's turned to the right, the sliding section is thrusted away from the main stock. It's the combination of the two screws - one to pull the sliding section toward the main stock, and one to push the sliding section away from the main stock - that permits the fine tweaking of the tool when changing cutters. This little screw also controls the sliding section so that it's parallel with the main stock; manual adjustment can cause the sliding section to become misaligned on the rods, as many of us who've goofed with the #45 know.

Both the main stock and the sliding section have spurs for working against the grain; the spurs can be positioned out of the way when they are not needed. On the earlier examples of the tool, the single-lobed spurs are rotated up 90 degrees where they sit flush to their respective 'skates'. On later examples, the spurs are removed from their 'skates' and are then fastened into separate cast depressions located on the right side of the main stock.

The first full production planes are japanned, have the decorative floral motif (identical to that of the #48, #78, et al) cast into the handle, and have no depth stop. Ca. 1890, the plane was nickel plated, while retaining the floral motif. Ca. 1910, the floral motif was dropped for the common fish-scale pattern, and it's at this time that plane became more general purpose by the addition of the ploughing cutters. During the second World War, the planes were japanned due to the shortage of nickel, and it's possible to find planes fitted with a mix of finishes; i.e., a japanned fence on a nickeled body. Starting around 1945 it was offered with a rosewood tote until the end of its production when hardwood was substituted as the handle.

In 1936, a little lever was added to the plane behind the cutter. This lever, very much like that used on the #78, engages the cutter so that it can be adjusted easier. Whenever the cutter's set is changed, it's a good idea to back off the thumb screw so that the cutter can move more freely, otherwise you can bend the adjusting lever. The addition of the adjusting lever makes it impossible for cutters from a #45 or #55, and even earlier #50 cutters, to work in this plane since they aren't machined with grooves to engage the lever.

Around 1900, a chip deflector (pictured to the left, with the cutter securing bolt to the right) was added to the plane. As the name implies, the chip deflector's purpose is to throw the shaving to the right of the plane instead of it going straight up the iron, increasing the likelihood of the plane choking with shavings. The chip deflector fits into the small hole just above the mouth and to the right side of the main casting. The first planes to be shipped with the chip deflector have one slight problem - the deflector and the depth stop can't be used simultaneously since they both fit into the same hole of the main stock. Stanley soon corrected this oversite by adding a provision for the depth stop on the sliding section ca. 1910. The most commonly missing part for these planes, without a doubt, is the chip deflector. They, and all the cam rests, #278 fences, #66 parts, #67 universal spokeshave parts, etc., are all resting comfortably in the land of misfit parts.

The depth stop for this plane differs from that used on the other combination planes like the #45. The earlier #50's depth stop has its post centered on the foot whereas the #45's has its post offset toward one side (the front) of the foot. Later #50's have the post offset toward the front of the foot, but the foot is longer than those of the #45. The post on the #45's stop has a larger diameter than the #50's. Check that a #45 stop hasn't been modified to fit the #50. To compound the confusion, Stanley equipped the plane with a beading stop starting around 1915; planes made after this date actually have two stops, with the beading stop being longer than the common depth stop. The beading stop is used just like the one for the #45 is.

The plane doesn't have steel skates like the #45 does. Instead, it has cast iron skates, like the #46, which are integral to the main stock and the sliding section. As is the case with any cast iron, check it carefully for cracks, welds, breaks, etc. Look around the main stock, where the cutter engages, for any stress cracks. This can be a problem area, and Stanley took measures to overcome the flaw with the addition of a reinforcement rib cast into the right side of the main stock ca. 1935.

The following cutters come with the plane:

Cutters First Offered in 1884

Cutters First Offered in 1902

Cutters First Offered in 1914

Cutters First Offered in 1936

There is another plane that has the same number designation as this one. This particular plane was not offered by Stanley as a #50, but was, instead, offered as that model number by the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company of New Britain, CT. It's generally thought that Stanley made the planes for Russell & Erwin, who sold them as Miller's Improved Joiner's Plow, the No. 50. It is possible that Stanley designated the plane as the #50, since it pre-dates the common configuration of the #50, but no advertising literature has surfaced to indicate that Stanley actually sold it. Stanley was manufacturing the #41-#44 Miller's Patent series concurrently to this plane, and perhaps they didn't want to advertise a plane that did the same function as those. Who knows? Regardless, the plane wasn't manufactured for long, probably as a result of its delicate castings which certainly must have proved to be difficult to make.

This plane is a masterpiece in Victorian tool design and the art of casting and is one of the most prized objects in all of tooldom. The plane is elaborately cast with floral designs on its fence and main stock. There is a tiny turned rosewood knob fixed to the front left portion of the sliding fence. It can be found cast in iron and gunmetal, but with subtle design changes to each depending upon the material used to cast it - the most obvious difference is that the gunmetal castings have a pierced skate of scrolled motifs whereas the iron castings have a stippled skate. The gunmetal version also lacks the 'bridge' that spans the curved portion of the fence casting, between the two arms. The cast iron version was plated with a copper-colored surface, which is usually long gone when these planes rarely show.

#51 Chute Board Plane, 15'L, 2 3/8'W, 7 1/8lbs, 1909-1943.

This is an L-shaped plane (in cross-section), with a skewed blade (relative to the sole), and is designed to clean up mitres on finer work. It has the typical Bailey adjustment mechanism, and a rosewood tote, but no turned rosewood knob. The tote is nearly impossible to grip with your left hand due to its position on the casting and its leaning to the right. It also can be tough to grip with your right hand, if you have hands that are the size of Sasquatch's. The tote is the same size as those used on the larger Bailey bench planes, and can be had from one of those planes if your tote is damaged.

The body of the plane is ground square so that it can cut accurately as its sole rides on a flat surface. The plane was designed to be used with the chute board, #52, but could be purchased separately by those guys who had a board of their own.

The frog is a custom shape - you can't take a regular Bailey frog and make it fit this one, if your frog is screwed up. The frog is screwed to a rather thick cross-bar in the main casting of the plane's body. Check that this cross-bar isn't cracked. Because the frog doesn't mate to the main casting like a conventional bench plane's does, it's impossible to open or close the mouth of the plane. Further, a good portion of the cutter is unsupported because of the frog's design. The cutter is supported where it's most important, down at the mouth, but for the plane to work as intended, the cutter needs to be very sharp since a good amount of the tool's use is cutting across the grain. And, speaking of the mouth, its right side (when viewed from the sole) terminates in a circular fashion

The lateral lever, common on all the Bailey bench planes, plays an important role for this plane in the patternmaking trade. The lever can angle the iron, relative to the sole, by the desired amount to give the work being planed the proper draft. Draft is a very important part of patternmaking; draft is the slight angle given to a pattern so that the resulting casting can pop free from the sand.

This plane has been observed fitted with the typical World War II treatments; i.e., hardwood tote, hard rubber adjustment nut, no nickel plating on the lever cap, etc. If you find yourself in need of a replacement cutter or lever cap, both are identical to those used on a #6 and #7.

#52 Chute Board and Plane, 22'L, 9'W, 35lbs (17 1/2lbs 1909 on), 1905-1943. *

This is Stanley's offering of the #51 plane along with a heavy cast iron chute board, which is designated the #52. Together, the two pieces sort of resemble a meat slicer in appearance (it slices and dices ok, but don't buy it to julienne). These two parts work very well, but are, unfortunately for the user, very expensive.

Stanley advertised the board and the plane as being useful for patternmakers, cabinetmakers, printers, picture framers, and electrotypers. They even make a specific mention that 'amateurs will also find this tool very useful.' During the early 1920's, the board and plane were priced at $23.45. A common #5 was priced $6.05. It seems that there must have been some yuppy woodworker types even back then or Stanley wouldn't have mentioned the plane's amateur use in its propaganda.

The board is machined flat, and has a track into which the plane rides. The plane can sometimes stick in its track due to shavings and crud piling up in the track, and for the plane to cut accurately and effortlessly, this track needs to be clean. A drop of oil along it also keeps the plane sliding along. If you still find the plane tracking with difficulty, you can adjust the metallic strip along the right edge of the board. There are four screws that allow the strip to be adjusted latteraly when they are loosened; just loosen the screws, set the plane in the track, butt the strip against the rightmost edge of the plane, and then tighten the screws in a linear fashion as you move the plane along the entire length of the track

The surface of the board is ground flat and left unfinished, but the depressions cast into the board are japanned. The number '52' is cast into a depression of the track. The earliest models have the 1896 patent date cast into them. There are two countersunk holes bored into the beginning and end of the track. These holes allow the board to be attached to a piece of wood for mounting it in a fixture or on the bench. The board also has several holes bored in it to accomodate the adjustable stop. Three of the holes are predefined positions for the common angles of 90, 60, and 45 degrees; each of these holes has the degree incised near it. Into these predefined positions a t-shaped pin fits to make adjusting the stop easy. This t-shaped pin is often missing from the board.

There is a stop on the board, which can be adjusted through an arc of 45 degrees (degree markings are incised along the arch-shaped portion of the stop). There are two holes in the board at which the stop screw can be positioned; at the first hole the stop can be adjusted from 45 to 90 degrees, while at the other the stop can be adjusted from 45 to 0 degrees. Check the arched portion of the stop for any signs of cracks, as it is susceptible to stress from the force applied to it by the locking screw.

Attached to the stop is a plate that slides latterally relative to the track. This plate is adjusted based upon the setting of the stop so that the wood can have the proper support behind it as it is planed. When the stop is adjusted from 90 degrees to 45 degrees, the plate is slid away from the track lest the plane slam into it during operation. The plate is locked in place with a nickel plated wing nut.

Attached to the face of the plate is an L-shaped hold down clamp. This clamp is locked in position with the same kind of thumb screw as that used to secure the plate. The clamp is provided to hold the workpiece in position as it is shot true. The clamp has a hole drilled into it so that a screw may be driven into the workpiece for real holding power. The clamp is often missing on these boards, and its absence greatly diminishes the value (for collectors) of the tool.

Since this tool is designed to be very accurate, look for any signs of cracks and repairs anywhere on the board and plane.

#53

There ain't one. A plane, that is. There is a common as mud spokeshave that's numbered 53, but that's another subject for another day.

#54 Plow and Rabbet Plane, 9 1/4'L, various widths, 3 1/4lbs, 1939-1949. *

Only Stanley knows the reason why this plane was put into production as its utility is rather limited. Perhaps Stanley recognized the void in their numbering system, and decided that they ought to fill it with something useless. Or maybe they needed a plane to preceed (in the numbering sequence) that ghastly beast, the #55, in order to numb the potential customers as they scanned the company's catalogs. Whatever the reason, the plane didn't sell well and it's one of the scarcer planes in Stanley's former product line.

It's just another combination plane, whose appeal was limited due to its specific use. It really is a redundant plane, since it's identical to the #50, except that there is no depth stop provided on the sliding section (this plane suffers from a classic case of identity crisis); there is a 'vestigal' bulge on the sliding section that's not tapped for the depth stop and its locking screw. The plane does use the depth stop on the right side.

Since the plane is designed only to groove/rabbet with the grain, it has no need for spurs, and there is no holder for the spurs cast into the right side of the main stock. If this isn't enough to identify your plane, the sliding section has the number cast into the arched portion.

The tool propaganda Stanley provided with this tool states that it came equipped with two pair of arms, one short pair and one long pair. When the plane is found, it's usually done so with just one pair of arms. The plane came fully nickel plated, but some japanned models were produced during the war years and it's possible to find mix and matched parts where the main stock is nickeled and the fence is japanned, for example.

The plane has the same cutter adjustment lever as that provided on the #50. Some recent tool literature states the plane came without the adjustment lever during its first years of production. I can't ever recall seeing one configured this way, and given the fact that the plane debuted a few years after the debut of the #50's cutter adjustment lever, a convincing argument that the #54 was offered only with the adjustment lever can be made since modified #50 bodies were used for this plane.

The following 8 ploughing irons come with the plane:

Cutters First Offered in 1939

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Copyright (c) 1998-2012 by Patrick A. Leach. All Rights Reserved. No part may be reproduced by any means without the express written permission of the author.