Finding Mistakes
I’m sure that if you look at enough examples from the same company you’re bound to find some mistakes that made it out the door.
In 1966 Millers Falls switched their bench planes from a type 4 to a type 5. The type 5 went to a one-piece lever cap, no paint on the cap, no frog adjuster, no “Made in USA” casting, no brass depth adjusting nut, no stamp on the iron, no finished castings, and no straight slot screws. When a product line changes over to a new type, any parts from the previous type are used before the new parts are put into product. On this example, the first new part to go into the type 5 process was the lever cap.
This has all the parts of a type 4 with the frog adjustment, Solid Tool Steel iron, Brass adjustment nut, and slotted brass waist nuts. The only type 5 part is the one piece lever cap. Did an owner replace the hinged lever cap with a one-piece cap, or did this come out of the factory this way?
When this crossover occurred, I could only guess that before the foreman could implement the new process, a few one-piece caps passed through paint and the patent stamp press. The patent number was for the hinged cap that was eliminated, not the new one piece. We all know that in Millers Falls land, nothing goes to waste. Ship it!
Iron trademark mistake
This is what happens when you don’t have enough coffee in the morning. Stamp the trademark on both sides of the same iron.
When one is not enough
Was this a case of too much coffee?
I’m sure this was a test iron to get the stamping pressure correct, but how did it make it out of the factory? —— Ship It!
“I can’t shut the press off!!!”
This is an interesting collection of stamps. There are two different size trademark stamps on both the front and back of this iron. The image on the right has a letter stamp and the impression left from the Rockwell hardness test. The top left image has so many stamps that it is hard to distinguish a single stamp. Was this a training sample? The better question is, “How did this make it out of the factory?” - Ship It!
Too many adjustments
Who’s going to notice a frog adjustment on a model that should not have a frog adjustment?
Limited Edition
The No. 90 production line had a red frog without a frog adjustment. This No. 90 has a black frog with a frog adjustment just like the premium line.
What can go wrong with a cheek stamp?
What number?
This No. 90 couldn’t wait to get out the door, so it skipped the cheek stamp
The No. 90 will always have a cheek stamp identifying the plane, just not this one.
Was it left or right?
All Millers Falls planes have the model number stamped on the left cheek as shown on the bottom plane. The plane on the top couldn’t tell its left from its right.
The “Right” way
Not only is the name and number on the wrong cheek, it’s not even centered.
Just a little skewed
You would think the planes are loaded in a stamping jig, but if your good enough, go freestyle.
To ‘B’ or not to ‘B’
The type 5 planes had a ‘B’ added after the model number. This No. 9 wanted no part of it.
Did they forget a step?
In 1968 Millers Falls re-identified all remaining corrugated sole planes. The No. 8CB was changed to 8-03-B. This 8-03-B stamped smooth sole plane skipped the corrugated process.
Was it a saved step or a missed step
This plane is a 9B, BUT they had the press setup of corrugated planes. No one will notice!
Mystery Fulton
The Fulton name and model number should have been stamped on the cheek.
