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9790/9140 Teflon Coated Planes
Millers Falls No. 9790/9140 Smoothing/Jack Planes
Manufactured: |
1969 to 1971 |
Sole: |
Smooth |
9790 Sole Length: |
9-1/4" |
9140 Sole Length: |
14" |
Sole Width: |
2-3/8” |
Iron Width: |
2” |
9790 Weight (avg): |
3.6 lbs. |
9140 Weight (avg): |
4.6 lbs. |
Bedding Angle: |
45 degrees |
Type: |
Bailey Design |
Cross-Reference |
None |
9790 (1969 to 1971)
If you have ever owned and used a Teflon cooking pan, you know how quickly the surface went downhill. Teflon-S is an industrial version of Teflon with a low temperature cure that advertised a superior non-stick qualities and resistance to abrasion and corrosion. In the late 60’s, Millers Falls was cutting costs everywhere in the factory. The thought of having a tool requiring less work and resisting rust proved to much for them to resist, so they took the 90/140 line and changed the model to 9790/9140. No changes were made to the lever cap and examples show the knob/tote being either the original cherry stain or black. When this line ended in 1971, the company no longer produced a mid-grade bench plane.

Red frog and a full nickel depth adjusting nut. The lever cap has a cam lever spring.

With the short life of these planes, the features found on the plane will help in dating other planes with the same features.

9790 with black knob and tote and nickel lever cap. The iron did not have any trademark stamp. The name and number were stamped on the cheek.

Here is a complete pristine example of the No. 9790.
9140 (1969 to 1971)
The 14 inch version has the same lever cap as the No. 9790. The examples below have a cherry stain on the knob and tote. The catalog did not describe the finish on the knob/tote.
