Stanley No. 71 1/2 - Patriot Picking

I was out looking around and ran across this Stanley No. 71 1/2 hanging on a wall. I was able to purchase it at a good price and brought it home.

Stanley made the No. 71 1/2 from 1896 till 1949. I felt like this one was early 1900's since that was when Stanley used the Old English Script logo. The 71 1/2 was made after Stanley modified the No.71. The 71 started off with the closed throat. When Stanley modified the the 71 to give it an open throat, they claimed it would make it easier for the chips to be removed. They raised the front and opened the throat on the 71. Apparently some of the older guys liked the way the closed throat let you do work on smaller pieces so Stanley came out with the 71 1/2 and gave them a closed throat again.

Because the 71 1/2 wasn't accepted by everyone there are fewer of them out there. The one pictured above is a Type 5 No. 71 1/2 which was made 1925 to 1938. After 1938 they put a casting with an adjustable fence cast into the base. So this one is pre 1938 since it doesn't have the adjustment cast into the base.

Knowing that they were fewer of them out there, I was excited when I found this one. What really got me excited was about two weeks later, I was in another state and stopped at a place that had a lot of old rusty tools. There are so many things, they are hanging from the ceiling on strands of wire.

So I am really enjoying going through all of this stuff. Then I look up on the wire and I see this hanging there and I know right off this is a 71 1/2.

So it is hanging there by the little wire that is still attached. When we get it down and I see the patent date I get a bit excited since the other one I found didn't have a patent date. I wasn't really sure which was older since the logo on them were the same. So I started doing a bit of research.

This one is a Type 4 No. 71 1/2 which was made between 1911 and 1924. After we did a bit of dickering I got it for a good price and walked away happy and excited. This one was in really good condition and had the cutter.

So here they are with the Type 4 on the left and the Type 5 on the right.

I am excited to add these to the collection. I also have a No.71 from about the same time period.

There aren't many of them out there, but I now have two.

Till next time, Happy Patriot Picking!

John Moody
Site Administratorhttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
“Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.†Shaker Saying
 

Edited November 21, 20178 yr by Ron Dudelston
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