I bought this plane for $ 25 and its not in great shape. The sole has a crack in it (see the lower edge of the mouth) and will probably blow up some day. It’s not flat and it has a giant pit in the sole. The blade’s very pitted and and kinda nasty. The knob has black sticky goo on it.
But it works as a pretty well as a rough worker and reduces thickness on a board pronto. I put a nice curve on the blade and even though its kinda nasty it sharpens up nicely. I put almost no work in it except to put a curve the blade and sharpen it. Pretty good for $25 .. or at least I think so.
Flattening a board.
Pitted and cracked base.
Too bad too .. it a nice Type 11 Stanley.
I’m always amazed how many sins “sharp” can cover.
A tool does not have to be pretty to work well. It only needs to be properly tuned and above all else it needs to be as sharp as you can get it.
Actually, you were the one who encouraged me to put it to use and I very much appreciate that advice.