I love hearing about all these old tools and how to get things done. They may not have sold very well but they were still tools to do a job. Somebody sat down and saw a solution to a problem and out of been a big problem but they saw solution to a problem and they fixed it. They made a tool for it. The premise the idea was has always been work smarter, not harder. I love seeing these things in action and finding out about things I never knew anything about
I have this plane. I have used it once. It's a cool plane to add to collection. I actually have 2 of these. One cost me 250, and the other was gifted to me. It's great learning about hand tools. Great channel!
This demonstration finally convinced me to buy a handheld Bosch router. Thank god for acrylic templates! All joking aside though, that's a pretty siamese plane.
😂😂 you looked so sad when you were telling the part in story time when you were going to use it but you didn't. It's still really cool though, the story behind the tools are interesting. Keep doing you and stay safe 💯😁
Personally, I think the 171 is a very cool tool. I wouldn’t mind having one-and using it. James, I’m really enjoying these “useless” tools vids! Thank you!
Did I hear you say, “at the end of the DOOR”? Yes, I did! I, of course, knew you meant, “at the end of the DAY,” but I thought it was funny and silly enough to mention anyway. Love all your vids. I learn a ton (and at the end of the door, that’s a good thing)!
Thanks again for another great video! I just put in 6 antique doors in a newer house, I used stanley sweetheart hinges. I would have enjoyed using one of those planes. I wound up marking and using a chisel. Now I'm on ebay hahaha. Keep the videos coming!!!
Very neat tool. Stanley's biggest competitor was indeed Stanley. I'm hoping to get a deal completed next week for a Stanley 55 at a "fair price" which much like this one is more rare as the Stanley 45 really did enough of the same jobs at a cheaper cost that it too was undersold.
I have never seen either on of those tools, of course I have seen the hinge marking tool but I never got around to buying any, I don't do all that many, even when I did a lot of finish carpentry. I use to work in a custom door store and I had routers set up to cut hinges. it was fast and easy. honestly I could build set of door jambs in less 15 minutes. The only time I had to do it by hand is when I had to build something that was a one off. like the time i built a custom door frame for a wine cellar. The door was 6'2" tall and 2.25" thick. even commercial doors are not that thick. The hinges were extra large as you might imagine. I think they came off a tug boat or something. I cut them by hand with my favorite chisel. It took it a long time but it works great. having the simple router plane would have saved me a ton of time. I think if it was me, I would have used the hinge tool and then with a sharp knife back cut along the grain, so that my chisel does not slip and cut beyond the marked out area. It is amazing how slowing down a little produces a better job.
I buy replacement doors and build the frames, what they sell is pine or some softwood, I like something that rots less easily, and always use just a chisle... never seen most of the planes you do these postings on... of coarse I'm not a carpenter, just an old guy way too cheap to pay other people to do things I think I can do myself...
Never saw a 171. Thanks for sharing. I install so few hinges that I just use a chisel. Maybe if I were in a trade I would have felt differently about this.
The 171 looks like it would have been great for new home builders in the day but as an apprentice I learned to do "hinge checks" (NZ) with a butt guage, hammer and chisel, seemed not much slower than the 41, maybe even quicker? Once the skill was mastered anyway. Still prefer it for a single existing door or two, setup and mark out is really quick
In addition, there's the change in standards. My father's 1949 G.I.Bill house has no square corners, no plumb walls, and most door hinges were professionally fitted with a knife and screwdriver. New construction is even more efficient!
I'm pretty sure the round corners on modern butt hinges is to accommodate the dado cutter used in modern electric router. Great for production work but not as fun the old school tools.
So I saw a video where a guy was doing pros and cons of chisiling versus powered routering a hinge. I just kept thinking must be a better way. You just showed me 2. Powered routers are so messy, especially in the house
Nice video! I have never used a 171, but seems like too much setup for the benefit, especially if you are a skilled woodworker with chisels with or without a simple router plane.
Very interesting video. I was not aware of this plane. I would not have a use for the plane, but happy to know it exists and how it works. Thanks. Dave.
The modern hinge has 5/16 radii on the corners, because the Porter Cable router hinge jig was designed to work with 5/8 router bit, and in the post war housing boom, the Porter Cable jigs were the dominant force on the market, which all others copied.
i still make my own jambs and mortise the hinges, most "prehung" doors suck. but i'll admit to using an electric router with a template, i do it for a living though. i would still like to have a 171 thouigh
My home’s front door got replaced at some point in time before I moved in, but the jam didn’t get replaced. So the dead bolt didn’t line up. When I changed the door knob, I had to adjust the spacing a bit, and I just used my Narex Richters to get the job done.
You can still buy Square hinges for doors here. But almost all of the prehung doors come with rounded hinges so that the routers can cut them out faster.
Love the wood working history lessons James, keep learning again and again stuff I didn't have a clue about. Agree that this is a really well thought out tool. Just saw another channel had a mechanical drill press and now I really want one of them, so if you come across one, let me know 😀 Trying to get away from things needing power/electricity in my life, not only tools, but other stuff as well, preparing for the soon to come digital reset 😆
@@ricos1497 Yup, not sure if YT will leave the link, but here it is. It's just basically a drill press, but you crank it by hand - pretty freakin cool IMHO. ruclips.net/video/bLQAAz1Pvp8/видео.html
@@lynxg4641 much appreciated, thanks. I think I misunderstood your original post, my apologies. I have a hand cranked drill press, but it's different to that one. It has a larger wheel, but by-in-large works in the same fashion. It needs a new post and some TLC, but otherwise it works. You can pick them up reasonably inexpensively in the UK but they'll usually need some repair work. Haven't seen one like that in the video though, it looks a bit better than mine. I think mine is early 1900s, not completely sure. The model in the link you posted looks later than that I'm guessing.
would be kinda handy. Ive been building my own frames for doors and windows. but probably won't bring it out on a jobsite but in the shop it would be nice.
Don't have either. I use a router plane for all hinges. If I thought guides were necessary, for repeated unskilled use, I'd attach 2 wooden base plates extended forward either side of the blade. But router +"hold n pivot this side, push that side" should do. Otherwise I'd hand a pair of wooden rebate planes and say go to town in both directions.
I do my hinges with a version of the Paul Sellers 'poor mans rebate plane' (made it on my table saw, blasphemy I know). With such a plane, you can extend the blade quite far down to give you sort of a low-depth router. This works really well for the very few doors I do. I wouldn't be without a similar tool because this allows me to get three hinge mortises at the same depth. It's really interesting to see the 'real' old tools designed for this job!
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I did forget to mention that it functions almost exactly the same as the hinge butt mortise plane. The takeaway is that it's easy to make one yourself:)
I have the main body and one cutter and I am looking for a manual and the adjustable fence and blades. any ideas where I can get these parts from? I am in the UK
If you're looking for parts I would definitely go look at the list of online sellers on www.handtoolfinder.com there are several sellers on there from the UK and most of the others will ship internationally. I would just go down the list and send them emails asking for the particular part you're looking for.
I could see a carpenter using one if he is doing the whole house, once it is set up it would pretty much do all the doors in that house. Forget the apprentice...time is money too. Your demonstration showed one hinge being done but in reality, he would work 3 hinges at once.
I think these tools are quite interesting. But I do so few hinges that I haven't bought any hinge specific tools. I still use my 3/4 inch chisel and a mallet when I do the odd hinge. (Of course a smaller chisel if doing a small lidded box or the like.)
0:34 as an announcer, I can’t tell you how many times I have said one word, and thought I said another. I would’ve sworn I said one word, in fact, but then go back and listen to the tape, and I said another. Yet another reason why eyewitness testimony is totally unreliable. Not only do we not know what we see, but we do not know what we say.
What size gouge was it you used for the rounded corner? I mess with doors a lot and have been wondering what size gouge would match the typical hinges that are used today
Ah, I'm sure there is a valuable lesson in there for mechanical, electrical and software engineers... If only I could see through all the bells and whistles and figure it out 😉
I think most people paid to fit doors would have jus used a chisel for that job, much quicker than any plane. I'd use a chisel for most hinges, if it was a hinge on a small box I would usually finish it with a small router after I wasted it with a chisel...... I find small things require more accuracy so that's why I'd use a router on the smaller ones.
That's why the simple hinge butt mortar sir is so useful. It's just as fast as a chisel but in the end it's a router plane so you get the fine finish from that as well.
that one does not has a number. it was an odd one as it was made in the Stanley factory but designed by and sold by W. A. Dohmeyer. LN now makes one. www.lie-nielsen.com/products/butt-mortise-plane
I love planes that do one job well...but I think I would take a hard pass on this one. Id end up putting it aside and grab a chisel and a marking gauge. I feel like it would just be a lot faster in the long run
No doubt. I'm just brought back to my grandpa grumbling about there not being a need to carry a lot of tools. He was a very practical man, I'd even call him minimalist by today's standards funnily enough. Edit: Forgot to mention I really enjoy the channel. Keep up the good work! ^^
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I have never seen that plane. It's a real piece of history. A good time saver in it's day and it's neat for that.
I like obscure old tools. Keep doing what you're doin.
I’m a MWTCA member and I’ve never heard of a 171. Awesome snippet of tool history Jim!
Porter Cable hinge mortising jig is my go to lol
I love hearing about all these old tools and how to get things done. They may not have sold very well but they were still tools to do a job. Somebody sat down and saw a solution to a problem and out of been a big problem but they saw solution to a problem and they fixed it. They made a tool for it. The premise the idea was has always been work smarter, not harder. I love seeing these things in action and finding out about things I never knew anything about
Great video. Stanley sure did come out with a plane for everything.
I have one in my Grandfather 's tool box I'm been a carpenter for over forty years and never see it still it's priceless to me
I have this plane. I have used it once. It's a cool plane to add to collection. I actually have 2 of these. One cost me 250, and the other was gifted to me. It's great learning about hand tools. Great channel!
WOW! I learned so much from this video. I didn't even know that this plane existed. Thanks for the education!!!!
Thanks man. you are too kind. You should come hang out at an MWTCA national event some time.
This demonstration finally convinced me to buy a handheld Bosch router. Thank god for acrylic templates! All joking aside though, that's a pretty siamese plane.
I have never heard of a 171 until I watched this video. When I make a hinge I use some combination of a chisel and router plane.
😂😂 you looked so sad when you were telling the part in story time when you were going to use it but you didn't. It's still really cool though, the story behind the tools are interesting. Keep doing you and stay safe 💯😁
Wow, very cool tool. Never saw one before. Great history lesson.
Personally, I think the 171 is a very cool tool. I wouldn’t mind having one-and using it. James, I’m really enjoying these “useless” tools vids! Thank you!
Did I hear you say, “at the end of the DOOR”?
Yes, I did!
I, of course, knew you meant, “at the end of the DAY,” but I thought it was funny and silly enough to mention anyway.
Love all your vids. I learn a ton (and at the end of the door, that’s a good thing)!
I may be wrong but the “Stanley hinge butt mortiser” @ 1:05 was a Dormeyer design. I don’t think Stanley ever made one. What say you?
You are correct. It was a slip of the toung
I've got about 6 different hinge markers now... they do make one for the large radius corners too. After that, I always just chistle...
Thanks again for another great video! I just put in 6 antique doors in a newer house, I used stanley sweetheart hinges. I would have enjoyed using one of those planes. I wound up marking and using a chisel. Now I'm on ebay hahaha.
Keep the videos coming!!!
Very neat tool. Stanley's biggest competitor was indeed Stanley. I'm hoping to get a deal completed next week for a Stanley 55 at a "fair price" which much like this one is more rare as the Stanley 45 really did enough of the same jobs at a cheaper cost that it too was undersold.
I have never seen either on of those tools, of course I have seen the hinge marking tool but I never got around to buying any, I don't do all that many, even when I did a lot of finish carpentry. I use to work in a custom door store and I had routers set up to cut hinges. it was fast and easy. honestly I could build set of door jambs in less 15 minutes. The only time I had to do it by hand is when I had to build something that was a one off. like the time i built a custom door frame for a wine cellar. The door was 6'2" tall and 2.25" thick. even commercial doors are not that thick. The hinges were extra large as you might imagine. I think they came off a tug boat or something. I cut them by hand with my favorite chisel. It took it a long time but it works great. having the simple router plane would have saved me a ton of time. I think if it was me, I would have used the hinge tool and then with a sharp knife back cut along the grain, so that my chisel does not slip and cut beyond the marked out area. It is amazing how slowing down a little produces a better job.
Hi. Thanks for the excellent video. I only use my 711/2 and a chisel to do hinges.
I buy replacement doors and build the frames, what they sell is pine or some softwood, I like something that rots less easily, and always use just a chisle... never seen most of the planes you do these postings on... of coarse I'm not a carpenter, just an old guy way too cheap to pay other people to do things I think I can do myself...
exactly -I'm using a knife and a sharp chisel for hinge sitting, and it is probably faster than router planes
Such an awesome look into history, the innovation of our forefathers is just so amazing. Thanks James for another great video
I remember back in the door
Never saw a 171. Thanks for sharing. I install so few hinges that I just use a chisel. Maybe if I were in a trade I would have felt differently about this.
The 171 looks like it would have been great for new home builders in the day but as an apprentice I learned to do "hinge checks" (NZ) with a butt guage, hammer and chisel, seemed not much slower than the 41, maybe even quicker? Once the skill was mastered anyway. Still prefer it for a single existing door or two, setup and mark out is really quick
Love your videos by the way
In addition, there's the change in standards. My father's 1949 G.I.Bill house has no square corners, no plumb walls, and most door hinges were professionally fitted with a knife and screwdriver. New construction is even more efficient!
I'm pretty sure the round corners on modern butt hinges is to accommodate the dado cutter used in modern electric router. Great for production work but not as fun the old school tools.
Yep. Electric router can't cut a 90° corner.
That was a fun little history lesson. I enjoyed this video.
So I saw a video where a guy was doing pros and cons of chisiling versus powered routering a hinge. I just kept thinking must be a better way. You just showed me 2. Powered routers are so messy, especially in the house
Nice history.. Thanks
I think it would be awesome to see a video on the Stanley 444 as well as the 97/96. I absolutely love seeing your unique planes videos!
I've never seen one of those, James. 😬
Pretty curious tool indeed!
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Nice video! I have never used a 171, but seems like too much setup for the benefit, especially if you are a skilled woodworker with chisels with or without a simple router plane.
Esta ferramenta é bem curiosa..
Não conhecia.
Very interesting video. I was not aware of this plane. I would not have a use for the plane, but happy to know it exists and how it works. Thanks.
Dave.
I wonder with the flip capability if you could use it with a narrow blade to make stop dat grooves for drawer bottoms.
The modern hinge has 5/16 radii on the corners, because the Porter Cable router hinge jig was designed to work with 5/8 router bit, and in the post war housing boom, the Porter Cable jigs were the dominant force on the market, which all others copied.
I have a 171 without a fence that I use as my router plane. Very nice tool, but the handles are a little fragile. I need to rebuild one of them.
I was taught to cut hinge mortices with a mallet and chisel, doesn't take long with practice. Regards Jim UK.
If you don't have a hinge butt mortiser that's definitely the fastest and easiest way.
Loving these forgotten tools vids!
i still make my own jambs and mortise the hinges, most "prehung" doors suck. but i'll admit to using an electric router with a template, i do it for a living though. i would still like to have a 171 thouigh
Great commentary
What is the number of the original hinge butt mortiser you have?
It looks a little like a Stanley #40 ish, but not quite. Keep up the great content!
That was not made by Stanley. I don't know if Stanley ever made one so I don't know if it has a number.
Well, lemme rephrase. ALL of the tools down are bucket list tools!n never seen the hinge mortise stamps, Stanley had it all!
Cool tool
I suppose they used it to make the Mortices for Stone Henge?
My home’s front door got replaced at some point in time before I moved in, but the jam didn’t get replaced. So the dead bolt didn’t line up. When I changed the door knob, I had to adjust the spacing a bit, and I just used my Narex Richters to get the job done.
Even if it isn't super useful, it is still cool to have on the shelf!!
Hinges are still square cornered here in the UK. I'll look out for those markers.
You can still buy Square hinges for doors here. But almost all of the prehung doors come with rounded hinges so that the routers can cut them out faster.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo pre-hung in the UK are very often rounded these days too. I've got a house full!
Love the wood working history lessons James, keep learning again and again stuff I didn't have a clue about. Agree that this is a really well thought out tool. Just saw another channel had a mechanical drill press and now I really want one of them, so if you come across one, let me know 😀 Trying to get away from things needing power/electricity in my life, not only tools, but other stuff as well, preparing for the soon to come digital reset 😆
I've done a few videos on post drills. They were meant more for metalworking than for woodworking. But they are fun.
Yup, I've seen those, but had never seen a manual drill press before, lot more practical use to me that a post drill.
@@lynxg4641 when you say mechanical drill press, what do you mean? Got any links to the one you mention? I have a post drill (with missing post!).
@@ricos1497 Yup, not sure if YT will leave the link, but here it is. It's just basically a drill press, but you crank it by hand - pretty freakin cool IMHO.
ruclips.net/video/bLQAAz1Pvp8/видео.html
@@lynxg4641 much appreciated, thanks. I think I misunderstood your original post, my apologies. I have a hand cranked drill press, but it's different to that one. It has a larger wheel, but by-in-large works in the same fashion. It needs a new post and some TLC, but otherwise it works. You can pick them up reasonably inexpensively in the UK but they'll usually need some repair work. Haven't seen one like that in the video though, it looks a bit better than mine. I think mine is early 1900s, not completely sure. The model in the link you posted looks later than that I'm guessing.
would be kinda handy. Ive been building my own frames for doors and windows. but probably won't bring it out on a jobsite but in the shop it would be nice.
When you're in a jamb use an expensive plane. That's a door able!
Don't have either. I use a router plane for all hinges. If I thought guides were necessary, for repeated unskilled use, I'd attach 2 wooden base plates extended forward either side of the blade. But router +"hold n pivot this side, push that side" should do. Otherwise I'd hand a pair of wooden rebate planes and say go to town in both directions.
Thanks.
That's pretty cool, but I think I'll stick with a 3/4" chisel for that task.
I don't do it often enough to justify a specialty tool.
I do my hinges with a version of the Paul Sellers 'poor mans rebate plane' (made it on my table saw, blasphemy I know). With such a plane, you can extend the blade quite far down to give you sort of a low-depth router. This works really well for the very few doors I do. I wouldn't be without a similar tool because this allows me to get three hinge mortises at the same depth. It's really interesting to see the 'real' old tools designed for this job!
Sounds a lot like the hinge butt mortise there's a reason that was the standard for almost 100 years. Far faster than a chisel and really useful.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I did forget to mention that it functions almost exactly the same as the hinge butt mortise plane. The takeaway is that it's easy to make one yourself:)
Cool Tool..
Awesome
I have the main body and one cutter and I am looking for a manual and the adjustable fence and blades. any ideas where I can get these parts from? I am in the UK
If you're looking for parts I would definitely go look at the list of online sellers on www.handtoolfinder.com there are several sellers on there from the UK and most of the others will ship internationally. I would just go down the list and send them emails asking for the particular part you're looking for.
Hey James, I’m restoring one now. What size is screw that holds the cutter? Appreciate your help. Great video
Unfortunately I do not own this plane. It was on loan from a friend. So I can't measure it for you. Sorry
@@WoodByWrightHowTo thanks for getting back though
I could see a carpenter using one if he is doing the whole house, once it is set up it would pretty much do all the doors in that house. Forget the apprentice...time is money too. Your demonstration showed one hinge being done but in reality, he would work 3 hinges at once.
I just do it with my router plane. The 271 is very useful for that, and cheap. Never tried the butt mortise plane though.
I think these tools are quite interesting. But I do so few hinges that I haven't bought any hinge specific tools. I still use my 3/4 inch chisel and a mallet when I do the odd hinge. (Of course a smaller chisel if doing a small lidded box or the like.)
Where was this when I had to do all the doors for 75 houses ? Dang!!!!!!!!!
Bucket list tool
Nice.
6:50 can you file the gaps wider?
You probably could.
That was really interesting. The value of market research eh?
0:34 as an announcer, I can’t tell you how many times I have said one word, and thought I said another. I would’ve sworn I said one word, in fact, but then go back and listen to the tape, and I said another. Yet another reason why eyewitness testimony is totally unreliable. Not only do we not know what we see, but we do not know what we say.
I've only seen one and I didn't know what it was should've bought it anyways
What size gouge was it you used for the rounded corner? I mess with doors a lot and have been wondering what size gouge would match the typical hinges that are used today
I just grabbed a random gouge for this. I would grab the henge and match it to the gouge of it were in a real door.
Interesting.
cool tool
Ahh yes, one of these hand tools that have the setup time of a power tool.
Can I purchase a plan for the plane till you dispaly behind you in your videos? Thanks, Joe
yes. Here you are. www.woodbywright.com/shop/plans
This is definitely not a plane that I would spend money on as a beginner, even though it is pretty cool 😅
Pretty damn cool!
Back in the day?
Learned a new tool, thanks. Good video
Ah, I'm sure there is a valuable lesson in there for mechanical, electrical and software engineers...
If only I could see through all the bells and whistles and figure it out 😉
Is that the original pushmepullyou? Very cool.
no that is a toung and groove plane!
@@WoodByWrightHowTo LOL.
I think most people paid to fit doors would have jus used a chisel for that job, much quicker than any plane. I'd use a chisel for most hinges, if it was a hinge on a small box I would usually finish it with a small router after I wasted it with a chisel...... I find small things require more accuracy so that's why I'd use a router on the smaller ones.
That's why the simple hinge butt mortar sir is so useful. It's just as fast as a chisel but in the end it's a router plane so you get the fine finish from that as well.
The manual domino!
No there is actually a hand cranked version of that.
What was the Stanley number of the Stanley Hinge Butt Mortiser? Anyone?
that one does not has a number. it was an odd one as it was made in the Stanley factory but designed by and sold by W. A. Dohmeyer. LN now makes one. www.lie-nielsen.com/products/butt-mortise-plane
@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thank you!
I love planes that do one job well...but I think I would take a hard pass on this one. Id end up putting it aside and grab a chisel and a marking gauge. I feel like it would just be a lot faster in the long run
There's a reason that most finished carpenters just used a hinge butt mortiser. Even faster than a chisel and far easier than 171 to set up.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I should have said, I would pass on the 171. The hinge butt mortiser does work well.
Never seen one. Definitely don't need one. 😂 I do hinges so infrequently I'll carry on with my palm router.
That last sound wasn't a whistle, it was a horn.
Lol. Thanks.
He is pinching that horn tho.
One on UK ebay @ £395
These tools are very nice .but for someone who enters the woodworking u have to pass time with them in order to learn their functionality .
idk, I'd imagine that the old carpenters would just walk the chisel & just clean it up with a larger one?...
most would use a hinge morticer (the smaller one I showed) it is even faster then a chisel.
No doubt.
I'm just brought back to my grandpa grumbling about there not being a need to carry a lot of tools. He was a very practical man, I'd even call him minimalist by today's standards funnily enough.
Edit: Forgot to mention I really enjoy the channel. Keep up the good work! ^^
interesting tool, but you're right, it looks like a lot of faffing about to set it up
It's a Dr DoLittle PushMePullYou plane
Comment 171
According to my wife...I finally found a tool more useless than me......
Time is money i use a router professionally as a carpenter in uk.
these were in use before electric tools were in use. now just for hobbyists that want to use hand tools.
Guess the owners of this didn't know how to use a chisel
they knew how to use a chisel better then most, but if you are doing a ton of them this is a lot easer.
Just do it the simple way. Get a mallet and a chisel done. No speciality tools necessary
That is usually my preferred method