Stanley Lever Cap Dimensions
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Hi everyone,
I would like to create my own Lever Cap from Brass for my No. 4 1/2, 5 1/2 and 7 but I cannot find the lever cap dimensions and specifications anywhere.
Can someone please assist me here.All my planes have the same patent dates of 1910.
Bonjour,
Is it alright like that?
Bob
Hi Bob,
Many thanks for trying to assist but I cannot open the attachment you sent.
Can you please try to upload attachment again?
It will be highly appreciated.
It’s probably because it’s a .zip file.
What exactly are you looking for @ShenenKanahi? Do you need a shop drawing of the part?
I imagine you’d be just as well off measuring your existing lever caps.
Hi Austin,
I’m looking for a drawing of the lever cap with measurements on them. Yes maybe you are right, I could do the measurements myself.
Just thought I could find the exact measurements on the internet which I failed to do.Are you planning to cast and then machine them, or only machine them?
If you’re going to cast them, then I would have thought that taking the original and making a mould would be the easiest way to go. You could do both the cap and the lever at the same time then.
If you plan to machine them, is there not a way you could set up a profile follower?
Failing that, see if anyone local to you has a 3d scanner that could be used.
Or you could just identify the key characteristics required for a piece like this (through hole / slot for the screw, pin hole and slot for the lever, and a mating face at the other end) and design your own.Good morning Colin,
Casting them is definitely out of the option. I was planning on machining them but then I also thought of making a 3D model of them.
So I am currently searching for a company here in South Africa that can create a 3D model for me.Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my question, I really appreciate it.
This is my best attempt at a shop drawing and it has been a long time since my last engineering drawing class. It will at least get you started.
All dimensions in inches and approximate. You’re on your own for the lever cam.
Austin
Second essai!
Keep in mind that your 1910 era #5 1/2 is a special case.
On the # 5 1/2 plane before 1939 the irons are 2 1/4” wide and not the 2 3/8” width of the # 4 1/2 or #7 on your list. Planes after 1939 have the wider iron.
Measuring mine, the lever caps are about 1/32” narrower than the irons they are used with.
Have you contacted Lie Neilsen about purchasing Brass replacement lever caps from them? If they would sell theirs and they fit it would have to be cheaper than having some made.
Just a thoughtHi Austin,
Wow there are no words….
Thank you so much, I absolutely appreciate it and appreciate you taking the time to draw this up for me.I’m going to attempt making this on my own, will post pictures once I’m done.
Thank you once again, take care and stay safe.
Hi Larry,
I will measure my lever caps and compare them to the drawings that Austin drew up for me. I’ll definitely keep in mind what you mentioned about my 5 1/2.
I absolutely love Brass on my tools, it just looks so elegant…
I wanted to contact Lie-Nielsen but I first want to try and make this on my own.
Making anything on your own is so much more satisfying than just buying.
If I fail at this then Lie-nielsen will be my next step.
Thank you for your input Larry, much appreciated.
Hi Bob,
Thank you for uploading the second time.
I will follow the drawings what Austin sent me and thanks to Larry I will keep in mind that my 5 1/2 might be slightly different in size compared to my 4 1/2 and 7.
So I guess I will definitely have to measure to make sure I make the correct measurements.
I’m going to start to my no 7 as this is my favorite of the bunch….
Apologies for the nit-picking, but Lie-Nielsen plane caps are made out of bronze, I think.
Well Sven, that might sound like a distinction, but Lie Neilsen call the metal they use manganese bronze, which isn’t all that instructive, and more hype than metallurgy.
I learned that copper based alloys with tin are bronzes. Alloys with high levels of zinc are brasses. One shop teacher was dogmatic that if it contained any zinc at all, it was brass. All other alloys of copper were bronze.
When I look on the metal trek website, they define manganese bronze as:
“Manganese bronzes are a group of high strength copper-based alloys that include manganese as an alloying agent and high levels of zinc. “
.When I look elsewhere., the first formulation contains neither tin nor zinc, but instead includes aluminum , nickel, and lead.
If it machines well, you can suspect some lead.
Aluminum bronze also often contains no tin or zinc. You sometime see that as bronzital, which strikes me as a term like kreme. And though it looks like zinc might be in the name, nickel is the third alloy agent.Admiralty brass is another confusing one. It contains tin and zinc, so which is it? I’ve seen it called bronze, brass, and just admiralty metal. ( it contains much more tin than zinc)
Gun metal is a brass or a bronze depending who is selling it. Here is the wiki definition, which shows the confusion on the issue.
“ Gun metal, also known as red brass in the United States, is a type of bronze – an alloy of copper, tin, and zinc. Proportions vary but 88% copper, 8–10% tin, and 2–4% zinc is an approximation. Originally used chiefly for making guns, it has largely been replaced by steel.”
A Chief use for it now is plumbing parts, and there it is red brass.
I won’t even get into the varieties of German silver, and whether they are brass or bronze, but nobody thinks they are silver.
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