From the limited coverage I’ve seen about the transitional planes online, I never had very high hopes for them nor actively sought them out like the Bailey metal-bodied planes.
I do think they look cool and retro but in the end, watch any woodworking teacher or maker online and you’d think they never existed in the first place. These people swear by the metal-bodied Bailey planes, new and modern Veritas or Lie-Nielsen, with some fringe purist outliers swearing by their wooden bodied jack, jointer and smoother.
I’ve come across a few transitionals at antique stores and flea markets but the deal has never been quite sweet enough to take the leap. Until just a few weeks ago, at a flea market where I saw a lineup of them from jack to jointer, and I couldn’t resist.
The jack-size (number 26) was in decent shape – the wood body had no damage, cracks or checks, the metal parts were just a bit dusty and aside from some surface rust on the blade assembly, it looked good to go. So after taking a look I consulted with my wife. “It looks nice, but I don’t want to pay more than $25 for it”. I ask the vendor how much they’re looking for – the jointers, $50, the fore planes, $30, the jacks, $25. Jackpot. But, a price does not a deal make.
I browsed the rest of the market first before committing, I found a stall with some overpriced metal planes (Stanley No. 6 for $70, not bad but the tote wasn’t original, so who knows what else is missing or non-original on it) but the transitional was the winner.
My wife had $20 so we made an offer. The vendor was happy to oblige.
So here I was with the red headed stepchild in the history of hand planes, sheer morbid curiosity driving me forward. When I got home I did a quick survey of the parts, just took out the blade assembly and frog to check the condition. It all looked good.
I took it to the shop to assess the body. There was a bit of a hump on the sole right around the mouth. I took a few passes with my jack to take it down. I took a few more light passes along the length of the sole to even it out. Check for straight, and… that was it. I took out the winding sticks because after this long the beech body must have warped somewhat and… it was dead on straight. I was honestly baffled and impressed. In a couple of minutes, minimal work, the sole was dead on.
But I know what you’re going to say, a flat sole does not a usable plane make, Kev. This I agree with. Time to sharpen the blade. It had a medium camber to it so had obviously served as a fore plane in its previous life. I ground the bevel on the 400 diamond stone then honed it on the 600, 1000 and stropped it. I kept a decent camber but the centre of the blade had flattened a bit – I wasn’t being too picky, just wanted a sharp edge.
Insert it into the body, lock it down, start to set it. The adjuster was a little stiff, it doesn’t have the free play like a metal Bailey, so is harder to gauge when the blade is engaged and moving. Also it’s a little further forward from the tote and lower from the finger so harder to reach while in action.
But once the blade peeked out this thing absolutely ripped. I started taking medium shavings in some nice clear pine and they just shot out of this thing like a cannon. This is a completely fine and usable plane, no question about it.
In action
After actually using it on a project to see how it handles, I did notice some nuances to it. Obviously it is much lighter than a metal plane so it takes a bit more focus and direction to keep it on course. That being said I was taking a ¾” wide edge down by about an eighth so it was a narrow surface, and I was hogging off chunks. It made quick work of the pine but was a little more slippery, harder to direct than a metal counterpart, par for the course with wooden planes but on initial use it took some adjustment.
The next test in action was cleaning up some rough-sawn pine boards and thinning them by about a 16th. It did a fantastic job, the cambered blade made quick work of the rough surface and in just a few minutes I had worked it down close to my lines and switched to the finer-set jack.
The transitional works well, there’s nothing wrong with it as a plane, and I just might make this my permanent fore plane. That being said, switching from it to the metal Bailey, there is just no comparison. The tote position is much more comfortable, it feels more smooth and controlled and I think this is because it’s much lower to the workpiece plus the difference in weight and heft on the metal one.
A few more runs with this and I’m sold. I’m perfectly happy with it (for $20) and I enjoy the lightweight feel, the frictionless wooden sole – these are especially helpful in a fore plane, hogging off lumps feels effortless – and the Bailey-style adjusting mechanism. For the right price and condition, this transitional is a user for sure. I’ll keep an eye out for more and at the right price, in the right condition, will buy again.
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