Stanley 444 Dovetail plane

[JPE]

Anyone have a link, manual (beyond what Stanley provides) or can share personal experience in using this tool ? Gonna be picking one up tomorrow and would like to learn how to use it. TIA

[Andy Dingley]

of course

Very brief - I played with one, just to see what it was like.

Horrible thing to use. As for all of these iron-bodied multiplane gadgets (like the #45) there's barely any "mouth" to them and so cross-grain performance is particularly bad. Not a happy plane when cutting a dado. If you want to make sliding dovetails with it, then there are wooden dovetail planes around that do a much better job.

It's a terrible working tool and very valuable as a collectible. So flog it to someone who wants to admire it and use something better yourself.

[John Martin]

As with the 45 or 55, you'll sort of have to teach yourself how to use it. If you really like working with hand tools you may enjoy it, but a router is much easier. If there is one Stanley plane that was made immediately and totally obsolete by the (electric) router, I'd have to say this is it.

John Martin