I?m getting ready to buy one. Is there any difference between the older ones built in USA versus the newer ones built in England? Are the new ones the same as the old ones or have they been changed in some way? I see that the old ones sell on Ebay for almost as much as the new ones so I might as well buy a new one unless the old ones are better some how.
Thanks, Scott
My experience with a new 92 was that the castings were very rough and not square. It took a couple hours to fine tune it. The old ones were likely made to a higher quality standard - IOW, go old if you can find and afford it.
The older planes made in the USA are generally considered to be of better quality than the ones made in England. Follow this link for more info:
English are _much_ better quality. It's rumoured that the bench planes were better quality in the USA, but this is a very subtle variation if anything. However the #92 and #93 US models are infamous for warping problems the UK models just didn't have.
The #90 family have rarity value in the USA, but not in the UK. I think the #90 (like a bull nose #92) is fairly common, but the fixed body #90A and #90J and real rarities in the USA.
Personally I find a #92 to be a useful dado plane, an unimpressive rebate plane (they jam with shavings) and a lousy shoulder plane. Get one, because they're cheap, but they won't replace a real shoulder plane like a 311
You'll get a lot of opinions, but all I can say is I have had an english 90 for the past 7 years and it works well, was made well, was square new, is square now, and is a really handy plane. My experience tells me new or old in this particular plane does not make any appreciable difference, at least in this price range. You can pay more elsewhere for the same function, but get a finer tool that will be an absolute joy to use and keep you coming back to it time after time, but that's true about most tools, and women, for that matter. Just check it out carefully before you buy it to make sure its looking good, but I do that no matter what tool I buy. Mutt
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