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The Standard Rule Company Plane
First
incorporated in 1872, the Standard Rule Company was based in
Unionville, Connecticut. The company initially manufactured
rules, levels and other measuring tools, but by 1883 had entered
into an agreement with Solon R. and Arthur E. Rust to manufacture
a metal plane based on their patent #287,584 of October 30,
1883. This initial patent was only for the carriage mechanism
to advance the blade. It was also claimed that the clamping
arrangement of the lever cap, with its capture in the side lugs,
allowed for pressure to be placed on the lower section of the
blade. The advancement of the blade to regulate the cut was
enabled by a large knurled rear knob, creating the ability to
avoid repositioning the lever cap when making adjustments. This
is the basic patent of all Standard Rule type planes. Its date
is found stamped on some blades.
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Close-up
of blade adjustment mechanism. |
It
is somewhat elegant in appearance, with the finely knurled brass
nut on the lever cap complementing a larger similar blade advancement
knob. The plane shown is not one of the earliest types manufactured
by the Standard Rule Company, as it has a lateral lever. Rather,
it appears to be a mix of several later patents. By 1889 the
company had been taken over into the Upson Nut Company, also
of Unionville. Although the lateral lever is marked with a patent
date of September 10, 1889 (George Karrman #410,710), it appears
that the actual mechanism is a similar but later patent by Samuel
Frisbie, who assigned patent #423,424 to the Upson Nut Company
on March 18, 1890. |
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