Sargent Plane Type Study

Below is a brief type study for Sargent Planes. I will expand and add more to this study over time, so please be patient.

Basically speaking, Types 1, 2 & 3 had the number (or numbers) cast into the backside of the lever caps, A dot was also cast on the back. Often numbers were also cast into the back of the frogs, as seen on some of the examples below. The Type 1 was a pre-lateral plane, and Types 2 & 3 had the horse-shoe shaped pivot for the lateral adjustment and thinner body castings than later planes.

Type Study – Frogs

Sargent Type 1 prelateral style frogs.

Sargent Types 2 & 3 “horse-shoe” style frogs.

Sargent later style frogs.

Type Study – Lever Caps

Many thanks to David Heckel for the following information.

Type Study – Cutters

Again, many thanks to David Heckel for the following information.

There are two other cutter markings similar to Type 5, however these do not have the plane model number marked on them, and instead have “NEW HAVEN CONN” either above or below the rectangle. NOTE: The “U.S.A.” still appears below the rectangle on these planes.

Sargent Corrugated Planes

A plane with “C” after the model number just means that the sole, or bottom of the plane, is corrugated. However, there are certain “corrugations” that leave some people a little perplexed – a couple of examples of which are shown below. These aren’t actually corrugations, as such, merely just the type of finish on the castings. In fact these are actually just milling marks – as in marks left over from milling the sole or sides of the plane in question. Most planes are then placed on a belt sander/linisher to remove the milling marks, then lapped using finer grits. These planes have been basically left ‘as-is’, with limited, if any, final finishing.