Millers Falls Block & Specialty Planes
Because the Millers Falls Company entered the hand plane business relatively late in the game, its product line never grew to the size of that of Stanley or Sargent & Company. The initial roll out in 1929 concentrated on those models with the greatest sales potential—block and bench planes. By the time the line was established, the popular acceptance of power tools and pre-milled, pre-shaped lumber had made the introduction of limited-application hand planes a risky affair.
The company was never to produce a circular, match, dado, plow, shoulder, or combination plane. Its more successful specialty planes included a double-end block plane, a duplex rabbet/filletster, a skew rabbet/block plane, and a pair of routers. Millers Falls also manufactured scraper, scrub, and weatherstrip planes. For the most part, these latter models did not sell well and enjoyed life cycles of perhaps a dozen years. The Millers Falls specialty planes were copies of Stanley products.
The Millers Falls Company produced a complete line of block planes with various combinations of cap, depth adjustment, blade pitch, and finish. While the minor details of Millers Falls block planes may differ from their Stanley equivalents, there are several differences worthy of note. One is the company's preference for 1 5/8 inch cutter widths in situations where Stanley would have used a 1 3/4 inch blade. Another is that the copy of Stanley's No. 118 low-angle boy's plane was manufactured for perhaps a dozen years with a standard 20-degree pitch instead of an angle of 12 degrees.
The company's standard bench planes are not considered block or specialty planes. Information about them can be found by following the links on the Millers Falls Planes Home Page.