The Nickel Shim

I've picked up a few Stanley 102 planes recently. They're light in weight, simple in design, and inexpensive in price. These are not so pretty, but I don't care. They work.



If you get them on e-Bay, which is what I did (one at a time), they generally require some clean-up. Dirt, rust, grime are some of the issues. The adjuster is a simple screw mechanism, and on one of these, the middle one, it was so worn that it would not hold the blade tight.



I decided that a shim might do the trick, get the adjuster screw a little higher and onto firmer threads. The nickel shim works just right.



Here's a closer view of the nickel shim. Ironically, the more expensive shim, twice as expensive, in fact (though shinier) didn't work as well. It was too thin. I think you will agree that the craftsmanship of the shim is impeccable.