Acorn No 4 Plane Overhaul

Acorn was a brand of J A Chapman who were taken over by Stanley in the 1936 when they wanted to set-up a manufactory in Britain. They continued to use the Acorn brand for cheaper tools aimed at domestic users, as opposed to tradesmen — a sort of forerunner of the Handyman range. These are often described as “Lower quality” but if this plane is anything to go by “Simplified” would be a fairer term.
There is nothing to complain about quality-wise but there is no frog adjusting screw and the lateral adjustment lever is a single piece of bent steel instead of three separate parts. The knob screw is a simple steel counter-sink one threaded all the way and the top nut for the handle is a plain cylinder shape.
This example was in good nick apart from having lost its lever-cap. Luckily I’d got a spare Stanley one which is more appropriate given that Acorn was a Stanley brand.
I’m not convinced that the knob is original either as it didn’t sit in the cast ring properly until I turned it down. It’s also a different type of wood to the handle. The latter is definitely beach whereas the former looks more like iroko, though I can’t see it actually being that.
There is nothing to complain about quality-wise but there is no frog adjusting screw and the lateral adjustment lever is a single piece of bent steel instead of three separate parts. The knob screw is a simple steel counter-sink one threaded all the way and the top nut for the handle is a plain cylinder shape.
This example was in good nick apart from having lost its lever-cap. Luckily I’d got a spare Stanley one which is more appropriate given that Acorn was a Stanley brand.
I’m not convinced that the knob is original either as it didn’t sit in the cast ring properly until I turned it down. It’s also a different type of wood to the handle. The latter is definitely beach whereas the former looks more like iroko, though I can’t see it actually being that.