I just received a #5-sized plane that I purchased on that auction
site.  The plane iron was marked "Everkeen" and the plane is as, near
as I can tell, a pretty close copy of a Stanley #5 -- Everkeen was the
Pritzlaff Hardware (Milwaukee area) store's house brand and it might
have been made by Stanley, just as the Keen Kutter planes were.

The one significant different is that it has a truly massive tapered
iron, which goes from normal thickness at the top to nearly 1/4-inch
at the bevel.

This doesn't seem to make a lot sense -- a tapered iron in a plane
with an adjuster?  Wouldn't this tend to wedge in under the lever cap?
 Still, there's no way this is going to chatter....

In any event, it's a nice plane -- in really clean condition -- and my
third Everkeen tool.  I'm probably going to end up with a collection
if I'm not careful.

Ken

Gloat notes:  Picked up a "one-level" Workmutt for $2 today, a Millers
Falls two-speed breast drill for $4 (no side handle, though it does
have most of the gold MF logo left), and a couple of old saws at $1
each.  One of the old saws is an Atkins with a really pretty wheat
carved handle; the other is a later Disston D-8.

The big haul was yesterday: a $10 pile that included a 48" Starrett
rule (~$150 new!), a 26" Stanley Sweetheart #0 level, a pile of saw
sharpening files, a couple of saws (including a mostly-used up
Atkins), and a Frankoma 37 planter in prairie green.
-- 
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, but model train sets do a pretty
good job as well

-- 2/28/05, in a odd dream

------------------------------------------------------------------------