Stanley No. 78 Duplex Rabbet & Fillister Plane

How to identify it

• Two seats for the iron: the rear one for normal work, the forward bullnose position for working into a stopped rabbet.
• The fence mounts on an arm through the body and can be fitted to either side.
• A small rotating spur (nicker) sits in the side of the body ahead of the iron.

Photograph needed: Stanley No. 78 Duplex Rabbet & Fillister Plane - overall view, plus a close-up of the toe and bed markings

Buying and using

A 78 without its fence is worth very little, and fences do come up separately. Check the nicker is present and sharpenable, because cross-grain rabbets tear badly without one.

The same size from other makers

These do the same job at the same size. Parts do not interchange between makers, but the shaving does not know the difference - and where one maker commands a collector premium, another usually does not.

Every size, every maker

Other makers' answer to the same problem

These share a design lineage rather than a size. Each is its own tool with its own dimensions, and no parts interchange.

• Record No. 778 Duplex Rabbet & Fillister Plane — Record

Completeness checklist

Missing parts drive the price of this model more than condition does. Check for:

• The fence and its arm - missing on perhaps half of the 78s offered
• The depth stop and its thumbscrew
• The nicker and its screw
• The lever cap

What it is worth

• no fence / incomplete $15–$35
• complete, honest wear $45–$90
• excellent, pre-war, complete $100–$200

Estimated USD range as of 2026-Q1, from a sample of about 130 sales. manually filtered sold listings Confidence: medium.

These are researched estimates for a private sale in average light, not an appraisal. Condition, completeness and type move a price further than any of these bands do.

Sources

• reference-site
  Patrick Leach's Blood & Gore (Stanley plane model-by-model commentary) — Patrick Leach
• book
  Stanley Tools: Guide to Identity and Value — John Walter