Hello Bob=2C Welcome to oldtools! You wrote (in part) about your Stanley
51 spoke shave=2C "Unfortunately the chip breaker will not hold the
blade in position under use. I have not tried excessive force but no
tightness of the screw in the center or the top will hold it. Does
anyone know a remidy for this situation. Also I have no idea what it is.
The blade has the Stanley rule and level"arch" logo. I think I can make
out "Balleys patent" on one handle and adate ending in 1858 on the
other. It is hard to read under the thick cover of paint and getting a
rubbing on a curved surface eludes me."

At least the body and blade of your shave seem to be appropriate for a
fairly early Stanley No. 51 shave. Stanley continued to produce the
shave body with Bailey's 1858 patent date on the underside of the handle
for quite a period of time=2C and it is usually so heavily japanned that
it is tough to read. The arched logo also was continued for a long while
(into the early 1900s)=2C in a couple of versions. But=2C for a shave of
this vintage=2C I think the fixing screw on the cap is not correct (it
is later=2C probably not earlier than 1909). A more correct screw would
be shaped like an eye ring=2C or have a knurled top with a screw driver
slot. Post-1909=2C Stanley began checkering the No. 51's handle=2C and
yours is not of this vintage. So=2C I suspect that in your shave's
history=2C someone gave it a new fixing screw=2C and probably a new cap
iron--again=2C one not appropriate to the body and the blade of your
shave. So=2C I suspect therein may lie the cause of your problem. You
might cast around for an older cap iron=2C or a newer body and blade.
Best regards=2C Sandy

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