I have 2 Stanley No. 113 Circular Planes, with one of them being a Type 2 from before 1900. Stanley began producing these around 1877 and kept making them until 1942. You can easily distinguish type 1 and 2 by the side wheel adjuster. The type 1 has a solid adjuster wheel, whereas the type 2 has a wheel with four holes in it. However, in 1900, the plane underwent a redesign, replacing the wheel-type adjuster with the standard Bailey-type adjuster and lever cap found in the rest of their bench plane range.
This plane is still on working condition, although there are a few non-original elements to it.
Also, I’m assuming that it was well used as the blade doesn’t have much more useable portion left.
This photo shows the 4-hole sidewheel adjuster which was a Type 2 feature. But of interest is how this works. Turning the wheel moves the plug in the angled opening (in the photo this can be seen just above the wheel). As the plug moves, the plate that opening in slides up or down thus moving the blade.
Apparently the design with the side wheel was a bit fragile, and many have adjusters that don’t work properly, but mine works fine.
One optically significant difference with my 133 is the front knob. This knob is used to adjust the curve of the sole and with mine the original patterned cast knob has been replaced with a brass knob with wooden insert.
The front knob adjusts the flexible sole by raising a screw that is attached to the forward pivoting arm. This arm is connected to a gear, located on the left of the main casting, which, in turn, drives another gear that is connected to the rear arm. Thus, both portions of the sole are adjusted simultaneously.
The knob used for adjusting the sole also serves as a handle during planing, making it easy to unintentionally change the sole adjustment. Stanley addressed this issue by adding a set screw to later models, allowing users to tighten the knob securely after setting the sole.
A missing element from my plane is the rear handle – there is a mounting point for it. Apparently is is reasonably common for this to be broken – but on mine the mounting is intact – just the handle is missing. I’ve seen examples on the internet both with & without the handle.
Also with mine the lever cap has broken at some point and been brazed back together. The join seems very good, albeit a little messy on the top surface – but the bottom side where it is in contact with the blade is filed smooth and looks solid.
A final point of interest – the thin steel sole of the plane joins to the body in it’s centre by means of a dovetail joint. And with the earlier planes a Patent date of June 17 79 is stamped.