The Very Uncommon Millers Falls Lever Action Depth Adjuster.
(Perhaps the greatetst mystery in the history of tools)
Sometime in the mid 1970s Millers Falls introduced a new and quite unique depth adjusting system using a simple thumb lever, deviating from 100 years of round knobs. The concept is simple in both design and function as the lever has the typical nib that fits into the slot on the chip breaker and depth is adjusted simply by moving the lever up and down. Neither precise nor easy to use, this idea apparently didn't fare well insomuch as the plane was apparently never widely produced and very little is actually known about it. I could find no patent numbers cast or stamped anywhere on the plane or the frog and a search of patents assigned to MF reveals no corresponding patent awards. Consequently, there isn't much known about the origins of this mechanism, (at least by me), but I suppose that MF was trying to come up with something new and exciting at a time when sale of hand tools, especially planes, was collapsing as woodworkers trended toward power tools.
The clumsiness of the adjusting process probably didn't impress anyone enough to have a need to patent the idea, or a limited marketing campaign (so limited no one knew about it) showed the idea was a flop. At any rate, the limited availability of this line of planes makes it an even more interesting study. Clearly a low end entry, the finishes are rough and crude, and though parts work, the clearances are sloppy. Not a fine craftsman tool to be sure, but very likely nevr meant to be anything but a last stop effort to maintain market share. **
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**OR, perhaps its scarcity indicates that it is a "prototype, worth thousands of dollars.
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If, as you read this you recognize it and have greater detail for this line of plane, please do let me know so I can improve the accuracy of this sheet.
 MF 9800 14 inch exampleThis design came in a 14" jack plane size and a 9" smoother. Some evidence indicates that they were likely introduced in the mid-1970s as an economy line and produced for about nine years. Note the rough, unfinished castings and the unembelleshed lever cap. |  MF9814Clearly an economy model it almost would appear that MF was test marketing this line but never put much effort into selling it at a time when manual woodworking planes were on the sales decline and MF was moving toward power tools. |  MF 9814 |
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 The numbering mysteryThe 9 inch is designated with the number 8900 and for no apparent reason other than that's what is on the side. MF used the numbers 89, 890 and 8900. I see a pattern but not one that makes much logical sense. |  MF 8900In contrast to the jack plane, the smoother was simply numbered 8900 with no reference to the size, (except, perhaps the "9"). Physically, beyond the size difference, the planes are identical. |  lever action depth adjusting mechanismNot exceptionally precise nor very easy to use, it is certainly a unique feature. Why MF abandoned the familiar round knob continues to mystify all of "planedom". |
 MF 8900 |  9814The 14 inch is designated with a 9814 cast into the side, typical of the MF practice. I could find no reference to the number and its relationship to the lever adjuster. |  Lever action depth adjusterVery little is currently known about this particular Millers Falls depth adjusting system. Not as precise or as easy to manipulate as its circular counterpart may be why it's life was limited. |
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