This is one of two planes that break all the rules when trying to identify or even use the Defiance hand planes. The 1213 1/2 is perhaps the holy grail of the Defiance planes and was only offered from about 1929 through 1932. It is largely undocumented from a professional view point, not even being included in any Stanley or Defiance catalogue and not listed in the Alvin Sellers book “The Stanley Plane: A History and Descriptive Inventory”.
There are so many unique features on this plane it is like night and day even compared to the 1213. The body is all cast iron and only features a depth adjuster to advance the gage style cutting iron. The iron itself rests on a piece of steel that appears to have been welded in place and has an adjustment knob threaded through it. The iron is held in place by a lever cap that resembles those found on the Defiance planes but relies on pressure against a cross pin to hold the iron in place. This makes it a truly unique plane and as mentioned, is perhaps the rarest plane in the entire Defiance line.
Compared to other planes this one has a length of 9 inches with a 1 and 5/8 inch cutting iron and weighing in at an even 2 pounds. Below are my pics of my 1213 1/2, hope you enjoy them:
