Anyone Made a Beading Plane?

[D_W]

Curious both from the people who have done it practically (as in making one) vs. the historical process.

I'm not unfamiliar to making either side escapement or bench planes, but getting the bead dead nuts is something that I'm assuming was done historically with a mother plane.

I have a lot of persimmon on hand to make boxing, and figured if I were to make beading planes, I could either box the entire profile (as some planes are done) in persimmon or table saw 1/8th boxing into a plane and then cut the profile in.

Anyone with any information about how the planes were made historically, or any comments about whether or not someone has created a one-off setup (perhaps a fence with an inverse profile of a scratch beader affixed in it) to make a good beader?

 

[Racers]

I haven't made one but I have Larry Williams DVD and rehabed a badly working 1/8" one
The rear section of boxing had been glued in at an angle so I made a scraper to match profile and scraped it level.
I guess you could scrape the whole profile or plough a grove and scrape.

Pete

 

[D_W]

I haven't made one but I have Larry Williams DVD and rehabed a badly working 1/8" one
The rear section of boxing had been glued in at an angle so I made a scraper to match profile and scraped it level.
I guess you could scrape the whole profile or plough a grove and scrape.

Pete

I have two possible scenarios:
1) that I take a good-working beading plane and make a mother plane with it. Then use that to make my own beading plane and sell both the mother plane(s) and the good working plane to a budding planemaker
2) make a fixture that will allow me to put a heavy piece of scratch stock with the sole profile on it and scratch the entire profile. (I have some concern about wasting time trying that, because it may be easy to make a less than straight plane bottom which would bind in a cut.

I suspect that the old ones were either profiled by machine and then scraped to remove chatter, or cut with a mother plane with the grain of the boxing.

It is hard as nuts to find a good set of beading planes over here, but I have a nice set of griffiths on the way that you guys would consider way overpriced (about $35 a plane), but given their scarcity here - i'll be able to recover all or most of that if I go the route of making my own to replace them.

 

[Racers]

It took me ages to find a 1/8" beader and when I got it, it didn't work and took me a while to find out why!

I would think mother planes would be good if you where producing multiples of the same size, but for one or two its a wast of time.

Pete

 

[D_W]

It took me ages to find a 1/8" beader and when I got it, it didn't work and took me a while to find out why!

I would think mother planes would be good if you where producing multiples of the same size, but for one or two its a wast of time.

Pete

I agree. I like making planes, but the set of beaders that I'm getting should be perfectly capable, making more is just for sport (as is all of the planemaking - just a hobby). Of the things I may not make for sport, beaders may be one of them because of the mother plane thing, but I think I could sell the set of mother planes and make it worth my time if I go that route. Undecided.

In my part of the States, especially central PA, there are a LOT of moulding planes in antique shops, but planes in good shape and without significant rust on the irons are exceptionally rare. It's common to see a lot of $10 planes missing irons, missing boxing, etc.

I can't imagine that I'd have use for more than 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4th, but of those three, in five years I've managed to find one of those and it came through the internet.

A search of the planes in the UK turns up multiple entire sets (if you're willing to pay or bargain). Almost unfair!!, but I guess it's pretty easy to buy stanley planes at flea markets here.

 

[JohnPW]

Just in case anyone hasn't seen the articles on plane making by William J. Armour published in 1898:

http://www.handplane.com/33/practical-plane-making-2/

 

[D_W]

Just in case anyone hasn't seen the articles on plane making by William J. Armour published in 1898:

http://www.handplane.com/33/practical-plane-making-2/

Thanks for that link, I'm sure it's been mentioned, but I hadn't saved it.

 

[D_W]

Scratch the idea of making any. I received the set of Griffiths beaders (double boxed and the first four are slipped) yesterday and I couldn't possibly hope to improve or even match the business side of them for quite a few iterations.

There are plenty of other types that would be easier to make precisely.

I couldn't have found a set as good in the united states in a decade.

 

[Racers]

No pictures, it never happened!

Pete

 

[D_W]

No pictures, it never happened!

Pete

Yeah, I know the drill!!

Given that you guys are flush with moulding planes over there, I'm sure I'd subject myself to some criticism over the cost (on the order of 185 quid plus shipping for eight beading planes).

 

[ajmacleod]

No pictures, it never happened!

Pete

Yeah, I know the drill!!

Given that you guys are flush with moulding planes over there, I'm sure I'd subject myself to some criticism over the cost (on the order of 185 quid plus shipping for four beading planes).

Ouch! But then again, if they're really good ones and in good condition, is £45 really too much for a tool like that? I have a few beading planes collected over the past year or two for various projects about the house, average price was about £16 or so. No two from the same maker or even owner and not all cosmetically perfect but so far they all work well (I haven't tested the 1/8" which only arrived a week or so ago.)

 

[D_W]

I misstated that, sorry. It's $185 quid for 8 beading planes, 5 are slipped.

The reality of whether that's cheap or expensive (if you're not picky, you can pick up serviceable planes here for $10 - $15 in antique malls, but they are rarely in the condition of the good recent English makers)

141840783441 was the ebay sale #

The pictures show clean planes, but don't do a good job of showing just how ideal the irons and bottom sides of the planes are - it's like getting brand new planes, as opposed to the junkers we find most places here.

It grinds my gears a little to spend that, but I've been picking up things in the states for a long time and it has amounted to a lot of hassle refurbishing planes that were cheap on the surface - and I haven't seen a bead smaller than 1/4" in the wild here (without going to the lengths of things like making long trips to tool meets - something I'm not inclined to do).

 

[ajmacleod]

Ah, those look well worth the money especially as they're a well cared for set. Perfect Christmas present!

(I wish I could find my very nice 1/4" bead moulder which has mysteriously vanished now that I want to use it - only myself to blame as I don't know anyone else who would have the faintest idea what it was, never mind what to do with it!)

 

[Racers]

That looks like a very nice set D_W.

Pete