setting up the beading plane

[thetyreman]

I finally got around to using my 3/16" beading plane today, and after a LOT of hard work, removed all pitting from the back, then I sharpened the curve using sandpaper on a dowel, I noticed however that even though it was sharp, the throat seems to get clogged up, and it doesn't cut as cleanly as I'd have hoped for, I also noticed you have to angle it slightly to get the right look, just wondering if you could advise me on setting it up properly, it seems to work ok, but it could be better and I'm left feeling a bit dissapointed.

 

[AndyT]

This isn't easy without seeing the plane!

Presumably it's a wooden one...

Things that need to be right include:

The body needs to be straight.
The sole needs to be straight.
The blade needs to be sharp all along the edge.
The shape of the cutting edge needs to resemble the shape of the sole. Sometimes an old wooden plane body will have shrunk considerably, so to fix that needs some reshaping of the iron. It's very easy to reduce the size of the little bit of the iron which sticks out and ploughs the quirk - if that's the problem you may need to reshape the rest of the profile to get it back into proportion.
The end of the wedge needs to be shaped nicely so that shavings sweep up past the tip and emerge properly.

And the timber needs to be suitable - it's tempting to try out a plane on a bit of stringy pallet wood, but the results will be very different on some decent wood with the grain running the right way.

 

[Jacob]

The face of the blade needs to be shiny and polished for 10mm or so, so that shavings slip past easily. n.b. pits etc don't matter as long as the remaining surface is low friction. Could consider candle wax.

 

[custard]

I also noticed you have to angle it slightly to get the right look

I'll defer to the experts here, but my limited experience is that British moulding planes are generally designed to be used at an angle, where as continental ones are not. However, British beading planes tend to follow the continental convention and are used plumb. I'm puzzled why you're having to use an angle on an "unsprung" beading plane, maybe this is part of the problem?

The "boxing" (the hard boxwood wear strip) in the sole of the plane may well be set at an angle by the way, even if the beading plane is used vertically.

 

[custard]

Incidentally, for practical furniture making purposes knocking together a scratch stock is probably a better solution than struggling to restore an old beading plane. Personally I favour this particular style of scratch stock for straight beading, moulding, and inlay work; but it's no big deal, whatever style works for you is the right style.

first-plough-plane-t106825-15.html

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks for that Custard.

It's an issue that's been putting me off one particular project for a while. The DC wants a small bookcase for her Mills & Boone collection*, but it needs to pick up on design features of our bedroom suite, in particular a curved front to the dressing table and side tables, and a double bead round same. That would work well, and is a lot nicer than struggling with the beading feature on the Stanley #50 I have. the beads are the wrong size too, and the spacing would be off, and I've failed to master tearout with it, coming to the conclusion that it'll only work well with specific grain patterns (OK "I can only make it work well...").

That scratch stock design is both simple to make and has the ability to work around the gnarly stuff, I think.

 

[AndyT]

Another thought about thetyreman's plane. 3/16" is really quite small. Keeping the bead profile round is difficult - if you need to shape the iron you're only a stroke or two away from spoiling the shape.
And in the same way, with a bead this small you need to be able to take a very fine shaving - one too many will show on the work and look wrong.

On the other hand, small shapes are easier than big ones if you are filing a scratch stock cutter!

 

[Sheffield Tony]

The DC wants a small bookcase for her Mills & Boone collection*

Would something like this one do ?

 

[Droogs]

fantastic Tony

 

[swb58]

I've been playing about with one of these lately, also a 3/16". The boxing is so crisp and perfect that at first glance it (they) could be a type of plastic, but I can see its wood as neither strip needs much encouragement to fall out.

Is it just a case a glueing them back in in the right place?

 

[Racers]

That's what I do.

Most problems I find wit moulding planes is with shrinkage of the plane body, you need to reshape the blade to match the sole profile.
I use a set of Aldi/Lidl diamond needle files.

Pete

 

[Eric The Viking]

Should've said: "... (other paper products are available)."

I think it's mostly Georgette Heyer actually, who apparently wrote a better class of something-or-other. They all look the same to me.

 

[thetyreman]

having had another careful look at the plane, the blade is quite a bit out of shape, but the wood itself seems in very nice/excellent condition, so it's just a matter of getting the exact shape to fit the wood, even with all that it's still doing an ok job and actually works, but the bead is slightly oblong and not quite the shape I would like, diamond files might be a good investment, especially seeing as I plan on getting more moulding type planes in the future, it's not easy woodworking is it? amazes me how much there is to learn lol still I enjoy the challenge of it.

 

[thetyreman]

if it helps I can post pictures

 

[Jacob]

Not done it often but I shape a blade whilst it's in the plane body: tap it so it protrudes just enough to show all the profile then file off as necessary with files or wet n dry around a shaped bit of wood. If you do it carefully you don't touch the wood of the body and only take off the profile, which you check by squinting down the length.
Once the shape is OK take the blade out and back off the bevel to the newly shaped parts.