Recent content by NickUrquhart

Just as a tip it might be good when you're removing the wedge to apply pressure to the side of the wedge and wiggle it side to side. I use this method everyday and it is far better than knocking the hell out of the poor old stock. The Salmen was one of the very last commercially offered wood...

Are these planes 'cut and shuts' like the Krenovs? Anyone had a check with a square to see how badly the body has leaned. I don't know if they all use non-quartersawn stock, but with old planes, it's a sure sign that a plane was usermade, when they use parts of flatsawn timber with diagonally...

I would say a Clifton is the top choice for edge quality and longevity, but blimey can they be a pain to set up in a No.7 or 4 1/2. I've tended to keep the Hock A2 in the smoother and 'scorp' the edge of the Clifton and use it to hog in the No.5. What i've found is that the thicker Clifton +...

For what it's worth, don't get fooled by the whole adjuster hype, personally i believe they were and are a bit of a gimmick, and have little to do with a good plane. I often get really frustrated when people talk about backlash and the quality of an adjuster in a Norris type plane as if it...

Using brass for the sole on a shoulder plane is probably one of the only times where you can get away with it because rebates tend to get filled. The first batch of long thin 18th C. mitre planes i had cast in America, were Bronze and also several in Brass. I didn't realise that the lead in...

I would second the recommendation to hide away the LN. It won't take long before someone knocks it off a table on site. I reckon that you can't beat picking up a good clean Record No.5 from Ebay for about £30. When you get it, check it's flat/fettle the sole if needed and then buy a Clifton or...

Now that's an idea that could work, rebate the ply edge and have the ply drop throught the middle hole. Thanks for the suggestion, much appreciated. I think that i'll bite the bullet and just buy some 3.7mm for the last two chairs, but i'll definitely use that in the future on an Oak chair that...

Steel mesh, blimey, bet that was a shock. Re the rebating, yeap that was one thought, but i'm plagued with that old disease where i can't sleep if i change anything on a restoration. I know it would be under leather and worsted wool, but it would bother me, like i'd swindled the chair, crazy i...

thanks for the reply, yeah there seems to be load of us, must be all those trees. Out of interest, i'd be interested to know your thoughts on why handplaning it probably wouldn't work? cheers, Nick.

Beautiful tool, always impresses me when someone can bang something together in one day, nevermind one evening. I normally take 3 days, over-enjoying the thinking part, before my hands get to the project. You've got some pretty tidy countersunk holes on the blade retention plate. Did you do...

I'm restoring 4 Oak Edwardian dining chairs which have pad seats that are sadly no longer of this world. The originals were standard dowelled Beech and Oak scrap for the frames, with a bit of 1/8" ply tacked on top. I've just ran out of 3.7mm ply, but have a sheet of 9mm...

Try fine garden grit or small builders plaster rubble in a thickish polythene bag. The bag will wrap itself around the edges and legs. If you grasp the neck of the bag and 'pad' the bottom onto the surfaces, it will give quite a controllable bit of 'worryage'. Fine wire wool will help relieve...

It might be worth aiming your research at the bigger companies such as Rabone and Chesterman and Record etc. During the 50's a huge number of the traditional and newer marking tool and planemaking companies were absorbed into large competitors, as the the woodworking trades became more...

Hi Adam, If it helps, i've found that a two plane method is a much quicker and less 'board hungry' way of squaring an edge. A cambered jack will get you within say 5 thou of your final measurement, but often if you try to make fine adjustments with an inappropriately coarsely set plane, you'll...

Thanks for the info John, it all helps add to the battle. I'm not really one for large power tools such as saws or routers, mostly due to neighbour considerations(thin Victorian walls) and also the possibility of heat burn, but saying that i'm not in a position to say that they do burn, because...