Fettling A Wooden Plane

[tinfoil]

I bought this chap the other day:

Apart from the fact that I've long wanted to own one of these 'Transitionals', I thought that a wooden body would sit well in a long shooting board that I plan to make. Of course, sight unseen is always a bit of a risk and in this case the body is not perfectly flat and square. It's out by less than a millimetre and only towards one end but presumably that is enough to make it an issue when trying to use it as a jointer. Otherwise the plane is wonderful - a little lick of the blade on a fine diamond plate and it whispered sweetly as a long curl of softwood looped out of its throat.

So, is it sensible (or even permissable!) to true the body using spray-mounted sandpaper in an mdf box like this:

Any advice will be gratefully received - especially from any of the high priests (or the priestess!) of Galoot.

 

[mr grimsdale]

I'd see how it works first before doing anything at all i.e. sharpen the blade and have a go at planing some wood, on a shooting board if that's the plan.
You may not need to square the sides, as the blade tilts (little lever sticking up behind the blade), but if it doesn't tilt far enough trimming the side is an option.
Flatten bottom first, plane side to make square in the ordinary way - you don't need a jig. You only need to square the starboard side unless you are left handed with the shooting board.
The basic first rule of conservation is to do as little as possible - only as much as necessary. You can always do a bit more later, but if you go too far there is no going back.

 

[matthewwh]

What Jacob said, plus I'd leave it in your own workshop for a while to acclimatise before doing anything. You may find it was flat in the last blokes workshop and aquired a bit of wind in a different climate at the old tool store. If you correct it at once you may find it's out again in a month or so.

 

[tinfoil]

Thank you Jacob and Mathew. Sound advice and easy to follow - do nothing for now!

I'll get on with the shooting board and give it a go.........

What a wonderful resource this forum is. Thanks again.

 

[katellwood]

To preserve the integrity of the original plane why not use a replacement body. they are easy to replace and in addition if you can source some additional irons have a variety of bases to different shapes similar to a pattern makers plane.

As long as you keep the original base the integrity can be preserved

 

[mr grimsdale]

April 1?
preserve the integrity of the original plane by replacing it entirely, piece by piece, with another one! :lol:

 

[katellwood]

April fool or not thats what I did

my thoughts were and are, that you can replace the wooden parts, and use the castings for whatever you want

This plane I got of the bay from the States however it was in an extremely sorry state

 

[jimi43]

I like that!!

I like that a LOT!

Jim

 

[bugbear]

I bought this chap the other day:


Apart from the fact that I've long wanted to own one of these 'Transitionals', I thought that a wooden body would sit well in a long shooting board that I plan to make. Of course, sight unseen is always a bit of a risk and in this case the body is not perfectly flat and square. It's out by less than a millimetre and only towards one end but presumably that is enough to make it an issue when trying to use it as a jointer. Otherwise the plane is wonderful - a little lick of the blade on a fine diamond plate and it whispered sweetly as a long curl of softwood looped out of its throat.

Hmm. With the narrow sides, I don't think that plane would be a good choice for shooting - the registering surface is small. However, it would work nicely with the Robert Wearing design of shooting board, where the plane is registered by its sole, not its side. You would also benefit from the low running friction of a wooden surface.

BugBear