How to make this wooden jack plane useable?

[Carl P]

This jack belonged to my grandfather who passed away many years ago - the plane itself has no particular merit and my grandfather had no particular interest in woodworking, however I'd like to make it useable for my own sentimental reasons.

The problem is with the many deep cracks, it was in the attic for many years and was recently redisdicovered in my fathers shed. At the moment it's in my house. I'm thinking of gluing thin wedges of beech into the cracks - the cracks themselves won't close up when squeezed in a vice, but I'm woried that if they do close up of their own accord when filled it may force new cracks. How long should I leave it in the house to acclimatise?

Any advice gratefully received,

Cheerio,

Carl

 

[carlb40]

I think the best thing after letting it acclimatise is to fill the cracks with epoxy. That should help keep things together for future use.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/west-system- ... 12859_pg1/

 

[Jacob]

Just ignore the cracks. Apply a bit of linseed oil to keep it clean. Plane the sole if necessary. Sharpen and go!

 

[Corneel]

Do not fill the cracks with epoxy! That is just a temporary fix, while it doesn't really do any good to the plane. Feed the wood with a lot of linseed oil like Jacob sais. The cracks might close a bit again. And the cracks don't effect the working of th eplane.

 

[Richard T]

Yes. I'd give it a good dose of linseed.
The cracks might close up a tad with the absorbsion of the oil and if they do it will change the curve that I see underneath. Best to get it as stable as poss. before flattening it.

 

[GazPal]

Use raw linseed rather than boiled and - although it'll take much longer to dry - it's slow drying nature will allow it to be drawn further into the plane body and help close the cracks further. But, before opting for the linseed oil route you can bag the plane in a bin liner with a damp towel for anywhere from a few days to a fortnight and this should help re-humidify the timber and also close cracks.

Remember to remove wedge and plane iron during this process.

Perhaps not a full or perfect restoration, but you may be surprised by just how much the cracks actually close with added humidity. Storage in the attack quite probably led to the cracking in the first place, as the plane would be drier and warmer up there than expected.

 

[AndyT]

I agree that linseed oil will remove the dryness and residual cracks won't affect the working of the plane.

The other thing you will need to do is to sharpen the iron; a Jack plane would normally have a fairly visible curve to the edge - just press down harder on each corner than you do in the middle.

 

[Carl P]

Thanks for all the advice - I'll go for the rehumidifying and linseed oil for now and see how it goes, amazingly the iron is in pretty good condition, so I'm looking forward to getting some use out of it.

Cheerio,


Carl

 

[beech1948]

Seal the mouth for the blade on the sole with putty or plasticine and fill the mouth from above with linseed oil. Let soak for at least 2 weeks...finish the outside with 5 or 6 coats of linseed oil as well. This will attend to the dryness of the plane and would be what they did when it was made.

Looking at the 4th picture there is a big crack running along the length of the plane. Get some runny epoxy and run it into the crack. If the crack goers all the way through or nearly do the same to the bottom crack. Cover with tape as you turn over...apply at least 3 clamps to squeeze it up. Do this slowly so you can judge what is happening.
1) Fill crack with runny epoxy
1) Clamp the hell out of it.
3) Check other cracks. If not too bad then just leave.
4) Check sole is flat if not flatten it with a plane or P/T
5) Finish outside with a few coats of linseed oil
6) prep blade, sharpen, plane wood and enjoy.

Al