Jacob
New Luddism. Awake and resist!
I posted this over there. Thought I'd give it an airing here, just in case anybody is interested. Alf - somebody is asking after you over there if you want to drop in and say hello.
I'm always going on about top planes being not that good. Does it follow that the worst planes are not that bad?
This piece of rubbish was 99p on ebay. "Ess Vee" brand, made in India.
First - try it out on a piece of wood. No joy, everything seized, so it has to come apart and have all meeting surfaces cleaned up a bit so that they will either bed or move smoothly.
Next a quick hone at 30º. Yes a finish hone is too soon - but it shows up the defects and what you will have to do next.
Pretty rubbish really
So emergency measures - bring out the Grimsdale freehand honing jig MKII!
Basically a scrap of wood, a hole, a bolt and an old knob. Helps you get some pressure on the stone.
Actually felt quite hard this blade - hadn't had much (any?) use, probably good steel and most importantly, had never been blued on a grindstone.
Now for the face. Also pretty crappy. Not flattenable, so a micro bevel to get into good steel. This is the ruler trick, but without the ruler, which makes it a lot easier - the work of seconds.
NB about 20 minutes total on the case so far. The photos take longer.
Next to chip the rust from the sole
60 grit, white spirit on the planer bed, 5 minutes or so
Pretty rubbish really, but usable. Not as hard as normal cast iron - must be malleable steel like the posh planes?
Put it back together and adjust. The blade is slightly too long so you have to pull it back the last bit for a fine cut. But this will be OK after a few honings. The adjuster has normal thread unlike the Baily pattern, so turns the opposite way.
But hey presto - it planes OK on a nasty bit of oak.
Just about as good as a very good Record 4. The EssVee has a slightly raised cutting angle due to the back bevel so it feels slightly coarser.
But neither of them quite as good as a Veritas LA smoother. The different shavings shape is mainly down to the lack of cap iron, which on a normal plane will roll and/or crimp the shavings as they come off. But both of them have better lateral adjuster than the Veritas norris gadget - which doesn't work at all.
So this rubbish plane is perfectly usable, although not very nice. The handle is a bit tight but could be rasped into shape. The blade seems good and holds an edge. It'd do the job, no prob.
I forgot to time the makeover, perhaps 40 minutes plus some planing and fiddling time.
Another 10 minutes would give a very flat sole. Everything else could be polished up but I don't think I'll bother.
I'll probably bin it - but save the blade which seems very good (but rusty), and the cap iron.
I'm always going on about top planes being not that good. Does it follow that the worst planes are not that bad?
This piece of rubbish was 99p on ebay. "Ess Vee" brand, made in India.
First - try it out on a piece of wood. No joy, everything seized, so it has to come apart and have all meeting surfaces cleaned up a bit so that they will either bed or move smoothly.
Next a quick hone at 30º. Yes a finish hone is too soon - but it shows up the defects and what you will have to do next.
Pretty rubbish really
So emergency measures - bring out the Grimsdale freehand honing jig MKII!
Basically a scrap of wood, a hole, a bolt and an old knob. Helps you get some pressure on the stone.
Actually felt quite hard this blade - hadn't had much (any?) use, probably good steel and most importantly, had never been blued on a grindstone.
Now for the face. Also pretty crappy. Not flattenable, so a micro bevel to get into good steel. This is the ruler trick, but without the ruler, which makes it a lot easier - the work of seconds.
NB about 20 minutes total on the case so far. The photos take longer.
Next to chip the rust from the sole
60 grit, white spirit on the planer bed, 5 minutes or so
Pretty rubbish really, but usable. Not as hard as normal cast iron - must be malleable steel like the posh planes?
Put it back together and adjust. The blade is slightly too long so you have to pull it back the last bit for a fine cut. But this will be OK after a few honings. The adjuster has normal thread unlike the Baily pattern, so turns the opposite way.
But hey presto - it planes OK on a nasty bit of oak.
Just about as good as a very good Record 4. The EssVee has a slightly raised cutting angle due to the back bevel so it feels slightly coarser.
But neither of them quite as good as a Veritas LA smoother. The different shavings shape is mainly down to the lack of cap iron, which on a normal plane will roll and/or crimp the shavings as they come off. But both of them have better lateral adjuster than the Veritas norris gadget - which doesn't work at all.
So this rubbish plane is perfectly usable, although not very nice. The handle is a bit tight but could be rasped into shape. The blade seems good and holds an edge. It'd do the job, no prob.
I forgot to time the makeover, perhaps 40 minutes plus some planing and fiddling time.
Another 10 minutes would give a very flat sole. Everything else could be polished up but I don't think I'll bother.
I'll probably bin it - but save the blade which seems very good (but rusty), and the cap iron.
:lol: - Rob
