Sellers fettles a wooden Plane.
- Thread starter MIGNAL
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Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Nice and straightforward.MIGNAL":3o179v5u said:
He's got the flattening virus a bit - he went off camera to flatten the face; possibly unnecessarily as the slight bulge in the face probably matched the dip in the cap iron edge and the wedge would keep them tight together anyway.
But then flattening is a once only thing. Or is it? I wonder if the wedges acting on the sides actually deform the blade and cap over the years - which wouldn't matter as long as they stay tight up.
bugbear
Established Member
MIGNAL":28vhud51 said:
Gotta' love the cupboards and shelves loaded with tools over his shoulder in the opening shot!
BugBear
The real point is that these old wooden Planes can be had for next to nothing. With just 1 hour (or less) of your time they can be made to work extremely well. My long wooden Jack type is used to thin small Ebony boards. As we all know, Ebony is pretty hard. The wooden Jack is better suited to this task (in comparison to my metal Plane) because it's actually less tiring. They really are slick and fast.
BTW. How much would a comparable modern iron and chipbreaker cost?
BTW. How much would a comparable modern iron and chipbreaker cost?
bugbear
Established Member
MIGNAL":2f9h75xh said:
Amen to that; IMHO anyone doing hand stock prep should own a wooden jack, even if they own no other wooden plane.
Since they're doing quite rough work, the tuning doesn't need to be as precise (or difficult) as a smoother or jointer, and the performance puts metal planes in the shade.
My own set up has a wooden scrub plane (a converted razee jack) and a wooden jack; because of this the camber on the jack is only 1/16" (it would be more if I didn't have the scrub plane option), and the camber on my Bailey #5 is probably 1/32" (since I don't really use the #5 as a jack, I use it more as a small panel plane).
One of my workshop amusements is to let a visiting woodworker who hasn't used a wooden plane use my wooden jack (which is of course decently sharp with a lubricated sole). They normally overrun the stroke quite badly
BugBear
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Yes to the wonders of woodies, especially the weight.
But he uses a steel plane to flatten his woody. Why? More convenient in almost every way - easier to set / adjust / sharpen, more durable and reliable, just a bit heavy.
Flattening again - the previous owner obviously thought this unnecessary and uber flattening is not a feature of old woodies as a rule. Clearly it isn't needed. A bit of fiddling to get a good fit between cap and face and thats enough.
But he uses a steel plane to flatten his woody. Why? More convenient in almost every way - easier to set / adjust / sharpen, more durable and reliable, just a bit heavy.
Flattening again - the previous owner obviously thought this unnecessary and uber flattening is not a feature of old woodies as a rule. Clearly it isn't needed. A bit of fiddling to get a good fit between cap and face and thats enough.
bugbear
Established Member
MIGNAL":hr128yck said:
Easy;
http://www.fine-tools.com/hobele.htm
http://www.fine-tools.com/hobels.htm
(so buying s/h is a good idea!)
BugBear
bugbear
Established Member
Jacob":3dnxtlxb said:
Because he's proposing a woodie jack as a first wooden plane to people who only own metal planes.
BugBear
Jacob":2ggajk8z said:
He could easily have used another wooden plane to flatten that sole. I can tell by the way he's adjusting the plane that he's a little unaccustomed to them. Someone who uses wooden planes a lot would be much more confident and positive in their movements. On a few occasions he forgets to tap the wedge home, another sign that he isn't on auto pilot.
Removing and refitting the iron is as quick as on any metal Plane. May even be slightly quicker. Speed in adjusting the plane is dependent on your method and skill. I think the 'trick' is to set the plane down on a surface that gets you very close to where you want to be and 'adjust' the blade before inserting the wedge. It's quite possible to get the depth of cut and the lateral adjustment very close to final setting using this method. If you are lucky you may not need to adjust anything. I suspect that if you saw someone who uses wooden Planes on a daily basis the idea that they are more convenient might not seem so obvious. I'm faster and more confident than Sellers but I simply don't get enough practice on a day to day basis to be super fast. If I was to resharpen and put both a wooden and metal Plane back to work there would be very little difference in terms of time spent on each respective Plane. That's with using a normal Stanley and it's inherent backlash.
As far as sole flattening is concerned: Avoid the hollow just in front of the mouth. That is the one 'problem' that really does affect the function of the Plane. You get to know this by making and using wooden planes. Unfortunately wooden soles tend to move much more frequently than metal soles. Fortunately the answer is pretty simple. Work in a humidity controlled environment or use the Japanese idea of three points of contact - deliberately hollow the sole (easy with a cabinet scraper) but in the correct places.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
I was thinking more of the blade flattening as perhaps over done.
In reality you couldn't flatten the sole very often or you would soon have no plane left. They must have been used in un-flat condition for as long as possible I imagine.
In reality you couldn't flatten the sole very often or you would soon have no plane left. They must have been used in un-flat condition for as long as possible I imagine.
Don't forget that he's flattening a sole that is at a real extreme, which is why he seems to be taking a lot off. The wooden Jack that I was given was no different. Wedge was stuck, sole was more akin to some crazy fairground ride and a twisty one at that, big chips to the blade. It's very likely these have been treated rather badly - stored in damp cellars, left out in the rain, not used for 50 years+, etc. After all even many woodworkers, let alone the general public, consider them worthless. Anobium Punctatum are one of the few fellows that are rather fond of them.
Once flattened and stored in a relatively dry workshop they just need the odd bit of maintenance, no more than a couple of minutes per year.
Once flattened and stored in a relatively dry workshop they just need the odd bit of maintenance, no more than a couple of minutes per year.
G S Haydon
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If this video prompts more folks to try a wooden plane then it's all to the good.
bugbear
Established Member
G S Haydon":11u6kuqi said:
I don't even mind if it puts the prices up; I've got all the woodies I need
BugBear
bugbear":29z476c4 said:G S Haydon":29z476c4 said:
I don't even mind if it puts the prices up; I've got all the woodies I need
BugBear
Some of us who have already generously re-housed 'more than a few' unwanted wooden planes might even find buyers for them!
bugbear
Established Member
Just watched the whole thing; all fairly straight forward and main stream. He made the mistake of flattening the sole without the wedge in place. Whilst a Bailey plane can be flattened without the blade in place, a wooden plane is quite strongly affected by the wedge (it's not really very solid or rigid where the mouth is).
To clean the dirt, I'd have used the old antique restorers magic mix - white spirit, linseed and (perhaps) vinegar. Pure linseed, boiled or otherwise, is a bit sticky for general cleaning IMHO.
I suspect the plane was made very near me, in Norwich. Griffiths nearly always used I Sorby blades, which is why I have so many of them. Sellers is quite right on that - they're superb!
BugBear
To clean the dirt, I'd have used the old antique restorers magic mix - white spirit, linseed and (perhaps) vinegar. Pure linseed, boiled or otherwise, is a bit sticky for general cleaning IMHO.
I suspect the plane was made very near me, in Norwich. Griffiths nearly always used I Sorby blades, which is why I have so many of them. Sellers is quite right on that - they're superb!
BugBear
