Things to do with an old wooden jack plane.

[Rorschach]

Make a Lamp? :lol:

Picked up another wooden jack plane at the car boot this morning. Looks to be the same size and style as the Marples I got a couple of months ago. Very few markings, 2 /14" on the back and a MOD mark for 1938 and that's it. Blade is thick and tapered with a chip breaker, just marked made in sheffield. It appears to all be in good condition, though grubby, however the handle looks like a replacement, it's plywood and a bit crude, unless this is a war issue maybe?
I don't need it, I already have my marples that I like, I couldn't pass on it though, I got it with some other tools for £1 all in.

I thought I could use it as a modding project. Maybe camber the iron, open up the mouth and make a jack scrub plane? I could trim the length down if needed. Or I could cut a series of V grooves in the base of difference sizes to make a multi chamfer plane? Or I could just clean and oil the blade and put it aside as a spare? Not sure what to do really, suggestions appreciated.

 

[Orraloon]

A handled smoother if the mouth is in good nick could be another option. Just having a spare plane does not hurt and in time that lightbulb moment will happen.
Regards
John

 

[AndyT]

If the plywood handle is original, that's a highly unusual, collectable plane and would show how low Marples had to stoop on military contracts.
Can we see a picture please?

 

[Rorschach]

If the plywood handle is original, that's a highly unusual, collectable plane and would show how low Marples had to stoop on military contracts.
Can we see a picture please?

Sure, I'll take some pics in a few days. A layer of the veneer was peeling so it's currently being glued back on. After the clamps come off and I tidy up the squeeze out I'll take some pics.
It is possible the handle is original but it looks pretty rough compared to my marples handle.

Just to be clear, this isn't stamped with any names at all, however comparing it to my Marples it is basically identical in size, style and construction method. Even the number stamps for the size on the back are the same.

 

[Tasky]

Paint one side pink, stick on matching pink button, sell for £750. (hammer)

 

[Rorschach]

Pictures of the handle and the only stampings/markings on the plane. As I mentioned before, size, shape and style are basically identical to the Marples.

 

[thetyreman]

I would re-use the beech, possibly make another short plane with a curved sole or some kind of small item like a tray or small box, the wood should be pretty well seasoned by now.

 

[AndyT]

Ok, now I can see it, I'd say that was a reasonable attempt at a replacement handle by a previous owner. He may not have had any suitable thick hardwood and reasoned that plywood was a good idea, as it's not got a weak grain direction where it was likely to split.
If it was my plane I would just smooth the handle off to my own satisfaction with some sandpaper, hone the iron and use the plane.

But you already have a jack plane - why would you need two? Well, you don't need two but the price of keeping this one is attractively low. You could, as you suggest, give one of them a heavier cambered iron. This doesn't make it a scrub plane - a jack plane is meant to have a well cambered blade. But you could then choose to reserve one for planing on recycled wood. I have one I use for this - set to cut below old paint. It's a quick, safe way of removing old paint (which may have lead in it) and exposing the sort of slow-grown, tight grained softwood that is hard to find for sale new. I don't mind if it gets a bit beaten up - I'm not spoiling a high grade tool.

Just because there are lots of old wooden planes around which don't sell on eBay, that doesn't mean they are not useful tools. I expect that in the next few years the new wave of hand tool collectors, guided by YouTube and Facebook demonstrations, will start paying more sensible prices for them when the supply starts to dry up. If you want a brand new jack plane, Phil Edwards will make you a very nice one, for £270 - http://phillyplanes.co.uk/jack.html - and I'm sure that is a fair price for a hand made article needing considerable skill.

 

[rafezetter]

A handled smoother if the mouth is in good nick could be another option. Just having a spare plane does not hurt and in time that lightbulb moment will happen.
Regards
John

I have a wooden jack that was bought at Richard A's do last year (or possibly the one before) and has been skillfully altered into a smoother with a box inlay in front of the mouth to reduce it.

I'm certain the shape was altered too, so in front and behind the blade area (what's that called on a wooden plane?) there are sections that have been cut away, presumably to just about where the handles notmally bottomed out and new hardwood ones added (rosewood and tiger oak)... Lol, I really don't deserve this plane at all.

(It's so nice I can't bring myself to use it on my low skilled projects )

 

[Rorschach]

Well for now I just going to tidy it up, give it a coat of wax and set it aside until I decide what to do with it. The iron I will de-rust, camber (it's out of square anyway) and sharpen it up and I can use it for roughing work in either plane.

My scrub idea was a little like the paint removal idea really. Open the mouth a touch (it's quite tight now), camber the blade and shorten the body of the plane. I won't hack away at it yet though.

 

[Rorschach]

Well I gave it a hot wax treatment and it looks much better. Cleaned the rust off the blade and reground it to a pretty heavy camber, used a 12" disc as a marking guide so I guess that's a 6" radius. Blade sharpened up nicely. Put it back in the body and it works a treat. It takes a nice heavy shaving but is very smooth to use. Stripped in a piece of heavily varnished wood in seconds.

 

[rafezetter]

I have several old wooden planes that need cleaning up - I'm not familiar with "hot wax treatment", are you submerging it then scraping off the wax and that brings the gunk with it - or something else?

 

[Rorschach]

No it's simply the method I use with my homemade hard wax polish. The turpentine I used had turned to gum turpentine so the wax is a little on the sticky side and hard to apply, especially in cold weather (though when cured and buffed it leaves a lovely finish).
I have found the best way to apply it is to warm the item with a hot air gun and brush on a liberal coating of the wax, then go over it again with the hot air to let it soak it in and wipe off any excess with a rag. Let it cool and then buff it out. It's quick, easy and leaves a nice wax finish that isn't sticky.

 

[MikeG.]

......Cleaned the rust off the blade and reground it to a pretty heavy camber, used a 12" disc as a marking guide so I guess that's a 6" radius...........

Wow, that's quite a camber (3.3mm back at the outside edge compared to the centre). Is that standard for a scrub plane? Given that only the centre of the blade will wear, will you sharpen the whole of the curve every time to maintain the radius?

 

[Just4Fun]

Wow, that's quite a camber (3.3mm back at the outside edge compared to the centre). Is that standard for a scrub plane? Given that only the centre of the blade will wear, will you sharpen the whole of the curve every time to maintain the radius?

I made that mistake when I set up a plane as a scrub plane. I don't know the radius of the curve I put on the blade but it was definitely too cambered. Now I only sharpen the centre and eventually I will get back to a more sensible profile.

 

[Rorschach]

......Cleaned the rust off the blade and reground it to a pretty heavy camber, used a 12" disc as a marking guide so I guess that's a 6" radius...........

Wow, that's quite a camber (3.3mm back at the outside edge compared to the centre). Is that standard for a scrub plane? Given that only the centre of the blade will wear, will you sharpen the whole of the curve every time to maintain the radius?

It hasn't actually come out that extreme, the marking out was more of a guide to help me keep it even, but it is still a heavy camber for a couple of reasons.
Partly it was an experiment to see if I could get a fast, deep cutting plane (that worked out great), partly it was to save time. The blade had been ground way out of square, one side was several mm lower than the other. By grinding this heavy camber I actually barely touched one side, just tidied it up and then the rest of the material removal was on the other. This material would have to be removed anyway to square it up, so why not try the camber instead.
As I use and re-sharpen the blade only the middle will wear as it's the only bit cutting and I will restrict my sharpening to this area so the camber will reduce. Once I start to notice a decline in efficiency i will start to hone the whole edge to maintain the camber I like. I have to say though, first impressions are really good for what I was wanting from this plane.

 

[AndyT]

I think you've helped show that sometimes having a wider choice of tools is a good thing and without spoiling a usable tool. (And Mike, I take your point too about having enough tools. )
In this case, it's comparable to having a coarse file as well as a fine one. You could sort-of manage with one or the other, but it's more efficient to have both.

 

[Andrewf]

I have a wooden plane with exactly the same plywood handle.

 

[Rorschach]

I have a wooden plane with exactly the same plywood handle.

Hmm now that's interesting! Can you show a pic of yours?

FYI I found a another use for the plane, it's great for slicing off the tip of your finger! :shock:

 

[MikeG.]

....... I found a another use for the plane, it's great for slicing off the tip of your finger! :shock:

I'm curious as to what you hope to achieve by doing this.