Thread: Emmerich Wooden Hand Plane restoration help needed

It looks like the sole has cupped away from the body, but you say it is still 'solid' so I'm guessing the centre part remains glued? Not sure how I'd tackle this one myself. I have no idea what glue they used, but it would probably depend on just when the plane was made. These were (still are!) made for a very long time, and I suspect those made before WW2 would have been glued with hide glue, but by the 1960's & beyond, I think they would have used synthetic glue, but that's just a guess. It might be useful to know for sure before you tried pulling it apart, as a synthetic glue will make the job extremely difficult.

If hide glue was used originally, you could try just brushing in some fresh stuff & clamping it up - that may close it up enough for a cosmetic fix.

Cheers,

I tried clamping it up dry and there was no movement, the button on the plane and the blade both say 1852 but I am not sure if that means anything.

The sole is barley out of flat, by maybe 0.1 of mm, might just sharpen it up tweak the sole and use it how it is. Its more of a collector piece than daily user I just want to make sure I dont damage it.

If it is hide glue then you should be able to expose the plane to steam, maybe fill a pot with water place a metal strainer on top of pot and place the plane in the strainer then cover the pot the best you can with a large bowl this will loosen the hide glue without to much affect on the plane. It should not take long about 10 minutes of hard steam you should see an affect.

OR

If your wife has one of those steam cleaning machines that would work even better injecting steam into the open joint.

OR

Soak the plane in boiled water.

If the sole comes off wash and scrub with a brush very well with hot water and let air dry for a few weeks before re-gluing.

Judging by the patina it is old well before WW2. So you should find that it is hide glue or casein. However synthetic glue like epoxy did exist in the 1930's, and PVA was discovered in the 1920's but would not have been in wide use.

If it is synthetic glue then you are much out of luck. You may have to plane off the sole and attach a new one from new material.

1852 refers to the year the company was founded.

If it is synthetic glue then you are much out of luck. You may have to plane off the sole and attach a new one from new material.

No, not that! The coolest thing about the ECE planes is how the sole is attached.

I know what I'd do, I'd bloody fiddle with it and try to get the sole off. Then find that the plane has been left in damp conditions and the sole has cupped and won't stick back on properly......

ECE are cool planes but they're not uncommon. If you want to have a crack at regluing the sole, that'd be fine......as failure is an option.

[QUOTE=seanz;1819298]No, not that! The coolest thing about the ECE planes is how the sole is attached.

That famous mystery joint

They are very good planes and I think what you have is the first level above the basic as it has the applied hornbeam? sole. I have a few and as you go up the grades to planes which are as adjustable and as complex as a Norris, the blade quality stays the same.

Quickly flatten the bottom and use it - if you find you like it I would not be surprised if you couldn't order a replacement body from them

Neil

These are still made today by ECE.
http://fine-tools.com/putzh.htm
You could try contacting their distributer in Germany and they might know the answer or could pass the question to the manufacturer.
http://fine-tools.com/formcontact.html

Having said that, most modern glues don't like much heat either and would probably fall apart with the same treatment for hide glue! Heat from the Australian sun has caused many a joint to fail.

Originally Posted by hiroller

....... most modern glues don't like much heat either and would probably fall apart with the same treatment for hide glue! Heat from the Australian sun has caused many a joint to fail.

True, most of the synthetic glues will soften to varying extents, & way back in my woodworking career, I had several things literally fall apart on very hot days. But while most synthetic glues are indeed thermoplastic, you may need to get that plane body very warm to soften the glue enough to prise it apart. Emmerich probably didn't use the "Aquadhere" of my younger days. Recently, I tried using a heat gun on a piece I'd stuck together with a PVA type glue (LV's GF100), but it wouldn't soften enough to let go, & I managed to get it pretty warm, though probably mostly on the outside, wood being a very poor heat conductor.

Personally, I would be a bit hesitant to take a heat gun to a plane body, and certainly wouldn't soak it in hot water. You might get away with it, but the chances of severe distortion or cracking are a bit too high, imo. In fact I'd take a small bet that the reason it looks like it does is that someone left it out in the weather. If the sole is still firm, & the plane is useable in its current condition, it might be better to just leave it as-is. It would probably make a good scrub plane - a lot of those ECEs were sold as such.

Cheers,

Thanks everyone for all the replies, I took advantage of the Mrs being out lastnight and steamed the body of the plane for about 10 mins.

I was unable to remove the sole, but it did make it plyable enough to allow me to close the joint. I think will just repeat the process and reglue it with some hide glue next chance I get.

thanks
joez

Hi,
from the mark on plane body seems it was after the WWII. According the Wolfgang Jordan site, the mark was registered in 1953:
http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hersteller/ece.phtml

This on the 1952 catalog seems your plane!

Ciao
Giuliano