Thread: Plough plane recommendations

The Veritas Small Plow is one to save for. In the meantime, the Record #044 is a very decent plough plane, and worth seeking out. The #043 is cute but really not in the same league. There are woodies as well. Many can be had quite cheaply.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I had a 44 with 5 blades but no depth stop that I sold, worked great. Recently I had a birthday and got the veritas plow plane. It's far nicer to hold than the Record and buying an extra blade was very simple. Does it plow any better than I recall the 44 doing ? Probably not to be honest but it's sweet to have all the parts and options plus I love veritas planes so no regrets.

Can you regrind your current blade to suit ? How often do you cut grooves ?

bueller, I'd be looking at making some blades for your 050. I'm not familiar with the tool itself, but it looks like all you need is a notch in the side to accept the adjuster, on an otherwise straight bit of flat steel. If that's so, you shouldn't need great metal-working skills to make some perfectly functional blades. I'd get some HSS pieces of the appropriate thickness (from McJings, for e.g.), probably 3mm thick will match. I'd probably buy a bigger chunk & cut several blades from it, but it's easier to get the widths you want & just cut to length (using a 1mm wheel in an angle grinder). The notch can be formed with the same tool. Being the gung-ho type, I'd tackle it free-hand, but if you are nervous about it or have an unsteady hand, you could rig up a jig to present the part to a stationary grinder. The good thing about HSS is that it is very hard to ruin by over-heating, you can cut it with the 1mm wheel and grind it to the early red-heat stage without altering its hardness (though better for all sorts of reasons to grind more tactfully!).

'Tis said that HSS won't accept as fine an edge as the fancy steels that we have to have for w'working tools these days. While that may be true, I have several blades I've made from it, and they all take (& hold!) a perfectly acceptable edge. For a small outlay, you could have your old 050 kitted out with a set of blades in short order, and the great satisfaction of having dunnit yerself......

Cheers,

That's not a bad idea, I'll look into it Ian!

I think the blades for the Veritas Small Plow Plane should fit the Stanley/Record #50 as they are notched the same way. You could buy the Veritas blades and use them now and know they will work with the Veritas plane should you decide to buy it later.
One advantage of the Veritas blades over the originals is the smaller 2 blades are wider at the top so don't require the locking screw that is probably MIA on your plane.
I'll check the dimensions of my #50 blades for comparison.

Hiroller that would be awesome. I'm placing an Axminster order in the next few weeks and would be able to tack them onto the order.

You are welcome to come around and test out the Veritas blades in your #50. I also have a #43, and you can judge if it is worth pursuing.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks for the offer Derek, I'll likely take you up on that!

I'm on leave at the moment, and in the workshop much of the time. PM me when you want to come around.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Ok. Done a bit of rustling in the garage. There is a bit more variation with the 50s than I recalled. The 50 has the short blades like the Veritas small plow. However, the Stanley 50 has the lever control with the ridges in the back of the blade. The Record 50 has the notch like the Veritas but the Record has the notch on the outside of the blade and the Veritas is on the inside. For the wide blades, Veritas has kindly provided notches in both sides but for the thin blades you would need to order blades for the left handed plane.
Veritas plane: Veritas® Small Plow Plane - Lee Valley Tools
Veritas blades: Standard and Wide Blades for Veritas® Small Plow Plane - Lee Valley Tools

Sounds like a Derek can help you check. Keep us posted with your choice.

Cheers all!

When looking around did you talk / contact Jim Bode? Jim Bode Antique Tools
IIRC, at one time he was making after market blades for plough planes.


Patrick Leach (AKA "the Merchant of Ashby") is another person to try. http://supertool.com/oldtools.htm


also, you should be able to put a notch in another maker's blade with a hack saw or Dremel with a cutting disk.

Originally Posted by ian

......also, you should be able to put a notch in another maker's blade with a hack saw.....

You will if it isn't hardened all the way to the top. Most older bench plane blades aren't, so you can hacksaw or file them from about the beginning of the slot up. However, at least some smaller blades like those plough blades are hard all the way through. Very easy to tell, just run a file over where you want the notch, if it skates, it'll be a Dremel disc or cutoff-wheel job.....

Cheers,

I'd be surprised if you can't find blades for your 50 on eBay.

I'd also have a look at toolexchange.com.au . You can always try the Hail Mary option of emailing the admin of that site, but I never had much luck with that.

I can't contribute much to this discussion, because I've only ever used one plough plane, and that's the Veritas. With that said, I honestly can't remember a single incident where it was difficult or troublesome to use in any way. It works as intended every time with no learning curve. I can't really say that about many others.

Cheers,
Luke