Thread: Refurbished Moving Fillister Plane;

Hi stewie

from the design of your bench, you appear to be a left hander.
For the benefit of other left handers, could you comment on how easy / difficult you find using a right handed plane like this filister you have just restored.

Ian; for those of us that are left hand dominant you quickly learn to adapt, instead of placing your left hand to the rear of the plane and the right hand on the front, you change your hand position, so that the left hand moves to the front of the plane and the right hand is positioned to the rear. My apologies for the over-simplistic answer to your question.

regards Stewie;

seriously, does it feel weird and you have to concentrate, or have you done it so often that it's now second nature?

and, if given the opportunity, would you prefer that the filister were left handed?
You might even comment in your other thread if the hollows and rounds you are building are a left handed or right handed.

stop your stirring Ian.

regards Stewie;

Originally Posted by planemaker

stop your stirring Ian.

Sometimes I wish you would take my questions seriously.

my initial thought when reading this thread was to wonder why you didn't convert the filister to a lefthander -- then I realised that doing so would essentially involve replacing the plane body, so I think sort of understand why.
But in terms of working cack-handed I'm interested in your experience because, as a right-hander, I occasionally need to work left-handed and I'm always willing to learn from people in the know.

Originally Posted by ian

my initial thought when reading this thread was to wonder why you didn't convert the filister to a lefthander -- then I realised that doing so would essentially involve replacing the plane body, so I think sort of understand why.
But in terms of working cack-handed I'm interested in your experience because, as a right-hander, I occasionally need to work left-handed and I'm always willing to learn from people in the know.

stupidity.jpg

Cheers

Doug

For those that share an interest in refurbishing these early made traditional moving fillister planes I removed the depth stop adjuster to allow you to view their basic design. Unfortunately if the top mounting screws are made of steel their likely rusted in by now and can be a challenge to remove. I will be replacing mine with 7/8" brass wood screws.

This is the first time I have heard of a moving fillister plane. Not surprising since i have only recently started using and so become interested in planes. I can see it is for making rebates and a quick google says it is 'moving' because you can change the fence. What is a nicker though? and why does it help for across grain? It prevents tear out somehow maybe?

Plus: I guess I am missing an in joke but as someone who is extremely left handed I think that would be seriously difficult to use. I can't imagine being able to use a plane with my hands reversed. With the blade reversed it would be o.k. If Ian was joking he's still on to something - I've pulled a plane rather than reverse my hands.

I have one. Has 3 bottom screws, instead of 2, and a nicker. Bought it in Pittsboro (NC) while taking classes there. Struggling a bit to keep it square with the piece I am working on. Very easy to push downward (with your outside right hand) too much and gradually lose the horizontal plane. But learning to correct.

Originally Posted by Mnb

This is the first time I have heard of a moving fillister plane. Not surprising since i have only recently started using and so become interested in planes. I can see it is for making rebates and a quick google says it is 'moving' because you can change the fence. What is a nicker though? and why does it help for across grain? It prevents tear out somehow maybe?

Plus: I guess I am missing an in joke but as someone who is extremely left handed I think that would be seriously difficult to use. I can't imagine being able to use a plane with my hands reversed. With the blade reversed it would be o.k. If Ian was joking he's still on to something - I've pulled a plane rather than reverse my hands.

The nicker is basically a tiny knife that runs in front of the cutting iron on the side of the plane scoring the fibres(cutting)them.
A head of the iron before they cut and lift them up.
Giving a cleaner cut line.
Especially helpful when you are planning across the grain.
Imagine running your marking knive in front of your plane when planning if you could.
Hope those ramblings help.

Cheers Matt

I'm a rambler so yes, got you

Actually imagined it. It's gonna be on the inside side of the rebate if there's only one i guess. Thanks.

Addition: that's smart.

kungsleden; the following video should be of interest to you. Take note at 1.55min when the presenter mentions setting the iron slightly proud of the side of the plane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKiJ46JhWSM

Bill was the teacher of one of the classes I took while I was in North Carolina last year.
A few good tips I had forgotten.
Great teacher.

Originally Posted by planemaker

stop your stirring Ian.

regards Stewie;

Stewie, as a colour-blind person, I can understand that anyone who has to put up with a world run by the dominant colour-sighted or right-handed, or whatever types, becomes a little sensitive. But in fact it is a serious question for those of us who have a less-dominant way of seeing or doing things. In my own case, there are many situations where it doesn't matter, some where it is a distinct disadvantage, and a very few where it is actually an advantage. And so it is with tools!

Having grown up with a left-handed father, I am well aware that lefties have a range of coping strategies. My dad (& my elder sister) grew up in the less-enlightened age where they were forced by their teachers to use their right hands & so both were remarkably ambidextrous - my dad could work either way with most tools, whichever suited what he was doing, which I envied. And sometimes it was a real boon when we worked together!

Planes are generally not 'handed', you simply do things in the mirror-image way to what right-handers do (those with skewed blades can be a bit more of a challenge), and Stewie's bench (which I've previously noted is a southpaw bench) testifies to that.

Perhaps my comment is more controversial- I'm not sure that is a moving fillister, but a regular rebate plane. My understanding is that fillisters were used specifically for working glazing bars, with the fence bearing on the far side of the piece being stuck, & so have the nicker & depth stop on the same side as the fence (see here). It seems that the term has gradually come to be (mis) applied to any wooden rebate plane, so I'm probably just barking at the moon.....

Cheers,