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  1. #1
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    Default Wooden jack plane to restore to use - looking for advice

    Photos first
    DSC00837.jpgDSC00836.jpgDSC00831.jpgDSC00829.jpgDSC00827.jpg

    14 inch wooden jack plane given to me and I'm starting to fall in love with this old stuff and intend learning to use it

    Need advice though - in particular

    the bottom is out of square (you can see the handle leaning left). is it sacrilege to re-square it? (it does have slight twist so need to do 'something' with it anyway)

    How much cleaning should i do? I figure minimal as it will get used anyway

    Does anyone recognise the name stamped on it? E HIBBLE. It is there four times on the body.

    Any other advice welcome.

    The blade is hefty 4.3 mm at bottom, 2.2 at top

    Can't make out name, will check after it comes out of molasses bath, but it says something about warranted cast steel i think??

    Thanks and cheers guys, you fellows and this site are amazing

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  3. #2
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    Default

    My understanding is, planing the bottom of a wooden plane, to get it flat again, was normal maintenance. So it's not sacrilege. Be aware though, the more you plane off, the bigger the mouth gets, so don't take off too much.

    An initial cleaning, to get off the worst of the grime and paint splashes, can be done with a BLO and turps mix and a scotchbrite. Again, don't take off too much. An old tool should wear it's history proudly. Patina rules!! Then smear straight BLO over the wood a few times until it stops soaking in (wipe off any excess after a few hours)

    E Hibble will be a previous owner I suspect.

    Most old quality irons will include the words "Cast steel" in the stamp. It's the other words that will tell you the maker of the iron, who may, or may not, be the maker of the wooden body (probably not). Check the two ends of the wooden body very carefully with a magnifying glass, to see if there's a maker's stamp underneath the "E Hibble".

    HTH.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

  4. #3
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    Thanks heaps Vann, i will get started tomorrow. The blade is underwater for the next 14 days (and molasses) hopefully i will be able to read the rest of that stamp then.

  5. #4
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    The blade would be Thos Ibbotson.

    HTH
    G

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vann View Post
    My understanding is, planing the bottom of a wooden plane, to get it flat again, was normal maintenance. So it's not sacrilege. Be aware though, the more you plane off, the bigger the mouth gets, so don't take off too much.

    An initial cleaning, to get off the worst of the grime and paint splashes, can be done with a BLO and turps mix and a scotchbrite. Again, don't take off too much. An old tool should wear it's history proudly. Patina rules!! Then smear straight BLO over the wood a few times until it stops soaking in (wipe off any excess after a few hours)
    If straightening the sole opens the mouth too far, the "normal maintenance" is to inlet a new mouth piece to close the mouth up again.

    What I think you should be more concerned with is what appears to be a split or crack in the front part of the sole
    DSC00837.jpg
    left unaddressed, the split will make the plane very difficult to use.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  7. #6
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    Thanks Ian, I should have mentioned that. On close inspection it looks like a deep scrape/gouge, like a previous owner planed over a nail or something. Not deep and i think will come out when i flatten the sole. Might give it a go this afternoon after a few other jobs.

    I like the advice re the insert, thanks!

  8. #7
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    Hi Bob , Ian's right in that a piece can be let in for the closing up of the mouth . I Have some originals where this has been done before .
    But what happens in a few years time when it needs flattening a few more times ? The plane is shrinking away !
    Ive got a Blackwood smoother I used a lot, ten years of planing a lot of US Oak and plenty of Pine . Ive had to re plane its sole a few times and the mouth is huge now.
    Although it probably wasn't done this way much in the old days that I know of I want to add a whole new wooden sole to some of my favorite wooden planes . One day Ill try it .
    Yes, patina Rules. I cut back with fine paper and oil and turps . some times I just re oil them . I also sometimes give them a light french polish with a rubber of shellac and a drop of linseed oil . They keep a shine that way .
    I have a Jack the same as yours that came to me fully sanded and raw . someones yet to be finished restoration work . not very nice really . but it gave me the chance to try something I wouldn't normally do , and that was fully re polish it with shellac, mostly Blonde with a little orange flake added . It actually looks great . over restored for sure though .

  9. #8
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    That helps a lot too Auscab. I can see the point of not overdoing it. Funny really, they were just plain workmans tools that wore out, but there is something about it that our generation really connects with, values of honest labour, real contact and connection with both the wood and tool.

    The piece put into the mouth would be end grain at the face of the sole unless you cut ten end off a large piece to keep the grain parallel to the planes grain, but then it would be fragile, any thoughts?

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bendigo Bob View Post
    The piece put into the mouth would be end grain at the face of the sole unless you cut ten end off a large piece to keep the grain parallel to the planes grain, but then it would be fragile, any thoughts?
    the grain direction in the piece let into the sole should run parallel to the grain in the sole. You just need to be precise with your morticing -- flat bottom and square edges -- and shaping the insert piece and glue will be fine.
    If the sole is too worn down, then the plane could be resoled, but to some extent why would you bother. If the plane is that worn down, perhaps it's time to let it enjoy retirement?

    All the above is based on the wooden plane being a user. At some point it will cease to be a user and either become a "collector" or firewood
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  11. #10
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    If this is to be a user one trick an old timer I knew had was to cut down the rear of the plane and lower the handle about half the thickness of the body.
    Having used a few old planes but being trained and exclusively using metal planes I understood where he was coming from.
    With the original set up I felt a distinct lack of control with my hands so high on the plane.
    I'll have a look in the shed and see if there's one out there to show what I mean.
    H
    Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)

  12. #11
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    Well, the blade is out of the molasses and rust is gone, but boy, what a lot of meat was eaten out by rust over the years. It is Ibbotson too Yorki. One thing i now notice is that the cutting edge is bonded to the rest of the body, there is a clear line where the two different metals join. Never knew they did that and not sure why. Will post a pic when it is sharpened, then on to the plane body.

  13. #12
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    Default Laminated Iron

    Quote Originally Posted by Bendigo Bob View Post
    Well, the blade is out of the molasses and rust is gone... One thing i now notice is that the cutting edge is bonded to the rest of the body, there is a clear line where the two different metals join. Never knew they did that and not sure why.
    That sounds like a laminated iron. High quality steel was too expensive to use for the entire iron so, as the irons were manufactured by hammering white hot iron into shape, they took the oppertunity to fire-weld a small piece of high quality steel to a lump of lesser quality steel or iron (often wrought-iron IIRC). A very common practice in its day.

    Irons made that way were generally very good irons.

    Cheers, Vann.
    Gatherer of rusty planes tools...
    Proud member of the Wadkin Blockhead Club .

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