Help with plane ID

[Colin62]

Yeah I think I'm going to see if I can get some nice countersunk screws to use instead of having to use rods.

If you can find some countersunk brass machine screws, you might be able to take the thread off and use them in place of the rods, and only need to rivet the one side. Something like this

I'm struggling to find cocobolo, would Wenge be a good alternative to use for handles? Wenge or panga-panga as it's known over here is relatively easy to get hold of.

How big is the plane, and how much wood do you need? I might have a couple of small offcuts off African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) which I could send up to you if they're the right size and if you're like the look of blackwood. I moved house over the weekend so things are still a bit of a mess right now, and it may take me a day or two to lay my hands on it to measure it up.

[johnnyrsa]

How big is the plane, and how much wood do you need? I might have a couple of small offcuts off African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) which I could send up to you if they're the right size and if you're like the look of blackwood. I moved house over the weekend so things are still a bit of a mess right now, and it may take me a day or two to lay my hands on it to measure it up.

Hey I'm not going to say no , I like the look of african blackwood. The plane isn't very big, I would say the body of the plane is about 60mm wide, 200mm long and 100mm high.

[johnnyrsa]

Hopefully this will be the end result:



I'm probably being a little too optimistic..

[Colin62]

Hey I'm not going to say no , I like the look of african blackwood. The plane isn't very big, I would say the body of the plane is about 60mm wide, 200mm long and 100mm high.

I suspect the 100mm is bigger than the piece i had in mind, but I'll have a look, probably over the weekend.

[johnnyrsa]

Just a little progress update.. I haven't really done anything on the plane yet but I did manage to find a nice old replacement iron for it:

[johnnyrsa]

I finally started working on the plane a bit, bent the thumb screw straight and managed to remove the lever cap and clean it a bit. I want to keep it as original as possible but I can't seem to find Brazilian rosewood anywhere. Does anyone here know where I could find some small pieces for the infill? Alternatively I could use some Tamboti.

A friend of mine found my plane in an old Preston catalogue he has, I think it's the one on the

[johnnyrsa]

A few more photos below. Now that the lever cap is off I can remove the rest of the pins and put it in my electrolysis tank to get rid of the surface rust. I will then attempt to panel beat some of the dents out of the sides, at least the sole is still straight and flat.

[IanW]

...... Does anyone here know where I could find some small pieces for the infill? Alternatively I could use some Tamboti.

You will be flat-out finding any genuine Brazilian Rosewood - it's on the CITES banned list, and has been for quite a while. You can still get other Dalbergias like East Indian Rosewood, which is a good substitute, and also Cocobolo (neither of which is cheap, of course!). Cocobolo is a very different colour when freshly cut, & often has pronounced pale stripes in it, but over time, it darkens to something more like Rosewood. It will certainly make a very attractive infil.

Hadn't heard of Tamboti (or Tambootie, both spellings seem to be used) 'til you mentioned it, so I looked it up, and it seems like a good choice, as far as its physical characteristics & workability go. But the toxicity warnings are a bit worrisome - seems like you should avoid getting any dust up your nose!

Since you are unlikely to get hold of the same rosewood as your plane may have originally had, any decent wood that has high density & good workability would be ok, imo. Bubinga seems to be popular at the moment - can you get hold of that easily?

Cheers,

[johnnyrsa]

You will be flat-out finding any genuine Brazilian Rosewood - it's on the CITES banned list, and has been for quite a while. You can still get other Dalbergias like East Indian Rosewood, which is a good substitute, and also Cocobolo (neither of which is cheap, of course!). Cocobolo is a very different colour when freshly cut, & often has pronounced pale stripes in it, but over time, it darkens to something more like Rosewood. It will certainly make a very attractive infil.

Hadn't heard of Tamboti (or Tambootie, both spellings seem to be used) 'til you mentioned it, so I looked it up, and it seems like a good choice, as far as its physical characteristics & workability go. But the toxicity warnings are a bit worrisome - seems like you should avoid getting any dust up your nose!

Since you are unlikely to get hold of the same rosewood as your plane may have originally had, any decent wood that has high density & good workability would be ok, imo. Bubinga seems to be popular at the moment - can you get hold of that easily?

Cheers,

Tambootie is fairly easy to get over here, Bubinga too but I'm not sure if in the size I need. I have made a saw handle from Bubinga before and really liked it but I would prefer something a little darker in colour. I should also be able to find some African Blackwood but it's a little on the expensive side and maybe also too dark.
I'll also look into Indian Rosewood, thanks for the tip.

[johnnyrsa]

I have just about given up finding rosewood to use for the infill, I did however find a nice piece of Tamboti:

[IanW]

Interesting-looking chunk John. I see you bought enough for your plane and some other small project as well, eh?

Keep us up to date as you fit it in your plane, I'm keen to see what it looks like when polished up...

Cheers,

[johnnyrsa]

Interesting-looking chunk John. I see you bought enough for your plane and some other small project as well, eh?

Keep us up to date as you fit it in your plane, I'm keen to see what it looks like when polished up...

Cheers,

Haha yeah the pieced they had were either too small or too big, this one was the closest they had.
Cheers mate

[Sawdust Maker]

Nice little project you've picked up there, finished yet?

I was going to suggest Solomon Island ebony (Or Queen ebony)

[johnnyrsa]

Nice little project you've picked up there, finished yet?

I was going to suggest Solomon Island ebony (Or Queen ebony)

Progress has been slow, I'm still trying to figure out what the best method would be to get some of the dents out from the side of the plane. It is definitely cast (iron/steel?) so I don't want to take a hammer to it just yet, scared I might crack it.

I think Queen ebony is going to be really hard to find over here, really nice looking wood though.

[johnnyrsa]

I decided to rather go with African blackwood for the infill as it is technically a Rosewood.
My two sacrificial pieces: