Thread: Bedrock Planes

Hi Luke,

Check this out:

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan15.htm

It should help explain it.

Justin

No one says it like Patrick Leach.
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan15.htm

Snap!

Hi Luke,
I have a few of the Bedrocks that I use . a 607 and a 608c are the two I like the most . The 608c for big jointing is a treat to pick up and use when needed, but same as a standard 8.
Ive got the standard 8 as well and the standard 7 to compare jointing with .

When I first had the chance to compare them , the 607 [ Bedrock] and the 7, I set them both up razor sharp, with the soles given a wipe on my felt pad which had been doused with paraffin oil once a year, and I went about test jointing and oak board . I had another guy have a go as well and we both agreed that there was a difference in the planing . We both agreed It was in the sound , and slightly in the feel of of it being more solid. but we couldn't tell if the feel was because of the sound , if you know what I mean !

Its a bit like cleaning and polishing your car and it feels like its driving better I think ?

They sound and possibly feel better than the standard but do exactly the same job .

The standard frog has more hollows, and the Bedrock is a more solid mounting , this is where the difference in sound is coming from of course.

If I can ramble on a bit about the 8.
When I first bought a standard 8 size plane I used to wonder if there would ever be a time that I needed such a big plane ! I used to do all my jointing with a 6 incredibly ? then got a 7 and loved it , but then I thought the 7 covered all I would ever do . Untill the day I had a large table top to put together, 3255 long with 62mm thick cypress pine boards to be jointed . Boy!! that 8 showed itself off to me that day . Its length and weight and width were perfect as I just walked along getting whole length perfect shavings .

Rob

I'll second what Rob says, there is a difference in feel, though it's hard to suggest exactly why that should be so. I can only speak from the experience of owning a Clifton #4 sized smoother & comparing it with my long-time favourite (British) Stanley #4, so it isn't quite the same as comparing a #4 and a 604. Perhaps the 'ramped' frog just sits more solidly on the body? The Clifton also has a heavier body casting, so that may be what's making the difference - I just don't know. Apart from the different 'feel' and the sound it makes, it's Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee. I tend to reach for my Stanley more often, but that's mostly because I keep the Clifton set for very fine clean-up work and the Stanley is the general work-horse smoother. With a freshly sharpened blade, neither does a better or worse job on anything I've thrown them at.

I guess I tend to agree with Patrick's summation - the number of times in an average lifetime that you desperately need to adjust your frog setting without removing the blade could probably be counted comfortably on the fingers of one hand......

Cheers,

IME there is little difference in use between a bedrock and standard Bailey plane.
Especially if you own and carry around lots of planes.

However, if you only carry around a single plane -- a #5 or #6 say -- then the bedrock frog is useful for quickly and relatively easily changing the mouth opening.
a few times it's been really useful to open up the mouth of my #5, take a dozen or so really thick shavings to quickly take down a dimension, then close the mouth to take a few finishing strokes.