Thread: Combi plane central - end of an era ?

Jimhanna

Nice little collection you have there.

Regards
Paul

Gidday jim great post have you got a link to the website ?

Ive just bought a combination plane myself and really want to master it and learn everything I can

Why dont we start a thread dedicated to combination plane use ? .................... I for 1 would find this really valuable!

Regards Lou

Alf (who is actually a lady, not a guy) wrote wonderful reviews on hand tools up until about a decade ago. They were funny and descriptive, and insightful. Unhappily, she lost heart with the constant snipes on the fori, and then lost interest in woodwork. Her presence is missed by many. Alf elected to keep the website going after she stopped blogging, and did so. But time has passed and all good things come to an end.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I like the idea of a combi plane thread! I have a couple myself:

SW era Stanley 45
Anant 45 (the most obscenely chromed copy of a Stanley 45 you'll ever see!)
Record 50
Lewin 6-15

I too miss Alf's website; it was still up and running only a couple of weeks or so ago but all good things must come to an end.

I'd add pics but I'm a few hundred k's away from the shed until next Thursday

In just under three weeks the Bundaberg Woodworkers Guild will be having our annual expo; I will be manning a small workbench and doing demo's on various bench planes including ploughs and combi's. The Anant will be there and available for Joe Public to have a crack at grooving, trenching and beading etc. I'll be taking some pre-dressed bits of hardwood to make into small boxes including making a nicely beaded decorative box for a pair of Stanley 66's; everything bar gluing will done as a sort of running project throughout the weekend.

Yes I'm fascinated and enjoying the liberation away from powertools

IS so easy to loose great information and ideas I was sad to hear Derek's rundown and Alf's journey ............................. I never can understand the haters

Sounds like fascinating stuff Chef Tiff Ive just been mucking around with the Veritas and getting a feel for it playing with all the adjustments and getting some great ideas on a blade starter kit

Ive noted that the family of joinery HAndplanes like the Fillister and COmbination planes can be prone to being a bit tippy ie: Theres an Art to getting straight cuts

How do you fellas go about mitigating getting angled cuts...........................is it all about muscle memory and positioning eyeing your cuts as you go?

Am interested in your thoughts

Regards Lou

I would also love to see a combination plane thread. I've removed almost all the rust from the 13-050 plane I bought from this forum so it's time to turn it up.

I've seen little material online on how to do this so far.

Regards,

Adam

A deep fence is good; and if you have a look at Alf's you tube vidoes she used to use a wooden skewer sticking up vertically as a handy visual aid.

Getting the plane set up properly is essential; for something like a rebate plane there is little allowable leeway in getting the fence co-planer with the iron, the skates parallel with the fence and the iron at 90 degrees to the skates. If any of these are out so will your rebate be. If your plane has a wooden fence face you can carve it up as required to get parallel, and sometimes you might have to flatten your skate edges the same as flattening the sole of a bench plane. However a modern unit like your Veritas should be true straight out of the box.

My method of ensuring that I don't tilt the plane is simple; I just always feel for the skates fully touching the wood before pressing forwards. When you watch someone demonstrating their cuts they are talking you through the action; I just pretend I'm actually demonstrating rather than cutting!

For want of completeness, here is a link to the archived coy of the website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180903...orkshop.co.uk/

Sad to see this excellent website disappear.
I referred to often when learning about my Stanley 45 and how to best use it. An invaluable resource.

Thank goodness for archive.org capturing the website for future reference.

I too miss Alf's postings, both on the UK forum, and on her own website (and I think she was an occasional poster here too). Her posts were always interesting and often humourous. Combi-plane Central helped me with the setting up of my first plough plane (a Record No.043).

Cheers, Vann.