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  1. #1
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    Default Fixing Cracks on a Wooden Plane

    Bought an old woodie from Gumtree this week. Generally still looks alright apart from a couple of cracks. Keen to try and see if it performs differently compared to its metallic counterparts.

    IMG_20210227_171829461.jpgIMG_20210227_171845778.jpgIMG_20210227_171835245.jpg

    The crack on the cheek is approx. 0.25mm wide on the surface (~3mm deep). The width reduces to approx. 0.10mm further down to ~10mm deep.

    The crack on the throat is wider and deeper, but probably not as critical? Fortunately it doesn't go all the way to the sole

    I was about to glue it up with Titebond, but clamps wouldn't close the gap at all (on the surface at least). What would be the recommended method to fix such cracks? Super glue & wood dust or epoxy?

    Also noticed that the cutting iron is thicker than those on Bailey planes. It is reaching nearly the end of its life, but hoping that a cutting iron from #6 would suit if need be.

    IMG_20210227_171859464.jpg

    Cheers,
    Andy

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  3. #2
    Scribbly Gum's Avatar
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    Andy,
    I wouldn't worry about the cracks.
    They aren't at the sole and they aren't in critical areas of the plane.
    The blade is - for all intents and purposes - finished.
    A number six blade won't hold in the plane, as it isn't tapered.
    Measure the width at the cutting end and let me know, I am sure I have a spare tapered blade somewhere that you can have.
    Cheers
    Tom
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

  4. #3
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    Hi Andy. Looks like you're travelling down the same rabbit hole as me. I love it!!

  5. #4
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    IMHO cracks like those are just part of the overall patina of theses sorts of tools.
    Filling them with anything can even detract from this.

  6. #5
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    Wabi Sabi - leave them

    They are character

    That blade... yikes.

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    Wabi Sabi - leave them

    They are character

    That blade... yikes.
    Yes indeed - beauty in imperfection.
    I have found that sometimes a little boiled linseed oil in the cracks will help them close up a tad.
    And I usually add some to the endgrain as well.
    The patina on your plane is quite beautiful - it would be sad to spoil it.
    Tom
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

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    Thank you for all the responses. The consensus is to do nothing, so I'll leave the cracks as they are and wipe 'em up with BLO.

    The width at the cutting edge is 2 1/2". Thanks for the offer SG, will send you a PM.

    Yes, the plane was very well used. The previous owner was a chippy back in the days.

    Cheers,
    Andy

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andy_B View Post
    Thank you for all the responses. The consensus is to do nothing, so I'll leave the cracks as they are and wipe 'em up with BLO.

    The width at the cutting edge is 2 1/2". Thanks for the offer SG, will send you a PM.

    Yes, the plane was very well used. The previous owner was a chippy back in the days.

    Cheers,
    Andy
    Hi again Andy.
    The blade is a Mathieson.
    It is near full length and is a laminated iron with the cutting steel laminated to the bottom of the cutter iron.
    Here are some pics:
    Attached Images Attached Images
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

  10. #9
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    Hi SG,
    The blade looks good, I'll take it. Thanks for digging it out. Will send you a PM.

    Cheers,
    Andy

  11. #10
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    I received the blade iron from Scribbly Gum's generous offer a while back (thanks Tom!), but it has been sitting on the back burner. Did spend a bit of time lapping the back & shaping the bevel on sandpaper+tile and diamond plate for a few nights, but didn't get very far. The steel seems to be very hard, must be a good quality Mathieson steel.

    I ended up lapping bulk of the work on a belt sander (hope I didn't just commit a cardinal sin!) before finishing it on diamond plates.
    IMG_20210417_163314525.jpg

    A mate kindly offered me to use his Tormek, which made light work of the bevel - finished off with diamond plates and strop.
    IMG_20210417_163331203.jpg

    Loaded up ready to go! Flattening the workbench would be a good test since I didn't flatten its surface properly during the build a few months ago.
    IMG_20210417_155813662.jpg


    Managed to get shavings as the blade's quite sharp. However, I found it difficult to install the blade iron such that the cutting edge is parallel to the mouth. I tried tapping the iron biased to one side, followed by a light tap on the wedge, in order to get a full-width shaving. It took a while as I would repeatedly overshoot, causing the cutting edge to protrude too much from the mouth, and had to start all over again.

    After getting an acceptable setting (albeit still on the heavy side), I started planing the bench. At the end, it is still a fair bit from flat but much better than before. There is a discernible dip just in front of the vice as I overworked that area.

    IMG_20210417_162309835.jpg

    There are a few massive tear outs on reversing grain due to the heavy set. Fortunately it's only a workbench.
    IMG_20210417_162936800.jpg

    Quite pleased with its first effort. Here's the wabi sabi plane with another coat of BLO. I still need to learn and get used to it, but it will get plenty of use.

    IMG_20210417_164221223.jpg

    Cheers,
    Andy

  12. #11
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    Looks Good Andy.
    Laminated blades often had a significantly harder steel for the cutting edge and soft iron on the back for flexibility.
    I am not surprised that it was hard to lap.
    Should hold an edge very well
    Good on you
    Happy shavings
    Tom
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

  13. #12
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    Andy, it does take a bit of practice to set wedged blades accurately, but after a while you'll get the knack and it will become second nature. A good tip for when you "overshoot" is to tap the top of the toe with a mallet (many old planes have a strike-button on the toe for this purpose). It doesn't take much to retract the blade a couple of thou, just a sharp rap usually does the trick. I find it is much more sensitive to tap the toe than tapping the back of the plane.

    If your blade consistently goes from not cutting to too coarse no matter how carefully you tap, there are a couple of things to check. First make sure the sole is flat, that can be one cause of difficult setting, but a more likely cause is an uneven blade bed. I had this problem with the first infill I made, and it nearly drove me to distraction before I finally diagnosed the problem, which was that the middle of the bed was slightly convex.

    There are various ways to check that your blade & bed are mating nicely. The old timers coated the back of the blade with soot from an oil lamp, then rubbed it gently on the bed to show the high spots. This works beautifully, but we don't tend to work by oil lamp light nowadays (fortunately) but I'm told scented candles work well because of the oils they contain. I've used black felt pen or layout dye, which does the job but they don't rub off the blade as easily & the marks aren't very clear.

    Cheers,
    IW

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    If your blade consistently goes from not cutting to too coarse no matter how carefully you tap, there are a couple of things to check. First make sure the sole is flat, that can be one cause of difficult setting, but a more likely cause is an uneven blade bed.
    Cheers,
    You could be onto something there, Ian. The sole is relatively flat, but the culprit might well be the bed. Lots of black soot / grime build-up. Not sure if it is convex, but when I ran my fingers through it clearly felt uneven.
    IMG_20210418_142649653.jpg

    I tried scraping the surface lightly using a 1" chisel. The loose & flaky bits came off readily, however the majority was quite solid and well stuck to the wood. I was worried to accidentally dig into the wood and made it even worse, so I stopped (photo below). There is still a lot of build-up, especially in the mouth region. Should I be persisting with a chisel to get rid of 'em?
    IMG_20210418_143041648.jpg

    Cheers,
    Andy

  15. #14
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    Andy, that bed certainly warrants a cleaning, it could well be that it's that sticky gunk that's causing the erratic responses when setting. Can't tell what it is from the pic, but it's likely a combination of dust/dirt & over-enthusiastic applications of linseed oil in the past. If it were my problem, I'd start with a toothbrush dipped in some mineral turps. That may or may not shift it & if it doesn't, use a scraper of some sort, but be gentle, you only need to remove anything above the surface of the wood, stains won't worry anything.

    If you can get that sticky gunk off the bed, running a file over it very lightly should show any high & low spots quite clearly on the old wood surface. If it looks pretty close, I would leave it alone, it's too easy to make things worse if you aren't sure what you are doing (damhik!). You can always re-visit it down the track as your experience & confidence increase.

    There are differences of opinion as to how you treat a wooden bed, one much-touted method was to stop the mouth of a new plane with a gob of glazing putty, fill the whole escapement with linseed oil & let it stand for a few days to let the oil soak deep into the wood. That night have been done to your plane in the past, & there would be little point in repeating that on an old plane, I think. If you feel the bed needs some treatment, maybe just a light coat of a thin drying oil would be enough. Dunno - my experience with old woodies is very limited, so hopefully, someone who has some knowledge will guide you there...

    Cheers,
    IW

  16. #15
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    Re the wood cracks:

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy_B View Post
    The consensus is to do nothing, so I'll leave the cracks as they are and wipe 'em up with BLO.
    As you've oiled instead of gluing, I'd be inclined to grab a few tinted wax-sticks, find a colour to either blend in or highlight and fill the cracks with that.

    'Seals' the cracks from dust 'n grime, easily reapplied if needed and there's nothing quite like the feel of a well waxed piece.
    I may be weird, but I'm saving up to become eccentric.

    - Andy Mc

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