Thread: What Moulding Plane Have I Bought?

Hi Doris

it looks like you have plane where the blade has been modified to just cut twin grooves

An ogee profile looks like this, but you really need to know what size ogee your other half needs/wants/would like because depending on where the moulding will be used, the curve radius can vary from 1/16 inch up to about 1-1/2 in

Someone modified the iron to round over corners, you can reshape it to match the plane if there's enough iron left.

The reverse/reverse camera in my eye isn't working well today, but it does look like the plane sole is the right shape. However, the blade certainly isn't an ogee profile. It has either been deliberately changed for some reason known only to the changer, has been lifted from another plane, or quite likely, is an amateurish attempt at sharpening the original blade of this plane.

As Ian says, ogee profiles come in a large range of sizes and also vary depending on whether it's a 'Greek' or 'Roman' ogee. Sharpening even a well-shaped blade for one of these requires much care and quite a bit of practice, so if your lesser half is not skilled at that sort of thing, it won't be easy for him to bring this old girl back to life. If he is a skilled plane user and into reproductions, or repairs on antiques that demand the 'proper' hand tools, of course, moulding planes are the way to go (though they are more a house-wright's tool than a cabinetmaker's).

If you only need short runs of mouldings, scratch-stocks can be a very good alternative. These things are exceedingly simple to make and will cut mouldings in the right woods amazingly quickly, & even more quickly if you can get rid of much of the waste with a few judicious saw cuts. Much depends on your needs, of course - if learning to use hand tools exclusively is your goal, then there's only one way to acquire the necessary skills. I love hand tools (why else am I here? ) but if you are more desirous of completing some specific project, it may be a lot easier (& possibly cheaper) to buy the bits that give you the profiles you need, & stick 'em in one of those screaming, electron-burning banshee things, sometimes referred to as a 'router'.

Yeah, I know, heresy - this is the hand-tools forum! ....
Cheers,

Doris,
The type of plane you have looks to be an ovolo type used in window making and also cabinet work, that one looks more like the window type though. Im more into the cabinet type of plane and dont go researching much about any plane that is not a cabinet makers so I may not be 100% right on that info. Your plane looks to have the right sort of blade shape but the wrong size for the plane maybe .

What sort of woodwork is your other half into ? furniture or working on houses ?

Here are some UK eBay links to ogee's

18th century ogee 1" moulding plane | eBay

Good 5/8" ogee moulding plane by Clarke, Exeter | eBay

These are the type you can see used on traditional cabinet work from 17th century furniture to 1840s work and later

These Grecian ogee and reverse ogee types are the sort you see more in house door mouldings, not so much on cabinet work as architectural work as a general way of looking at it. IMHO.

Huge Grecian ogee moulding plane by Alex Mathieson, for restoration. | eBay

This picture may help as well .



Rob