Thread: Refurbished Transitional Stanley plane

Re-soled using maple - considering the ritual burning of transitional planes in the States, shouldn't he have used ash

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by Vann

Re-soled using maple - considering the ritual burning of transitional planes in the States, shouldn't he have used ash

Cheers, Vann.

Actually, I was a bit surprised at the choice. Beech, which is most likely what the original was, would seem more obvious, or Hornbeam, if you wanted to 'improve' on that & stay traditional. I wonder why (hard) Maple was not used for plane making? Of the local woods available to the average Nth American resident, Maple is probably the easiest to get, and amongst their hardest woods, so it would seem like an obvious choice, but it seems it was rarely, if ever used. Is it because it's not a very stable wood? Can any of our cousins across the water enlighten me?
(Just curious... ).
Cheers,

Economics? if cabinet-makers paid $ for maple, and beech was cheaper ... ?

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Economics? if cabinet-makers paid $ for maple, and beech was cheaper ... ?

At least in the area where I was living (Ontario) Paul, Maple was more abundant than Beech. Hard Maple was the preferred firewood. I reckon the reason has nothing to do with economics, though I have been wrong before, once or twice....

Cheers,