Thread: One "Restored" Plane

The abutment was replaced and glued in place.
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The blade was cleaned up a little and sharpened. Incidentally the blade is 2 1/2" wide.

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The handle is slightly loose but appears to be held in place by a nail. I would like to remove the handle but I can't see a way of getting to the nail as it is sunk below the surface of the wood and no easy access.

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I did not get the cap iron right (I have trouble with cap irons) so i backed it right off about 10mm this was the result. Needs more work but passable (but only just).

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Regards
Paul

Well saved Paul.

Cheers Matt.

I like it Paul. I am a little disappointed that you didn't use some Bull/Hairy Oak for the infill . Seriously now I think hot water can melt hide glue which is probably also holding the handle in.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

I like it Paul. I am a little disappointed that you didn't use some Bull/Hairy Oak for the infill . Seriously now I think hot water can melt hide glue which is probably also holding the handle in.

MA

I didn't explain the issue fully. The handle is loose in the slot in that I can move it a couple of mm. However the handle is captivated and I think it slides into a cavity towards the rear. The nail, at least I think it is a nail, appears to prevent the handle being removed. Not being fully conversant on how this works with wooden planes I am reluctant, without further information, to force it too much. Any glue that was once holding the handle has long since given up the ghost.

Regards
Paul

Gee Paul, you deserve plaudits for even attempting to raise that old wreck, let alone succeeding!

I think it'll always be a plane for rough work, alright, but since it has family connections and obviously served its master(s) long & faithfully you can hardly chuck it out. It must have had its sole cleaned up many times to get a gob like it had when you started!

I wonder why the body cracked so severely? It looks to be a perfectly quartered piece of Beech, which usually lasts a century or two. Did it get soaked in a flood somewhere & dried out too quickly, perhaps?? That could also explain the loose handle, though many do loosen, to judge by the number I've seen sporting screws & nails.

Shame about the nail in the tote, the only way out I can think of would be to chisel a chip out around the nail 'til you can get hold of it with some sharp-nosed pliers & extract it. Then patch the hole with some matching wood, or inlay another strip of brass to match your mouth strip? You could possibly punch the nail right through the handle piece, but that might be too brutal. The strip of wood set into the stock is usually quite thick, somewhere between 1/2 & 3/4" thick on the jack planes I've had handles off.

A less sympathetic 'fix' would be to mix up a batch of Araldyte & carefully drizzle it down the sides. If you could get a disposable syringe and a 20G needle, you could get it in with minimal mess. Warming the mixed glue with a hair-dryer turns it to a water-like consistency, a trick I often use to get the stuff deep into a crack. Of course, if the glue doesn't stick to both surfaces and lets go, you've then got a worse mess to clean up...

Or an even more severe 'fix' would be to get the handle out by whatever means is necessary & if it gets badly damaged in the process, replace it. I've got a couple of totes off old woodies to which you'd be very welcome, but it would be a sheer fluke if the bases matched. No problem if the base on the ones I have is a bit bigger, of course, I'm sure you could deal with that.

A loose handle doesn't prevent you using the plane , but I find few things as annoying as a loose plane tote or saw handle!

Cheers,

Thanks Ian

I am being a little lazy in that it is not a quick fix. I wanted to be able to remove the handle, pack it with epoxy to take up the gaps and continue on. If I get really keen I might dig around that nail, if indeed it is a nail, and try to get enough metal exposed to grab it with some vice grips.

A few years ago I planed off the bottom of the sole because the mouth was already wide. Of course that also increased the mouth. I don't know why the Beech, which you have correctly identified (did the poms use anything else?), has cracked so badly. All I can say is that for the moment it is holding together.

Do you have any tips on how to get the cap iron to fit perfectly so it does not clog up? The way I have the plane set up for the moment is as if it was only a single iron. That has just reminded me that the pressure of the cap is such that the blade (tapered) has bent slightly.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

....
Do you have any tips on how to get the cap iron to fit perfectly so it does not clog up? The way I have the plane set up for the moment is as if it was only a single iron. That has just reminded me that the pressure of the cap is such that the blade (tapered) has bent slightly.....

Paul, those oldies typically have very heavy, one-bend cap irons, but the blades are so thick they don't usually cause much flexing of the blade when tightened down. I guess it's happening because you have it set so far back. I assume it is the right blade & cap-iron for this plane?

I don't have any easy way of fettling those thick old irons - just file it nice & smooth & straight across the end, then get the mating surface flat. If it's really rough, as some can be, I carefully file it as straight as I can, then use my very-coarse & coarse diamond stones to get it dead flat by wiping it from L to R, slowly & carefully, hoding he upper end down so it puts a goodly amount of relief behind the contacting edge. You need the relief because the end flattens out a bit when you tighten the screw and you want that ldeding edge to remain firmly contacting the blade, with not even a hint of a gap.

With old & battered blades & cap-irons it can sometimes take me several goes and a few well-chosen expletives to get them mating properly!
Just persevere, you'll get it right eventually...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

You need the relief because the end flattens out a bit when you tighten the screw and you want that ldeding edge to remain firmly contacting the blade, with not even a hint of a gap.

With old & battered blades & cap-irons it can sometimes take me several goes and a few well-chosen expletives to get them mating properly!
Just persevere, you'll get it right eventually...

Cheers,

The flattening out sort of makes sense to me. Armed with that knowledge and having saved up several days worth of expletives (easier said than done) I am prepared to give it a blast in the vernacular. However I have to clean up the bench first. I nearly posted the pic below on Matt's "what's on the bench" thread but somehow it fits in here too and was a little supercilious for Matt's sensible thread.

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Regards
Paul

Man, you need a cleaning lady (or bloke)!....


Actually, my bench isn't a whole lot better atm. Been working on 3 things at once, but just scuttled inside 'cos there's this dirty big storm coming, and I'm not happy being in the shed if there's high winds - got two dead pine trees that are likely to drop some good-sized branches if it really blows....

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

The flattening out sort of makes sense to me. Armed with that knowledge and having saved up several days worth of expletives (easier said than done) I am prepared to give it a blast in the vernacular. However I have to clean up the bench first. I nearly posted the pic below on Matt's "what's on the bench" thread but somehow it fits in here too and was a little supercilious for Matt's sensible thread.

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Regards
Paul

Shame is all I can think of.
Some would say shame for leaving some of the bench exposed.
Some would say shame for well other reasons.
But Paul, if that’s your man space you enjoy it how ever you see fit.

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by IanW

Man, you need a cleaning lady (or bloke)!....


Actually, my bench isn't a whole lot better atm. Been working on 3 things at once, but just scuttled inside 'cos there's this dirty big storm coming, and I'm not happy being in the shed if there's high winds - got two dead pine trees that are likely to drop some good-sized branches if it really blows....

I wish you had told me I could have a cleaning lady a little bit earlier! I wouldn't have bothered with this:

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Our storm went through a little while back just after I had cleared the bench. It left it's mark as they nearly always do. We have now had over the last ten days 62mm, which is probably more than we had had this year so far.

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Not sure if you can see the puddle on the dirt floor .

On the subject of dead pine trees, Leanne had been on at me to "deal with" a couple of dead pine trees. Well I did deal with one of them: After the first one fell over in a storm and demolished our lawn locker! What I am pointing to here is I am wondering just how philosophical you could be if those rather nice planes and a whole multitude of other handcrafted tools got crunched up by one errant pine tree?

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

...... What I am pointing to here is I am wondering just how philosophical you could be if those rather nice planes and a whole multitude of other handcrafted tools got crunched up by one errant pine tree? ......

I would require intense counselling for several years, liberally supplied with good red wines in between sessions, and I don't think I could ever venture back into my (crushed) shed again without causing a relapse......

Yeah, procrastination has a way of biting us on the nether regions alright. Judging by the other pine trees that have expired since we came to live here, I've got at least 3 years before they start serious limb shedding, so I would hope to have them down & dealt with before then. But with 13 trees, all over 350mm dbh, and several that are more than twice that, I do feel a bit overwhelmed by the task. Twenty years ago, I would've relished it, but the old body is not as keen on hard yakka as it once was...

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Shame is all I can think of.
Some would say shame for leaving some of the bench exposed.
Some would say shame for well other reasons.
But Paul, if that’s your man space you enjoy it how ever you see fit.

Cheers Matt.

All sorted Matt.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

All sorted Matt.

Regards
Paul

That is just inspirational Paul!

I hope you two are ok with the weather?

Cheers Matt.