Thread: Snipes Bill plane

Looks a bit warped… might be a bigger job than you would want!

If it’s original and untouched then yes it will be stuck on with hide glue. That’s good because gentle heat and moisture will unstick it. If you have a hooded barbecue you can use it as a steam bath.

Once the boxing is off the glue residue can be wiped or scraped off. I don’t know how you’ll be able to straighten up that piece of boxwood; maybe it’ll be amicable to steam bending? Otherwise you may have to consider planing it (and the mating surface of the body) flat before glueing it back together; then carefully re-profiling the whole thing.

Hi CT. I'm happy to give it a go. There is movement in the boxwood (I can push it back into the rebate). I will also use this as reference for making its pair.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

What is the best way to go about it?

For those who are interested, the planemaker was MOON (St Martin's Lane) who, according to my brief search online, manufactured from 1790's to 1830.

The best way to go about it .
Your dealing with a bit of boxwood that was fitted then the whole profile including the boxwood would have been planed Id say . Ive inspected a few and the Boxwood is to perfectly in line with the rest of the shaping to be made and fitted separately.
That means you have to take it off and get it straight again and not removing any wood to re fit it . Id be trying to keep the heat local to where you need it and not heating the whole plane . A hot iron and a spray bottle of water , or rag and water just over and along the Boxwood. I have electric irons but normally use the old cast iron irons of which I have a few for this sort of work . Heated on a hot plate . They get real hot and there's no worry about all the water and electricity thing . Once its off Steam or heat or put it in a pot of water and then clamp in a form to let it dry out. A channel routed into a piece of wood, just the right size so a number of dry pieces of news paper can surround the wet piece . They can be changed out every few hours at first and will absorb moisture. Then change them once a day, finally leave it a week in a sunny window . After all that re fit it using hide glue , If the body is straight that is . If the body is bent then forget it . Buy or make a good pair .

And yeah , if with a bit of heat and moisture if you can get it to go back without taking it out then do that for a fast fix .

Thanks Rob. I'm hoping to save it all so I will start with the least invasive method. The boxwood profile is still sharp and the plane is in pretty good shape. I will have to trim the wedge. What locally available timbers would be a good replacement for boxwood?

Nice find MA. I had never seen a plane by MOON (St Martin's Lane) until a few years ago when I found a fillester plane made by them. I'll put some pics up tomorrow - too bloody cold to go back to the shed now!

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

What locally available timbers would be a good replacement for boxwood?

You can buy Boxwood from the UK . Not sure how much it would be . I saw a website somewhere . I Didn't keep the details .


There's a local coastal scrub tree around here and I dont know the name but its a dense close grained hard light looking wood in colour like Boxwood .

And I'm told there is a native Boxwood around here as well but don't know if this is it . A local asked me if Id seen the Boxwood .

This stuff looks similar but has medullary rays like Beech has on the 1/4 sawn side.

Face cut and it looks like this piece I used on the lever and other bit on a tapered leg jig I made.

IMG_3489 (2).JPG

Its from small trees though, 4 to 6 inch diameter mostly.
I don't know of anything else from the timber yards that's like this.

I turned a carving mallet out of what I refer to as paperbark (probably some sort of Melaleuca) that sounds similar. Useless as a mallet (too lightweight) but tight grain. Unfortunately the rest got used for firewood........oh the timbers I wish I had saved, knowing what I know now.

My “Moon” plane as promised.
I remember when I did a search I found that the maker was a woman, which I thought would have been unusual at that time, but I then learned that she took over the business from another female tool maker.

moon1.jpgmoon2.jpgmoon3.jpg

Hi P. I couldn't see your photos. Has anyone else been able to?

On another note, I have had some success (and a slight mishap)

20210724_214930.jpg

Boxwood out. Both pieces were loose and the front came out first and somewhat unexpectedly. And it hit the rear piece, breaking off the tip. Should be an easy fix.

Assuming I scrape off all the hide glue I will use PVA to reattach in the morning

hide glue is a better option IMHO

I’ll agree with Pac man, the timber will have hide glue residue in the fibres that may impede the absorption of PVA. Plus your plane is around 200 years old but still going; what if it needs the same TLC around 2300 and the owner begins cursing the 21st century primitive who used PVA?

The bent piece is certainly going to be the challenge.

Hide glue hey. Hard to get during lockdown, bother. Your plane looks great P, I can now see the photos.

you're correct you can't get hide glue today but you could get it on line from
Carolls woodcraft supplies
Carbatec
Timbecon
Chris Vesper
Amazon

I think how this would go for me if I used the PVA is that if I buggered it up it would be a PITA where as if I used the hide I could redo it.