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Thread: Spiers Plane

  1. #1
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    Default Spiers Plane

    Bit of a bargain today, a 16 1/2" Spiers of Ayr rosewood infill plane.
    Rather scruffy and missing blade & cap iron but can't complain.

    spiers3.jpgspiers2.jpgspiers1.jpg

    So if anyone has a spare blade & cap iron I am in the market, or info on what type of blade/cap iron will fit.
    Mark
    What you say & what people hear are not always the same thing.
    http://www.remark.me.uk/

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  3. #2
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    Hi Mark
    I picked up a 16” Spiers early this year and have spent a bit of time tuning into a good user and it does take a bit of work.

    With your plane it looks like it dates from around 1920-30 They normally take a 2 1/2” iron and while no one seems to making new infill irons these days some old stock is still out there. Toolbazaar in the UK still have some new irons in O1 steel for £60 and there some Hock A2 iron still available in the US. An old iron and cap of the same date as the plane with the Spiers logo might cost more.

    Peter

  4. #3
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    Peter - The plane has cleaned up nicely, very little pitting under the surface rust on the sole & sides.
    Thanks for the info. I have emailed Toolbazaar to see what they have that might be suitable.
    Mark
    What you say & what people hear are not always the same thing.
    http://www.remark.me.uk/

  5. #4
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    Default Update on the Spiers

    Toolbazaar were very helpfull and provided a blade, not a Spiers(!) but a tapered one by F.Woodcock, Sheffield and a chip breaker, they fitted straight in, just needed a sharpen up.
    Now the owner of a Spiers plane I realise that I had not set up a plane without a screw adjuster since woodwork classes at Acton Technical College about 1958 .
    I thought a decent plane should have a decent setting up hammer so I made one - the head started out as a piece of 7/8" brass hex with bit of turning and some filing. The handle is made from of all things - a croquet mallet handle, amazing what you can find at the local Waste Recycling Centre Re-use shop! (The head and another bit of the handle went to make a mallet for my Grandson's toolkit)


    Mark
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    What you say & what people hear are not always the same thing.
    http://www.remark.me.uk/

  6. #5
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    You don't get off that easy. We need pictures of the plane in action.
    Regards
    John

  7. #6
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    Mark, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a tapered blade is wrong for your infill. I am surprised that Toolbazaar sold you one! Your Spier should use a parallel blade. The tapered blade is for a woodie. Contact them, discuss this, and exchange it for the correct blade.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  8. #7
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    That plane would have most likely originally had a parallel blade . Its known though that Spiers did put out infill planes with tapered blades in them , even in lever cap planes. I think its in some of his earlier ones though . They work .

    A decent Spiers jointer sold on Ebay here last week for $350 . Needed a tidy up . STEWART SPIERS SCOTLAND STRAIGHT SIDED JOINTER PLANE 1890'S ? | eBay

    Rob

  9. #8
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    Derek - Thanks for the info, I will keep a look out for a more 'proper' blade. The plane is a good user as is so I am quite happy with the wrong blade!


    Rob - Mine is a dead wringer for the ebay one, albeit 1/2" shorter. At the price it went for I certainly got a bargain at £45 including the blade & cap iron.


    John - Photo below, those shavings came off a piece of chestnut and measure 4 thou thick so it will do me
    Mark
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    What you say & what people hear are not always the same thing.
    http://www.remark.me.uk/

  10. #9
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    It is a great old plane and even with the tapered blade looks to be working fine. A proper blade will come along one day.
    Regards
    John

  11. #10
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    Mark, while a tapered blade isn't 'proper' for a lever-capped plane, it's obviously doing the job for you. I've had to use them on occasion, & the only problem I encountered was that it makes it difficult to put a fine set on the plane. The blade tends to jump forward more than you expect from a light tap, & if you picture the geometry in your mind's eye, it's easy to see why that happens.

    It's obvious that with a tapered blade the mouth gap will increase as the blade wears down (just as it does in a wedged plane), but the increase will be pretty gradual and not that much in the scheme of things. Given that blades are switched & replaced numerous times in the life of long-lived planes like yours, it's rare to find one that has a properly-sized blade that maintains the original fine mouth anyway. I can't see that it cause any damage to anything, and it's the sort of plane that you're likely to set once after sharpening, so if you can put up with the slight annoyance of being tricky to set, you can afford to wait until a 'proper' blade falls into your lap at a sensible price.

    Making blades is the one thing I have never taken seriously enough to develop even basic skills at. Forming a blade out of annealed O1 stock is the easy part, it's the heat-treating that has me stymied. I've made a few enquiries over the years, but commercial places either refused point-blank to handle a few blades, or quoted eye-watering prices. Hardening isn't the problem, it's controlling distortion & tempering to the right hardness that eludes me. I've made a few small blades, with variable results, but it's too hit & miss for me to tackle a large blade like you'd need for the Spiers.

    The other avenue is to get Mr. Hock to make a custom blade for you. Not cheap either, but you'd get a very good blade that would go very nicely with a high-end user like your Spiers. I had a quote for US$70 for a blade for one of my planes, but the postage to Oz that they quoted me more than doubled the price (), so I'm still considering that one. You're a bit closer to the eastern US, so maybe the freight would be a bit more acceptable in your case....

    Cheers,
    IW

  12. #11
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    Mark

    Sometimes you can find these at the right price, I bought this 13 1/2” Spiers on eBay in January and I was the only bidder and it cost less cash than yours. I still haven’t finished it but it’s coming along nicely. DF4933FF-CDF6-4558-B2EC-CEF9A38CBD29.jpg8DC8AB93-D6E2-4995-9FC3-B8EEC2A7255E.jpeg

    Peter

  13. #12
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    45 pounds, damn did you get a freaking bargain!
    Cheers,
    Clinton

    "Use your third eye" - Watson

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/clinton_findlay/

  14. #13
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    I found one on Sunday. I was around at a friend’s workshop loading the lathe I bought from him (he’s moving and can’t take most of his tools with him) and mentioned that I liked the plane when I saw it on a shelf. He asked if I wanted it. He mentioned a price and I told him that cleaned up and complete with a blade it was worth twenty times that. He was happy to take R100 (about AUD10) so I brought it home. I suspect the blade will cost me a lot more, but luckily I’m in no hurry.

    This one is 14 1/2” long, and has a chip off the handle but otherwise should clean up.

    Edit: The bigger issue seems to be that it’s designed to plane ceilings. I can’t see how to flip the images on my phone, sorry.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Colin62 View Post
    He was happy to take R100 (about AUD10) so I brought it home. I suspect the blade will cost me a lot more, but luckily I’m in no hurry.



    Edit: The bigger issue seems to be that it’s designed to plane ceilings. I can’t see how to flip the images on my phone, sorry.
    Colin

    A very good purchase by any stretch of the imagination. We might see a few green eyed monsters surface as a result.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  16. #15
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    Gee Colin, I'd find something a bit lighter to plane ceilings with!

    I think you've won the bargain competition - until someone chimes in with a freebie....

    I'm amazed these old things keep popping up, and even more amazed that many look to be in pretty good nick despite their age and some pretty severe neglect in some cases. Rosewood has to be about the best infill wood there is (or was!), it stands up to abuse & neglect better than any other wood I know. There are plenty of woods that are dense & tough & take a lovely finish & make good stuffing, but the stability of Rosewood beats all, in my experience.

    I picked up this old Rosewood plough many years ago - 'twasn't as much of a bargain as your Spiers at $20.
    pic2.jpg pic1.jpg

    I described the rescue here, which did entail quite a bit of effort. At the time, I couldn't get my hands on the right-sized bits of Rosewood to make new nuts for the fence rods, but had some Boxwood, so I made 'temporary' nuts from that. That was more than 30 years ago, & I still haven't found the right bit of Rosewood to complete the job - maybe someday!

    Anyway, the point I wanted to make was the wood of the body & the remaining bits of the fence responded incredibly well to a good soaking with watered-down linseed. Not only did it restore the colour, I have to look very carefully to see any evidence of the end-grain checks it had when I first got it, they closed up &have remained closed. Mind you, it now lives in a cupboard and gets a good annual waxing (about every 4 years ), so its life is a bit easier that it has been in the past.

    So now you've got a couple of jobs to keep you off the streets for a while......

    Cheers,
    IW

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