Thread: Wooden Plane

Hi Twisted Tenon,
I have several of these type of wood planes, all of which were purchased on eBay. I'm an expat Aussie living in London UK & so most of mine are of Oak. I've enlarged the pics. you posted & the grain on the sole plate is very Oak-like. I think your idea of just liberal oiling will do the trick (swell the grain-hey presto-cracks disappear) I think that by the dark patchy look of the finish the rest of the plane body & blade wedge have been coated with old fashioned varnish which if you want to remove/restore will melt if rubbed with spirit solvent soaked steel wool. Finally the name on the side of the plane body would be (in my experience) the owner/builder of the plane. I worked with a very old (well past retirement age) carpenter from Gymea in Sydney when I was an apprentice in the early 1960's & he had his name stamped on the side of all his wooden tools some of which he had made himself which apparently wasn't uncommon before the advent of mass produced steel tools.
All of which is just my humble opinion. Hope it helps a bit.
Paul

Do not fill the cracks with anything. General expansion and contraction of timber makes the filler act as a wedge. Just use linseed oil, which type is up to you. The cracks aren't bad, you could probably get away with a good coat off boiled linseed oil on a warm day......I start out with raw linseed oil, it's amazing how much an old plane can soak up.

How's the back of the blade?

That's almost definitely the owners mark on the side of the plane as most makers marks are stamped lightly into the front end of a wooden plane.

Nice looking plane.

I agree with seanz on this plane. It actually looks to be in quite good condition.
Get all the gunk out of the recesses and give it a clean. I have found a turps-ey rag works well without destroying the patina. The back of the wedge will need something more vigorous - scraping with a chisel and steel wool with turps should work there - there's no patina there to worry about.
Like seanz I have used linseed oil, but I don't like the raw as much as the boiled Linseed Oil (BLO), as the raw LO tends to not want to dry. Anyhoo I prefer BLO.
I think your plane might be beech - it was commonly used for planes like this. With a slight camber on a sharpened blade this plane will sing.
Cheers
SG

Thanks for your replies guys

I have managed to clean up the blades enough to see a brand name. It's a Matherson & Sons blade.

Attachment 180395

The chip breaker has what appears to be a brass nut attached to it.

Attachment 180394

The blade is fairdinkum as smooth as a baby's bum.
It has no marks at all and looks like it has never been used.
Attachment 180396Attachment 180397

I think the reason for this is that there was a reaction caused by the brass nut and the steel that sealed the bottom of the plane off from the air. I am not a metallurgist and don't know the correct term for this. The clue for me was that the blade and the wedge had a white coating around the edge. You can see what I mean in this pic with the white line at the mouth at the base.

Attachment 180391

There is a JC stamped on each end of the plane. So is it the owners name or the brand name? Is this hand made or a production model?

Attachment 180392Attachment 180393

Do you think that I should clean off all the old varnishand, if so what should I replace it with?

Originally Posted by Twisted Tenon

There is a JC stamped on each end of the plane. So is it the owners name or the brand name? Is this hand made or a production model?

Most likely an owner's mark. It isn't unusual to find more than one owner's marks on old woodies.
Mathieson and others made a lot of planes like this one and there would have been production tooling to turn them out. There may have been some hand finishing of course. Peter McBride would be able to give a definitive answer.

Do you think that I should clean off all the old varnish and, if so what should I replace it with?

Unless you really want to I would leave it as it is after a clean up. One thing about old tools that can't be replaced is their aged appearance - and the accumulated patina that gives them their aged appearance. It is a constant reminder of the fact that other hands have used this tool and you are connected to those craftsmen's heritage every time you pick it up. Other than a clean to get the gunk off, I would not take it any further. It won't look as good either in my opinion.

Good news on the blade - you should have it singing in no time.
Cheers
SG

Thanks for all the replies.
I'll post a few pics of the finished product next week.

TT

Hi again TT,

As I said in my first reply I'm sure the name stamp & also the initial stamps are the owners name. I've owned & do still own several of these types of planes & whilst I'm no expert on wood planes, it was common practice for tradesmen to stamp their names & initials on wood tools. Whether this is handmade or a production item will only be established when you clean up the plane body as a manufacturers logo may or may not, be revealed.

As I also stated in my first reply a pad of steel wool soaked in turpentine will melt & spread the varnish but not remove it so the aged patina of the wood will not be lost. I like to use artists gum turpentine (distilled from wood gum) rather than mineral turpentine to do this as gum turps is a wood based product (like-to-like). Its a bit toxic so wear rubber (washing up) gloves & a paper (doctors) mask.

You could also rub the linseed oil into the the sole with a steel wool pad or 1200 grade wet & dry paper which will as discussed fix the small cracks problem & give the sole a fantastic smooth finish.

Cheers,
Paul

Thanks Paul. I'll take this on board.

SG, thanks for the tip re Peter McBride fascinating reading.

I am looking forward to getting this going