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113

The place to talk about tools 'without tails', so come here with all your plane and chisel, burnisher and bradawl chatter.

Re: 113

Postby Alf » 24 May 2021, 10:52

Bear in mind, Andy, Mike hasn't actually tried to use one yet. His opinion of their essential qualities may depend on whether that goes well or not. ;)

It'll also do outside curves too - so doubly desirable...
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Re: 113

Postby Mike G » 24 May 2021, 11:52

Alf wrote:Bear in mind, Andy, Mike hasn't actually tried to use one yet.....


Well, not in anger, anyway. But I have picked one up and planed some scrap in a friend's temporary boatshed. There was a slight weirdness to it, but it worked nicely.
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Re: 113

Postby Argus » 24 May 2021, 12:45

Some 20-odd years ago I began making rocking chairs....... basically Windsor-type construction with a pair of curved rockers on the legs.

They sold very well despite the extravagance of cutting the curved rocker sections out of a solid piece. At that time I obtained a record No 020. I think that it was a refugee from a closed down school or college, judging by the prominent initials inscribed on the body.

So, I'd rough out the rockers on a band saw, glue them together in twos or fours with newspaper glue-webbing between each and the idea was to refine the shape both inside and outside with the Compass plane, removing the saw marks and refining the sides to the next stage which, after knocking the glue-paper joint apart, was the shaping and free-hand spoke-shaving.

That was the idea, anyway.

I must fess-up to spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get the thing to work..... down each side to the centre point of the curve, traveling with the grain. Ignoring the fact that the plane likes a circular shape if it has a choice, my rockers were a sort of free-hand ellipse. As for the occasional bit of wild grain..... the plane always threw a wobbly and dug in.

Anyway, I gave up and went to it with a home-made roughing contraption, half scraper, half spoke-shave.
The Record No: 020 sat on the shelf for many years until it was joined by another, almost identical which was given to me as a shed-rescue-clear-out, with the words,
"you do a bit of carpentry, don't you? Can you find a use for this? It's very valuable!"

I seldom make many rockers any more, but fast forward a bit, (about 10 years ago) and I acquired a Stanley No: 82 Scraper - basically because the owner had no use for it - not as a scraper, anyway.

Stanley 82 Scraper. This is probably the most brilliant bit of kit that Stanley never sold in the UK, in my opinion.

Rare as Rocking-Horse poo, over here but plentiful over there. It is capable of attacking all sorts of concave and convex curves regardless of shape changes if you're prepared to experiment with a couple of spare No: 80 scraper blades and varying degrees of set. In short, it will do everything that a compass plane will do with far less gambling involved, because, good as the Record No: 020 is.... I couldn't get on with it.

.
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Re: 113

Postby sunnybob » 25 May 2021, 12:05

Woodbloke wrote:
sunnybob wrote:I've just had to google that.... wow!. I never saw a convex / concave plane before. That kind of thing could tempt me. :eusa-clap: 8-)

Don’t waste your ‘hard earned’ SB; I have one sitting under the bench and haven’t used it in nearly two decades - Rob


Wait, you think I might USE a plane? :shock: :lol: :lol:
Thats pretty, that is. 8-)
my wood projects are here https://pbase.com/sunnybob
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Re: 113

Postby Dr.Al » 11 Nov 2021, 13:33

Mike G wrote:
Dr.Al wrote:I met up with my parents today for the first time in 9 months and they gave me a very lovely belated birthday present.

IMG_20210522_164845 - Copy.jpg


IMG_20210522_164851 - Copy.jpg


IMG_20210522_164856 - Copy.jpg


I have no idea what I'm going to use a compass plane for, but I'm looking forward to coming up with some ideas!


If you ever want to sell that Dr Al, I have a boat-building project on my horizon. A compass plane is an absolute necessity for that.


Mike: I just saw this and thought of you: https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/re ... st-1523903
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Re: 113

Postby Bod1 » 11 Nov 2021, 21:24

Re: 113

Postby Andy Kev. » 24 May 2021, 08:32
Out of curiosity, what tasks in building a boat specifically demand a compass plane?


Whilst fitting a new galley(kitchen) on my boat a Stanley 20 was very useful for fitting to the curved roof.
It's one of those tools that has very little use, till you need one, then it's the bees knees.

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Re: 113

Postby Steve Maskery » 11 Nov 2021, 23:46

I had a compass plane that was either my dad's or my granddad's, I can't remember which. It got nicked, but my friend Dave gave me his grandfather's tool chest. Dave had saved a few wooden planes as ornaments, but in this battered old tool chest was, amongst a load of unuseable junk, a compass plane. Really nice condition, too.
It does get used. Not on every project, obviously, but I'm woring on a set of dining chairs and it has already had a couple of outings.
Chair legs, bed headboards, table rails and aprons. Useful for all sorts of pieces.
The biggest problem with them as far as I can see is thay are really, really uncomfortable to use for any length of time. More than once have I ended up with the start of a blister in the crotch (of my thumb).
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