113

[Dr.Al]

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







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!

 

[sunnybob]

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:

 

[NickM]

Lovely.

Funnily enough, I bought a Stanley no 20 online this week (not received yet). I think it's the poor man's version of yours but hopefully it will be a nice addition to the tool armoury.

I've also just gambled on buying some auger bits on eBay. I think there are around 25 bits for £32 so I'm hoping I can't go too far wrong (well no more than £32 anyway!).

 

[Mike G]

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

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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.

 

[droogs]

You have a nice mum and dad. Will they adobpt me?

 

[AndyP]

So why do you think it is called a compass plane? I know what it was used for and it wasn't making compasses.

Nice gift BTW.

 

[Alf]

Ooo, now there are parents to hang on to. Very high scoring in gizmocity factor. Mind you, those things can be a bugger to use. I have one with a repaired back handle, which iirc is a bit of a weak point. i.e. Don't go charging it into a knot at full tilt unless you fancy some potential welding in your future.

 

[heimlaga]

Time for some wooden boatbuilding it seems.

The only times I have needed mine has been when repairing boats.

 

[novocaine]

I always thought they were for making wheels.
Anyone else see a pair of norfolks blokes feet when they look at those radius markers?

 

[Woodbloke]

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:

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

 

[AndyT]

So why do you think it is called a compass plane? I know what it was used for and it wasn't making compasses.

Nice gift BTW.

I'm pretty sure that "compassed work" was a general term for anything with a curve. It would have applied to windows or doors with arched heads, for example. A compass plane was used on a compassed work.

 

[Mike G]

Let's give a long-winded response to that. Whenever I set off to do something major, I do all the mental planning etc, and then announce it to all and sundry. "I'm going to drive the length of Africa". "I'm going to build my own house". That sort of thing. It turns something from being just another wishy-washy thought into a firm plan. A commitment. So, when I say I am going to build a boat, I am making myself a hostage to fortune, and I will end up building a boat. (Don't worry, there are lots of other things to build before that). So, I am going to build a boat.

Therefore, I don't have enough tools. Amongst the tools I need to acquire in the interim are a load more clamps, a decent bandsaw,......and a compass plane.

 

[AndyP]

So why do you think it is called a compass plane? I know what it was used for and it wasn't making compasses.

Nice gift BTW.

I'm pretty sure that "compassed work" was a general term for anything with a curve. It would have applied to windows or doors with arched heads, for example. A compass plane was used on a compassed work.

Maybe I should’ve googled the definition of compass

verbARCHAIC
1.
go round (something) in a circular course.
"the ship wherein Magellan compassed the world"

 

[Pete Maddex]

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

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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 have 2 No20 one with a repair to the frame which is sound but obviously will be cheaper than a perfect one, let me know if you are interested and I will post you some pictures of the repair.

Pete

 

[Mike G]

Love to see some photos. Thanks Pete. Could you put something in them to give a sense of scale?

 

[novocaine]

Love to see some photos. Thanks Pete. Could you put something in them to give a sense of scale?

Oh you dirty bugger.

 

[Pete Maddex]

Love to see some photos. Thanks Pete. Could you put something in them to give a sense of scale?

Pm sent.

Pete

 

[NickM]

Therefore, I don't have enough tools. Amongst the tools I need to acquire in the interim are a load more clamps, a decent bandsaw,......and a compass plane.

By decent bandsaw, I assume you mean an enormous tilting ship saw...

It would be a wonderful thing to build. I enjoyed Tally Ho yesterday. That hull is a true work of art.

 

[Mike G]

......By decent bandsaw, I assume you mean an enormous tilting ship saw.......

:lol: :lol: If I was planning a 50' boat with sawn frames, then maybe. Probably a bit OTT for an 18 to 20 footer.

 

[AndyP]

Everyone is “gonna need a bigger boat” sooner or later.

 

[Andy Kev.]

Out of curiosity, what tasks in building a boat specifically demand a compass plane?

 

[AndyT]

Out of curiosity, what tasks in building a boat specifically demand a compass plane?

...and bearing in mind that, as far as I remember, it's one tool Leo hasn't used?

 

[Mike G]

I've seen him use one. I can't remember where, but I assume it was on the inside curve of a sawn frame. I'm pretty sure I also saw either him or the Acron to Arabella mob use and electric compass plane.

 

[Mike G]

Out of curiosity, what tasks in building a boat specifically demand a compass plane?

Smoothing or fairing the inside of any curved timber.

 

[AndyT]

Fair enough, Mike. And I'm the last person to argue that you must need a tool before you own it...

 

[Alf]

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...

 

[Mike G]

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.

 

[Argus]

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.

.

 

[sunnybob]

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:

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.

 

[Dr.Al]

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

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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

 

[Bod1]

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.

Bod1

 

[Steve Maskery]

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).
S