Woodie Plane Re-furb

[Woodbloke]

Andy P came over for the afternoon last week and brought me a fairly decent old wooden try plane:



...which he wasn't going to use and did I want it? It's in pretty good nick and hasn't been beaten to death with a big hammer, as is the usual case with many of these old woodies, though I've replaced the blade as the original was the only thing that had taken some damage. Interestingly, on the front is stamped 'M Greenslade, Bristol' and underneath is another stamp saying 'Exhibition Medals, London, Dublin, Paris, Melbourne'. Maybe Andy T could shed some light? Unfortunately there's no stamp that says 'New York, Paris & Peckam'

I'll go through step by step process to show how these woodies can be brought back to life as a very useful 'user' in the 'shop - Rob

 

[AndyT]

If you've got the full set of Exhibition medals recorded, the plane was probably made after 1889. The different editions of British Planemakers differ a bit on the dates, but combining what the books, encyclopedias and marks on the planes say, London was 1862, Dublin 1865, Melbourne 1880 and Paris 1889.

It's good to see more online content about how good these old tryplanes can be.

 

[Woodbloke]

If you've got the full set of Exhibition medals recorded, the plane was probably made after 1889. The different editions of British Planemakers differ a bit on the dates, but combining what the books, encyclopedias and marks on the planes say, London was 1862, Dublin 1865, Melbourne 1880 and Paris 1889.
It's good to see more online content about how good these old tryplanes can be.

Thanks Andy, it appears then that this example could have been made before 1900 in which case, considering the virtual lack of any wear and tear, it's in pristine condition - Rob

 

[Woodbloke]

The big clean up began today on this old woodie try plane. Various chemicals were used to soften:



...and remove most of nearly 150 years worth of gunk and grime, which is an extremely 'icky' process but once washed off:



...it looked a little better and then it was into the kitchen for a scrub with a kitchen scourer and hot water:



...to remove the rest of the grime. There's a small split in the wedge that needs some attention but apart from that it needs sanding lightly and then polishing. The sole will be treated separately as over the years, the plane had warped and never been trued, so timber was being removed at the heel and toe but nowhere in the middle, so it probably won't need re-mouthing - Rob

 

[Woodbloke]

Today's effort on the try plane was to plane the bottom to make it flat and true. With the iron tapped in lightly, below the surface by 2mm, a straight edge indicated that it was concave, with a thin piece of card being able to be inserted just in front of the mouth:



A few shavings with a metal LA try showed clearly where the high spots were:


...and after a few more it was flat:



...so I then dropped it onto the ci router table to check it was true and not twisted:



It's now had it's first coat of Rubio Monocoat which needs to dry and harden for 48 hrs and after the second coat it'll have a couple of Odie's Oil, followed by some wax. The last job to do is to attend to fettling and tuning the cap iron/plane iron combination followed by regrinding and honing the blade - Rob

Edit - the old air dried beech was a complete revelation to plane: I suspect it may have been full of cured Linseed Oil!

 

[Woodbloke]

Beware chaps, the following contains images of the unmentionable, so look away now if you start to feel ill....

Today I have been mostly sorting out the cap iron (remembered in time MikeG) and the cutter. Having filed the cap iron square and to the correct width, the uppermost curved section at the sharp end was refined and polished with a bit of 240g emery paper. The underside that bears against the blade needs to be made into an air and water tight fit so my method (pinched unashamedly from St. David of Charlesworth) is shown in the pic:



A bastard file is clamped (not shown) to a board and the cap iron is run up and down it for ten minutes to produce a 'flat' on the underside. The file is then replaced with a diamond stone and repeated, adjusting the height of the cap iron with shims as required until a reasonably polished flat is obtained (arrowed):



The uppermost curved section is now honed on a 1000g waterstone at about 40deg:



...until a sharp edge is achieved, complete with a burr:



This is (according to St. Dave) taken off with a single swipe of a fine diamond stone. The replacement cutter itself was badly out of square:



...so was re-ground on my Ax 'Ultimate Edge' with a 60g belt; a very short but hair raising process as very light touch is needed and frequent blade dippings in a pot of water. Having successfully (at the second attempt) ground the blade square, it was back to the waterstones for a hone and trial fit:





I'll see if everything works (ie takes a shaving) once it's refitted into the plane - Rob