New Planes getting a Tune-Up

[Christopher Dowie]

Hi there. This is my first thread here on SMC. My name is Christopher and I live in Saskatchewan. I love tools. :D Especially hand tools and I like to make my own when I can. I have been wanting to buy a block plane for months now. So I got a little extra cash for me birthday and the other day I made the rounds (again) of the tool shops. I came home with 4 planes and a nice plane iron to make myself a wooden bench plane from.

Sure am glad I found this forum. I learn so much looking around here. It's like gold. I have read a few of the plane rehabilitation threads and I have a few books that talk about tuning up a plane and I thought I would post some pix here and see what you guys think.

The first plane I bought is this little Stanly 12-0.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/stanley12-01.jpg

I also scratch build models for my HO scale train hobby and this plane seems perfect for that. The soul needed a good sanding to flatten it out and the blade needed some TLC as well.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/stanley12-03.jpg

Works like a treat. I think I'm going to clean the paint off the sides as well. The paint is sort of blobbed on and orange peal offends me. "No sir, I don't like it." I like a well detailed tool.

I bought this next plane because I liked it and it was cheap. I have no idea who made it, but it has a cast body. Close to the same size as the Stanley 12-0, but a little more hefty for shop work.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/small1.jpg

Here is a side view. Does anyone know who or where this comes from?

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/small2.jpg

I'm going to clean up the sides of it as well, because there was small casting defects. You can see I already ground off some of them. More work is needed on the sole as well, but here is how it is shaping up.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/small3.jpg

[Christopher Dowie]

I was looking at a Stanley 220 and almost bought one until I went to the BORG (I laughed when I read that explanation) and there I found a 220 plane for a third of the cost of a Stanley. It is made by Footprint Tools out of Mississauga, Ontario.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/footprintplane1.jpg

Okay, perhaps I would be happier with a Stanley, but I bought all these planes for what I would have paid for one Stanley. Perhaps when I get this tuned up it will work fine for what wood-butchery I get up to. The only thing I don't like so far, besides the plastic knob what I will replace with a home made wooden one, is that it's taking me forever to get the sole flat. I already spent four and a half hours sanding it and it's still not near flat.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/sanding1.jpg

What you can hardly see is there is a chip that looks like a mistake by whom ever machined it, right along the back edge of the mouth. That was 2 hours wet sanding on 150 grit and after I saw what I was up against I dried her off and went to a 50 grit Emmery cloth on a piece of plate glass for hours and hours and this photo was just taken today. So I spent this evening making a tool to speed up this process. I am making a disk sander out of an old blower motor. I put a good strong piece of 150 grit sandpaper left over from sanding the floors on it. It's drying right now and tomorrow I will be able to speed things up. I have a couple of styles of belt sanders, But i wanted a sander that i could hold the whole plane up to that was dead flat. Once I get it flat I'll go back to the wet sanding again to polish the sole.

I still need to sort out the blade.

[Christopher Dowie]

I wanted a standard plane with a more aggressive angle and so I bought this.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/standasno1sanaur1.jpg

The fellow who sold this to me told me it was made in Japan, but when I got home I found under the price tag that it was made by Standas and is called a No.1 Sanaur and is made in India. At least the irons are made in India. The body is rose wood, or so I was told. Had way to much varnish and was a bad job with dust in the varnish and runs. That's why I have sanded it a bit. I think I'll just wax it. The sole is nice and flat, but there is a problem in the throat I am not sure about. It doesn't look as well carved as one might think it should. Uneven and the flat areas are less than perfect.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/standasno1sanaur2.jpg

The wedge seems to be a bad fit because it wobbles back and forth. This plane, I think it's called a coffin smoother, is the first woody I have seen that has a chipper on the blade. I thought woodies just used the wedge for the chipper.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/standasno1sanaur4.jpg

So how close is the chipper supposed to be to the edge? I understand it needs to be as close as possible, but no matter what I have tried so far, there always seemed to be a gap along the top side of the wedge. As you can see in here. You can see the shadow made by the bodies edge.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/standasno1sanaur3.jpg

Also, the throat was so narrow I had a heck of a time getting the blade out the first time. It was rammed in there and held fast by the sides. Absolutely no play on the sides. So I carved out a little bit to make it fit at all. At least now it goes together. I think I read that there should be side to side movement so the blade can be set at a skewed angle. Does this mean only room near the top of the body and still a close fit near the mouth, or does there need to be a little more room around the mouth as well?

I have some micro carving tools and needle files I will use to fix this problem as they are small enough to fit in the mouth and still work the wood.

Looking down the throat.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/standasno1sanaur5.jpg

Looking up the mouth and throat.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/standasno1sanaur6.jpg

You can still see in this last pic how the blade was wedged against the left side. Also, Should I worry about the bottom edge of the mouth? You can see that the edge is sharp on the right side and there is a square edge on the left. Shouldn't this all be sharp? And If I am to sharpen it, Do I sand the bottom to come up to meet the edge and make it sharp or do I clean out the throat and make it sharp?

I'm sorry to dump so many questions in this one thread, but I am excited about my new planes and can hardly wait to get them tuned up. I have some cabinet work I am gearing up for and I am looking forward to plying my new planes.

Thanks for reading my long post. Any comments or advice is welcome.

Always learning.

Christopher

[John Keeton]

Chris, just wanted to say WELCOME! I probably can't offer much advise on the woodie as I don't own any.

But, it seems that the chipbreaker needs some work to get it to mate up better with the blade - honing the underside to get it flat and produce a sharp front edge that is flat against the blade. It also needs to be much closer, and more in line with the edge of the blade.

On the wedge, it has to be making contact somewhere along its path, and it would seem that is is not cut with the proper, and consistent, angle to properly mate up with the plane body. You certainly have plenty of wedge to work with! I would suggest working on the housing cuts in the body to get them clean and of a consistent angle - then work on the wedge to get it to match. Again, not owning wooden planes, I speak without any authority here, but I can't see how the plane can function well if there is not a flat bed and consistent pressure from the wedge along the full width of the blade.

For what ever that was worth - good luck!

[Michael Faurot]

I bought this next plane because I liked it and it was cheap. I have no idea who made it, but it has a cast body. Close to the same size as the Stanley 12-0, but a little more hefty for shop work.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/TrainClown/Tools/small1.jpg

Here is a side view. Does anyone know who or where this comes from?


That looks like a Buck Brothers trimming plane. They go for about $9-$10 new at Home Depot. I've got one and use it all the time.

[Tom Adger]

Christopher, in one of your posts, you mention spending hours trying to get the sole flat. I have been there, and done that. Then I looked around my shop, and my eyes lighted on my 6"x48" belt sander, for which, among others, I have a 320 grit belt. The flattening hours turned into a few minutes. If you have a belt sander, even a portable that you can secure upside down in a vise, it takes a lot off in a hurry. Note: Don't try to do it all at once. The friction can overheat the metal. Do a bit, and let cool. Also, it will be plenty rough when you finish, but it will be flat. Then go to the sandpaper or diamond or whatever to get it smooth.

[Doug Shepard]

Welcome to SMC. I've got both #1 & #2. I'm not 100% sure but I think #2 is a Great Neck plane.