Would This Be Called a Plane Till?

[Greg Crawford]

I have a saw till, and revised the design to use for planes. I'd been mulling some ideas around, then a friend gave me some white oak (a little red) from a barn that had been standing for 150 years. Thought that would be appropriate to use for storing hand planes and came up with this.

I consider it a till, but would it really be called a till, shelf, cabinet or what?

[John Keeton]

Greg, I'm not sure of the correct nomenclature, but I like it!! The oak has a very nice patina to it, and it certainly serves the intended function.

[glenn bradley]

Not big enough. There's already stuff on the top ;-) Nice looking rig.

[Greg Crawford]

I'm already out of space in my saw till, too. Some of the less used planes will go back in their boxes, but this will keep the frequent users at hand.

Thanks for the compliment John. It was tough getting enough sound wood from the old boards. I wanted some of the bug "trails", but they had eaten almost all the sapwood. There were some pretty big slices from an ax as well.

I still have some of the wood if anyone wants any. There are a couple of large pieces that still have some good life in them.

[Jim Koepke]

Very nice plane till. I considered oak, but am worried about reaction with the iron. Though, 150 year old oak may no longer be reactive.

Wood offerings? There aren't too many wood workers that wouldn't want some old oak. Wish I lived closer.

As far as holding all my planes, I am not going to make one till to hold them all. Just now have been doing a little work on a till for my bench planes. Most of the other planes will likely be housed some other way.

jim

[Greg Crawford]

Well Jim, I hate to admit it, but I used poly on it. Should keep any chemical reactions at bay and give a bit of protection to the wood. I normally use shellac unless it's an outdoor piece or needs real durability like a floor.

[Mark Koury]

Very nice plane till. I considered oak, but am worried about reaction with the iron.

jim

I’m about ⅔ done with a white oak saw till. Your comment made me think about the wood for the slotted rail at the top. Perhaps I should not use oak which might discolor the blades? I wonder what the least metal-reactive wood is?

[Richard Niemiec]

I’m about ⅔ done with a white oak saw till. Your comment made me think about the wood for the slotted rail at the top. Perhaps I should not use oak which might discolor the blades? I wonder what the least metal-reactive wood is?

While I can understand the desire to use hardwoods for shop racks, tills and the like simply to show off craftsmanship and the beauty of the wood, IMHO you just can't beat pine, as after all, its a SHOP! Also, pine with a couple of coats of amber shellac ages great, looks good, and if you want to show off a bit with some joinery you can. Cheap, you can work it very easily with hand tools, won't harm tooling, and the eventual dings give it character. I save the hardwoods for shop fixtures where its needed, like shooting board fences and crosscut sled runners. This is not intended to denigrate anyone's choices, its just my choice.

[Jim Koepke]

I wonder what the least metal-reactive wood is?

I am with Richard on pine. There is a lot of it out here in the west and it can be found cheap.

I am not sure if there are places where you can find old pallets or boxes put together with nails, but I always found oak to be one of the hardest for pulling out the nails due to reaction. Pine always seemed like the nails would come out clean and there was no discoloration around the nail hole.

jim

[Griph0n Brown]

Hi Greg

Very nice.

Can I get the outside dimensions? I've been looking to rack my planes for the easy grab and return. Sooner or later I'm going to knock one off my bench. I'm wondering how little I can angle the face and still have them sit firm. I'm thinking about sliding them into a a rabbet top and bottom to hold them in place.
I've just rehabbed my last plane and have a complete stanley set from 3 to 8 (minus the 5 1/4 if anyones got an extra), plus a few veritas shoulders and scrapers. I like the open, angled designs like yours.
I'm sorta stuck with mdf when I think of our northern wood prices, maybe when I sandblast and repaint the spotty japanning on my set it will be worth one as nice as yours.

Maybe I'll start a thread asking for photos...

Thanks for the post, great work.

[Jim Koepke]

I've just rehabbed my last plane and have a complete stanley set from 3 to 8 (minus the 5 1/4 if anyones got an extra), plus a few veritas shoulders and scrapers.

Getting a good 5-1/4 may be a bit tricky. Buying a couple of them on eBay was one of the few bad deals I have found there. They were definitely destroyed over the years in a high school wood shop. Most of them were bought for use in high schools. The two I bought also did not feel comfortable in use. Since then, I have handled a collector's 605-1/4. This plane actually felt good. So, I will likely one day try again to acquire a good 5-1/4, until then the one I have will have to do.

jim

[David Keller NC]

Nice cabinet. My only comment by way of critique is that I'd want a top "keeper" in each cubbie as well as the one that's already on the bottom. I'd hate to have someone (like me) accidentally bump the cabinet and have a plane do an end-over-end into a concrete floor. The LV/LN ones will probably make it - the old Stanleys definitely won't.

By the way, regarding acidic wood - around here, SYP's definitely acidic. Not sure about the fir/spruce psecies out West, though. For absolutely fail-safe no acidity wood, maple would be my choice.

[Mark Koury]

[QUOTE=David Keller NC
By the way, regarding acidic wood - around here, SYP's definitely acidic. Not sure about the fir/spruce psecies out West, though. For absolutely fail-safe no acidity wood, maple would be my choice.[/QUOTE]

I was able to find one comprehensive reference. However it is from the UK and Maple is not one the species noted:

http://www.npl.co.uk/upload/pdf/corrosion_of_metals_by_wood.pdf

Maple was the wood I was thinking of as well. But, to be safe and not damage any old blades, I wonder about something like Corian for the slotted strip that holds the blades? Too bizarre, or not?

[Greg Crawford]

Mark,

I was just told that basswood is the safest wood for keeping metal objects. I think I read that somewhere too.

[Greg Crawford]

Griphon,

The outside is 24 3/4" wide by 33 1/2" tall. It's 6" deep on the inside. I started to make it 8" deep, but couldn't get enough wood from what I had. Like David mentions, I was concerned about them possibly tipping out, and thought about various ways to hook the top as well as the bottom. I just couldn't come up with anything that would be workable for the 4s and smaller. After checking though, I've found that a 6" lean is enough to keep them in place unless there's a serious movement. Since it will be hanging on the wall, I feel confident they'll stay put. Now, it's my butter fingers I have to worry about.

[David Keller NC]

I was able to find one comprehensive reference. However it is from the UK and Maple is not one the species noted:

http://www.npl.co.uk/upload/pdf/corrosion_of_metals_by_wood.pdf

Maple was the wood I was thinking of as well. But, to be safe and not damage any old blades, I wonder about something like Corian for the slotted strip that holds the blades? Too bizarre, or not?

That's a fascinating article - thanks for digging it up. I'll definitely bookmark it. One "complaint" about the article is that it seems to ignore a pretty important factor in the corrosiveness of a specific species - tannic acid content. I suspect that's why Oak is identified as one of the lowest pH values. I'd definitely be curious as to how the authors measured that - my guess is that it was soaking wood chips in water and measuring the pH of the liquid.

My thought about maple was in regards to its tannic acid content - which is extremely low. This would also be true for basswood and a few others. While Corian or some other artificial substance would probably be way safer in contact with steel over raw wood, I think that's overkill. One way to control the issue would be to just put 2 or 3 coats of shellac or laquer on the "keepers" before installing them.

[Greg Crawford]

David,

I hope you're right about maple, because I made my router bit holders and saw till with it. Kind of tough to get any coating in the holes without going way oversize and ruining a decent fit. I used poly on this for the durability, to stand up against heavy metal objects making frequent, but hopefully gentle, contact.

How about wood holding moisture? Does anyone have any experience or definitive answer about this leading to rust problems, especially in something like a router bit holder or drill index? Since saw tills have been around a long time with no mention of problems, my guess is the moisture isn't an issue.

[Jeff Willard]

I consider it a till, but would it really be called a till, shelf, cabinet or what?

You made it-you can call it whatever you like(Bob?). And nobody can tell you that you're wrong.;)