Molding Plane Construction

[greg Forster]

With quarter-sawn ( beech, yellow birch) material for narrow, 2" or less molding planes, are tighter growth rings much better or not a significant factor?

Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

My knowledge on this is very limited. Someone else will hopefully add their knowledge.

I do know the piece should be oriented so the grain is descending toward the tail of the plane.

My thought on the growth rings is that tighter would be better.

jim

[David Weaver]

With quarter-sawn ( beech, yellow birch) material for narrow, 2" or less molding planes, are tighter growth rings much better or not a significant factor?

Thanks

Unless you're really going to use them a lot (and by that, I mean 8 hours a day), I don't think it's significant, and even then, it may not be significant.

People are making them out of cherry now. Any QS beech is probably going to be more durable than cherry, and more dense, and I doubt anyone will have any problems with wear on cherry planes.

Most of the older moulding planes I have that are beat are beat because they weren't made properly (poor grain orientation, seriously bowed, huge mouth, etc), and not because they were worn through.

I guess if you can find 2" quartersawn beech for a reasonable price, I wouldn't really care at all what the growth rings looked like.

[john brenton]

(so why am I posting, right?) but I have various old woodies with all kinds of different grain orientation and density and they all seem to be stable. I've made a couple of woodies with not so primo wood and they seem to be holding up. All the crummy wood planes that I have purchased (for the iron only) seem to be in poor condition because of the lack of care. Either the throats angles didn't allow for wear over time, or the sole was never flattened and inlaid, and/or they have been sitting in someones garage or tool shed for years and years.

But if you are making the planes I read an interesting principle in a plane making book that said that a new plane should be oiled "once a day for the first week, once a week for the first month, once a month for the first year, and once a year for the life of the tool."

I don't think I'll be going that far, but I have definitely started taking better care of them after reading that and I'm sure it will make a big difference in the long run.

[James Scheffler]

(But if you are making the planes I read an interesting principle in a plane making book that said that a new plane should be oiled "once a day for the first week, once a week for the first month, once a month for the first year, and once a year for the life of the tool."


I think what the manufacturers used to do was to soak them in linseed oil until the fibers were completely saturated by capilary action. (in other words, not treating just the surface, but instead completely saturating the wood to exclude water vapor). You would only need to do that once. In theory, that should prevent or at least slow down movement due to changes in humidity. Oil finishes on the wood surface don't do much at all to prevent transmission of water vapor.

I finished the exterior of the one wood plane I have made with a polyurethane/BLO mixture - mainly to make it look nice. (I didn't soak it). It moves a little bit now and again. It's quartersawn white oak.

Jim