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Nathan Wertman
01-15-2013, 7:12 PM
I recently fell in love with woodworking with hand tools! I spend all day on a computer or around machines and when I spend time in my garage simply carving with a knife or my chisels I am so happy. I’m very new to this hobby (or is it a lifestyle) and I don’t have a decent bench, saws or planes. I’ve been trying to cobble together a set of tools from garage sales and flea markets. For the most part I’ve been pretty successful, but I have very limited experience.

I just acquired a Sandusky 24” jointer plane from a local antique dealer for a steal. This is the only jointer plane I’ve found that I can afford, and frankly the wooden planes appeal to me for some reason. I’ve never restored a wooden hand plane before (I have some rudimentary experience with a few Stanley iron planes in the past though).

Questions:
- There is a crack from the toe of the plan through to the throat. It runs from the sole all the way through to the top of the plane. The wood seems very strong (I am unable to budge it at all with my hands, or when I lean into it). What is the best way to close up this crack and secure the wood? There are a few other cracks present as well, but none that concern me this much. I know the picture doesn’t do it justice, and I’m trying to upload other pictures (I’ve uploaded all 3 to this link: http://imgur.com/a/LxJpf).

- Is Boiled Linseed Oil the right way to go to oil this plane to prevent further cracking?

- Should any finish work wait until I’m done with any repairs?

David Weaver
01-15-2013, 8:29 PM
You could soak the plane in anything if you want, but almost guaranteed it won't make a bit of difference in use (it won't close those cracks, and it's unlikely that it will crack further unless it's much more dry where you are now than where the plane came from).

BLO will encourage mold to grow on the surface, I would use tung oil instead. If you use BLO, once it's wiped dry and cured, you'll need to wax it with some type of furniture wax to mitigate the chance of mold.

I would sharpen the iron, see if the wedge feels like it's a good tight fit, and check the bottom for general flatness (not perfect flatness, just sight down it looking for twist). We can't see the iron, but it's often the biggest task in getting a plane ready. I believe at 24 inches, it's a trying plane, but you can use it as your jointer.

Where are you located?

george wilson
01-15-2013, 9:12 PM
It could be that the plane body has shrunk around the striking knob until it has cracked. I'm pretty sure this is what has happened. You could drill out the striking knob carefully and fit another one that isn't too tight. If you could be sure that you could quickly drill out the knob,you could first force hide glue into the crack with a hypodermic syringe without a needle on it. Liquid hide glue gets quite watery and very runny if you set the bottle down in a pan of hot water for a while. That would help it greatly to penetrate the crack. After you fill the crack and drill out the knob,you will likely see the crack close up,but I'd apply some good tight clamps to the plane and leave it overnight at least. You can worry about wiping the glue off with a rag with some water after it is clamped. It will do no harm to the plane for a little while just oozing out.

That knob looks like it could be lignum vitae,the hardest wood there is. You can practice centering the drill up and drill the knob down to flush with the plane to make sure you are perfectly centered,and that your drill is sharp enough to do the job quickly and effectively. I'd put it into my vertical mill and plunge a sharp end mill down into the knob to eliminate it accurately and completely,but you may not have that option. Securely clamping the plane in place will help the drill to not start to wander off to the side in that very hard wood.

Do not in any case oil the plane until the crack is closed up or you will cause it to be seen forever.

Mel Fulks
01-15-2013, 10:08 PM
Since beech is not real stable,Ive always wondered why it it was so widely used for planes. Was it a lot cheaper than white
oak ? Have not seen any reason for its overwhelming use.

Brent VanFossen
01-16-2013, 12:23 AM
In addition to what's been suggested by others, you may find a shop vac useful to draw the glue into the crack. If you applied the glue from the top and the vacuum to the bottom, and moved it along the crack, you may be able to increase the penetration, or even see the glue ooze from the far side.

Jim Foster
01-16-2013, 7:12 AM
In reading about it, (if I understand it correctly)tThe reason is Q-Sawn beech absorbs moisture at the same rate across the growth rings and radial to the growth rings. Larry Williams talks about this in his video on making Hollows and Rounds.


Since beech is not real stable,Ive always wondered why it it was so widely used for planes. Was it a lot cheaper than white
oak ? Have not seen any reason for its overwhelming use.

David Weaver
01-16-2013, 7:59 AM
It's also fairly friendly to quick heavy work with a chisel or float without being too harsh on them (compared to hard maple and white oak). Hard maple would be the wood I'd guess would supercede it now that it's more readily available dry, but hard maple can be a little more chippy around a plane mouth and it'll get your attention if you have to chop a large mortise by hand.

I've seen a few planes made of white oak, just about anything has to be more stable than beech. If beech is quartered on the ends but isn't riven, it'll still move sometimes.

Zach Dillinger
01-16-2013, 8:43 AM
Larry Williams has a nice article on his website. http://planemaker.com/articles_beech.html

I've made traditional planes from beech, walnut (a plow) and hard maple. Never tried yellow birch. But, between beech and hard maple, I'll take beech every time. So much easier to work.

David Keller NC
01-16-2013, 9:17 AM
Nathan: This is what matters in a wooden bench plane (at least for a user):

1) That the sole is relatively flat and untwisted - you can check this with a straightedge.
2) That the iron is not heavily pitted on the back close to the cutting edge. Otherwise you're in for a ridiculous amount of hand-lapping the back of the blade.
3) That the wedge/iron combination be correct for the plane, and that the fit correctly (wedges/irons are sometimes interchanged among planes by unsophisticated antique dealers)
4) that the mouth of the plane isn't really, really worn. With the iron set to take a reasonable shaving, you should see no more than about 1/8" between the front of the mouth and the cutting edge of the iron. Ideally, this measurement should be more like 1/16" or even 1/32" on a wooden jointer plane.

All else doesn't matter. The cracks you mention are common very common on bench planes produced in the 19th and early 20th century. And unless really, really severe, they don't affect use.

Mel Fulks
01-16-2013, 11:19 AM
Thanks for the replies. Not much demand for it now,but I think it's interesting that those beechwood bentwood chairs
were catching on as wood plane making was going down.

David Weaver
01-16-2013, 11:25 AM
The guy at hearne wrinkled his nose when I asked him about beech. He called it "utility wood" because of its behavior and because the market for it was ruined by a european wood dump sometime in the past. Not that he's not aware the people making planes like it, but I'm sure he's got bigger fish to fry than dealing with someone who will buy 5 or 10 bf of quartersawn beech.

Nathan Wertman
01-16-2013, 12:09 PM
I’m located in Grand Junction, Colorado. It is dry and cold here in the winter, dry and hot in the summer.

There is VERY little risk of mold here. I was suggesting BLO simply as a way to add moisture to the wood to keep it from cracking further. Is there a different product you would recommend?

The wedge, iron, cap iron are all in pretty fair condition. They fit well. The iron needs some lapping, and sharpening, but it could be really nice when I get it cleaned up. I didn’t post those details because those steps were pretty obvious to me.

Nathan Wertman
01-16-2013, 12:16 PM
I did some quick experiments and no amount of clamping I can do will cause the cracks to close up. I did not drill out the striking knob, but testing on the heel of the plane which does have a similar set of cracks. The wood is really very sound so I’m not sure that adding glue will really accomplish anything. I primarily want to figure out how to treat the plane in order to prevent further cracking.

David Weaver
01-16-2013, 12:25 PM
I’m located in Grand Junction, Colorado. It is dry and cold here in the winter, dry and hot in the summer.

There is VERY little risk of mold here. I was suggesting BLO simply as a way to add moisture to the wood to keep it from cracking further. Is there a different product you would recommend?

Tung oil. It's dry in my basement, too (that's an odd statement, but my basement is heated and drained from the outside so there is no moisture in it like there may be in my garage). Tools do not rust in my basement, but mold grows on planes that have bare BLO. Use tung oil instead.

I personally wouldn't get that involved with reconditioning the cosmetics of the plane until you have it functioning properly. Otherwise, you might busy yourself sanding, planing, lapping off very oily wood on the bottom of the plane, having to redo it again, and finding out in the end that the wedge/iron fit is too poor for good function, or that the iron is too pitted to save. Take care of those other things first, even if it seems like they are probably OK.

Nathan Wertman
01-16-2013, 12:46 PM
Thanks David! My plan all along is to get the plane tuned and working well before doing any sort of cosmetic restoration. I wanted to get out ahead of that step though in case I needed to order something online. I’m currently waiting on a few supplies to get a different plane appropriately tuned so I can eventually use it to remove the minor cup from the base of this plane (like I said, I’m fairly new and I’m bootstrapping myself through all of this).

When it comes time to finish, would you first clean the plane with turpentine (or some other product)? I have a canister of Minwax ‘Tung Oil Finish’... That would be what you are referring to, correct?

george wilson
01-16-2013, 1:06 PM
What I used to do was this: Clamp the empty plane down snugly on a flat piece of wood. Stuff window putty(the linseed oil based,old fashioned kind) down into the bottom of the plane's escapement so there is about 1/2" of well packed putty there to prevent oil from leaking out of the throat of the plane. Pour RAW linseed oil into the escapement of the plane,filling it to the top. Let the oil bleed clear through the plane body. It will come all the way to both ends of the plane. It will be necessary to fill the throat SEVERAL times to replenish it,so have enough raw linseed oil on hand to keep filling the throat. If you have to go away to buy more oil,it will give time for the oil to start drying and possibly seal the escapement up.

I've done this to several planes back in the 70's and 80's. I learned it from an OLD English furniture conservator at the museum. It gives the plane more mass,and keeps humidity changes out of the wood.

There was a huge argument about doing this back about 2009,but I have had NO problems with leaking oil or any other problems and have had some of these planes for 40 years by now. Old timers did this according to the old gentleman I learned it from,and he was a good craftsman,being the sole furniture conservator for Wmsbg. at the time. The fact that I have had no trouble from doing it for 40 years should be enough proof that it helps stabilize the plane,and causes no oil leaking. Raw linseed oil should be used as it dries slowly enough to let the oil bleed through the long planes.

I later starting treating tools we made with tung oil,but they were for outdoor tradesmen who kept their tools in unheated sheds. I do not know how well tung oil might work out for filling planes because it does take several days to dry,and possibly could leak through the window putty while the plane is being filled. I'll only recommend the raw linseed oil for now. You don't want a big mess on your hands.

Greg Wease
01-16-2013, 3:56 PM
FYI, Minwax Tung Oil Finish contains no tung oil, or any other oil for that matter. It is a wiping varnish.

george wilson
01-16-2013, 4:04 PM
We were careful to only use real tung oil. Tung,BTW,means stomach in Chinese. The oil was a stomach remedy,though I would strongly advise AGAINST!!!! swallowing any of the stuff you buy for woodworking!!:)

David Weaver
01-16-2013, 5:06 PM
When it comes time to finish, would you first clean the plane with turpentine (or some other product)? I have a canister of Minwax ‘Tung Oil Finish’... That would be what you are referring to, correct?

I don't know, I've never done that. All I've done is use a gray or white abrasive pad and oil at the same time to get most of the crud off. I don't personally want to remove so much that the wood gets bright. Once it's to that point, I don't fiddle with it other than to wax it. Best thing you can do going forward is keep your eyes open for planes that just need a light cleaning, a plane like that will sometimes be had for the same price as one that's got some serious cracking (which by no means makes it a bad user, of course).

Nathan Wertman
01-16-2013, 5:38 PM
I don't know, I've never done that. All I've done is use a gray or white abrasive pad and oil at the same time to get most of the crud off. I don't personally want to remove so much that the wood gets bright. Once it's to that point, I don't fiddle with it other than to wax it. Best thing you can do going forward is keep your eyes open for planes that just need a light cleaning, a plane like that will sometimes be had for the same price as one that's got some serious cracking (which by no means makes it a bad user, of course).

I like this approach. It seems very appropriate for the tool. Three final questions (thanks again for your responses)...

- You scrub the plane ‘clean’ with a gray or white abrasive pad soaked in ‘oil’. I’m assuming you mean ‘tung oil’?
- What sort of wax do you use after the ‘cleaning’? A paste wax, beeswax or some other product?
- At what stage do you true up the sole of the plane? In my head, I could argue doing it before and after oiling and waxing.
- Roughly how often do you repeat the oil/wax process?

Nate

David Keller NC
01-17-2013, 9:02 AM
Nathan - If you're going to use tung oil for this purpose (I don't personally recommend it - the plane doesn't need a finish), you should use pure tung oil as George mentions. Behlen's is one brand that is 100% tung oil (no polyurethane or acrylic varnishes). Using a white abrasive pad with a little mineral oil, turpentine, mineral spirits or just paste wax will remove the grime. But remember, you cannot put the accumulated patina of 150 years back. That is why many are told to "do nothing" for a few tools, because one's tastes change and removing the surface on a tool or any object is irreversible.


In answer to you question about truing, the sole will develop out-of-true conditions from changes in moisture content, and nothing else. What you really need to watch is that you have it in approximately the same humidity for at least a couple of months. You can true it now to use it, but it will likely need re-truing a few months later after it's "gotten used to" your shop.

David Weaver
01-17-2013, 9:12 AM
I like this approach. It seems very appropriate for the tool. Three final questions (thanks again for your responses)...

- You scrub the plane ‘clean’ with a gray or white abrasive pad soaked in ‘oil’. I’m assuming you mean ‘tung oil’?

Yes, tung oil. BLO works fine, too.


- What sort of wax do you use after the ‘cleaning’? A paste wax, beeswax or some other product?

Either is fine. The $6 can of johnson's paste wax at lowes is fine. Beeswax has a different feel since it doesn't harden. I did the bulk of acquiring before I had any beeswax around, though. I don't know if I've covered BLO with beeswax, so I don't know if it has the same mold stopping effect as furniture paste wax.


- At what stage do you true up the sole of the plane? In my head, I could argue doing it before and after oiling and waxing.

It doesn't matter that much, but I'd check it along with the iron and the wedge at the outset. In maybe 10 planes, I've only had one where the plane was so twisted that I cut it up ( just to keep the beech and the iron) instead of doing anything with it. But it's nice to not fool with something if the cut up parts are just going to end up being turned into tool handles.


- Roughly how often do you repeat the oil/wax process?

Approximately never. But if I looked at one of my planes and they looked dry, I would give them more.

Zach Dillinger
01-17-2013, 9:23 AM
On cleaning, I use Lee Richmond's method. Just take a can of cheap paste wax and wax the plane down with an old t shirt. Not an abrasive pad, no steel wool, etc. The solvent in the wax will clean a lot of the dirt but will leave the nice coloration. If the plane is truly, truly grungy, you can take a can of the red automotive polishing compound, the dry stuff in a can, not the liquid, and take a tiny amount and work out the grunge with an old sock. Then paste wax. It's easy to clean more, its impossible to put patina back on.

But this is a very common plane. Its up to you how new you want it to look. Personally, I want mine to look old and used, not sparkly new. So I do what Lee suggests and move on.

http://thebestthings.com/toolfaqs.htm

george wilson
01-17-2013, 9:30 AM
I have old planes that are nearly black with crusty build ups of dried tallow. I do not rub it off as it is rather charming,and reflects the history of the tool. When you rub it all off,you are left with an ordinary,pink beechwood looking new plane.

Zach Dillinger
01-17-2013, 9:32 AM
I have old planes that are nearly black with crusty build ups of dried tallow. I do not rub it off as it is rather charming,and reflects the history of the tool. When you rub it all off,you are left with an ordinary,pink beechwood looking new plane.

That's right. I hate new looking, old tools. I find it disrespectful to those that owned it before me, and those that will own it after I've turned to dust.

David Weaver
01-17-2013, 9:46 AM
On cleaning, I use Lee Richmond's method. Just take a can of cheap paste wax and wax the plane down with an old t shirt. Not an abrasive pad, no steel wool, etc. The solvent in the wax will clean a lot of the dirt but will leave the nice coloration. If the plane is truly, truly grungy, you can take a can of the red automotive polishing compound, the dry stuff in a can, not the liquid, and take a tiny amount and work out the grunge with an old sock. Then paste wax. It's easy to clean more, its impossible to put patina back on.

But this is a very common plane. Its up to you how new you want it to look. Personally, I want mine to look old and used, not sparkly new. So I do what Lee suggests and move on.

http://thebestthings.com/toolfaqs.htm

On a valuable plane, I would use a shirt or the white pad only. I think I have only one valuable plane (a near unused JT brown jointer that was sold as a "primitive early tool - good doorstop" on ebay), but it got inked up in the dykem incident. Fortunately, it's already so dark that you can hardly see the dykem on anything but the sole.

If the white is abrasive, I'm not sure by how much. The grey is definitely abrasive, though, and will work its way through thin patina pretty quickly. I use those to clean off cheap planes and sparingly so that the surface is clean and not light. Not everything can be helped for all cheap planes, though, especially in a case of something like a moving fillister plane that is so out of whack that it actually requires planing to get the sides coplanar ahead of and and behind the iron.

Fine tool journal's newsletter tool sale used to have nice wooden planes cheap every 6 months or so, but if the first sale is any indicator, those days are over. I think I paid $20 for a badger plane, $25 for a nice matheisen fore and $25 for a dried up (but not cracked) moving fillister with the screw type depth stop that was as described above - full iron.

Christian Castillo
01-20-2013, 12:46 AM
I made my wooden planes look great by just cleaning them with steel wool and denatured alcohol, then using some howards feed-n-wax and buffing with a shirt, all the patina is in tact and the planes are smooth and look great.

Charlie Stanford
01-20-2013, 8:13 AM
I recently fell in love with woodworking with hand tools! I spend all day on a computer or around machines and when I spend time in my garage simply carving with a knife or my chisels I am so happy. I’m very new to this hobby (or is it a lifestyle) and I don’t have a decent bench, saws or planes. I’ve been trying to cobble together a set of tools from garage sales and flea markets. For the most part I’ve been pretty successful, but I have very limited experience.

I just acquired a Sandusky 24” jointer plane from a local antique dealer for a steal. This is the only jointer plane I’ve found that I can afford, and frankly the wooden planes appeal to me for some reason. I’ve never restored a wooden hand plane before (I have some rudimentary experience with a few Stanley iron planes in the past though).

Questions:
- There is a crack from the toe of the plan through to the throat. It runs from the sole all the way through to the top of the plane. The wood seems very strong (I am unable to budge it at all with my hands, or when I lean into it). What is the best way to close up this crack and secure the wood? There are a few other cracks present as well, but none that concern me this much. I know the picture doesn’t do it justice, and I’m trying to upload other pictures (I’ve uploaded all 3 to this link: http://imgur.com/a/LxJpf).

- Is Boiled Linseed Oil the right way to go to oil this plane to prevent further cracking?

- Should any finish work wait until I’m done with any repairs?

Clean it with BLO and fine steel wool. Then putty up the mouth like George said and let it take a big drink. Keep it waxed with a high-solvent wax like Mylands. Unless the grunge on the plane can be attributed to Mr. Townsend or Mr. Goddard (quite an impossibility) then get rid of it and replace it with your own over time.

It looks cracked all the way through as you mentioned. Get what use you can get out of it.