Plow plane, just a test drive for now

[steven c newman]

Put all the parts back together, and took it for a short test drive on a scrap of pine284512lots of chips a-flying around284513made a nice groove, too284514Hmm, might have to work on the edge of the iron a bit284515Still needs a re-finishing. Note: haven't even grooved the iron, yet. Me likey!!:D

[steven c newman]

Might just work as a plow plane. Still needs some final touches, but it does cut grooves ncely. And, the groove is even centered on the edge of the test piece. Have to start the groove at the far end, and work my way back. Went full depth of the skate. No chatters, just a nice Shweeesh as it cut along. Not all that hard to use, even. Might be a decent old plane to add to the group....

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Have to start the groove at the far end, and work my way back.

That's generally standard practice with a plough, grooving, or filletster plane, as far as I know.

That nice shweesh as it cuts along is one of my favorite joys of woodworking. Plows are great because with a narrow cut (This is 1/4" if I recall?) and a sharp iron, in well behaved wood, you can take off obscenely thick shavings - they really stop being shavings, and almost really long chips at that point. You can easily hog off at least a 1/16 or more in something like pine.

The askew groove in your third photo makes me think to look at a few things to check. Make sure the face of the fence is parallel to the skate on the plow. Since it already looks like you've planed off the patina on this user, the easiest way to fix this is going to be to plane the face of the fence as needed. In combination with this, once the skate and fence are co-planar, make sure the iron is in line as well.

Another thing to look at is if the fence is slipping in use.

The other thing that could help is looking at the iron - I don't know how the iron-from-chisel you're using is shaped, but a couple things help: relieve the edges a hair, so the back of the iron (the side that runs against the skate) is slightly narrower than the face of it (the part that you lap when honing.) A profile akin to a mortise chisel is what you're looking for - just a bit trapezoidal shaped as opposed to square. So as the blade drags through wood, the back of it doesn't rub. Depending on what you used as a chisel, this may already be the case.

The other thing that helps a lot that you see in a lot of traditional planes is the iron being slightly flared, so it's widest at the cutting edge. Nothing dramatic like a fishtail chisel or anything.

The idea of both of these things is that the widest part of the iron is the part that does the cutting. This way nothing drags against the wood as the groove gets deeper and deeper.

You probably already know all of this, but throwing it out there. The last two iron-related things are more apt to get you fuzzy sidewalls and a tough push as things get deeper if they're affecting you on both sides instead of just one, but all of them could lead to that slanting cut you've got there. Of course, it could all just be in the handling of the tool as well.

[steven c newman]

The chisel used for the iron was a bevel sided one. Could grind a bit more, and get the edge straighter. Fence was almost co-planar. easy fix, just another tap or two. Edge of the fence was planed straight. Had a few dings and such in it. Skate had a noticable bow to it, like the front end was worn down a bit. Managed to get the skate straighter, at least. Usually lift the plane up to bring it back to start another cut....

Patina? Nah, just a bunch of ill-applied, dirty varnish by a seller. The Beech under that does have a nice look to it. Maybe strip the rest of the goop off, and then a wax/oil mix??

Yep, this will be a user. That way, I can stop breaking those router bits.....

[Jim Koepke]

Yep, this will be a user. That way, I can stop breaking those router bits.....

I can usually set up a plow plane and get a better job out of it faster than setting up a router and using it.

If I were doing a few hundred feet, then maybe a router would be the tool to use.

jtk

[steven c newman]

When I moved into this house, I had to leave my tablesaw behind at the Olde Pole Barn Shop. Owner of the barn now has use of it. I do miss slapping on two dado cutters, and milling out a lot of 1/4" grooves....FAST! Been looking for a "better" way ever since. There is NO room down there for a tablesaw, none. So, hand planes wwill just have to do....

When I say no room284559This is what I have to work in. To the left are a washer and dryer (and I get yelled at for setting things on HER machines) There is another dryer against the far wall, been using that to stash stuff on. Velcommen to Das Dungeon Shop......