Arms still hurt but thanks to you I got a small

[Alan Tolchinsky]

board flat using a scrub plane(I converted an old plane) and my no. 4. The piece was only 5x7 inches, cherry with a very pronounced cup in it. I think the scrub plane made the biggest difference. Now I can see how futile it was trying to remove a lot of wood with other planes. The scrub had the piece flat in minutes even though it was still hard and the plane felt really crude. I'm guessing part was due to the really thin blade I used and maybe it could have been sharper. I took it up to 4000 grit water stone and called it quits.

I put a 4" radius on the blade and ground the mouth of the plane bigger. I also modified the chip breaker for more clearance. I think I'm ready for a real scrub if it works any better than this cobbled up one. Any suggestions on a better way to mod a plane to a scrubber or just buy one?

Anyway thanks to all you good folks here, I feel like I learned something. I've ordered the Cosman video from the Lie Neilson site and can't wait to see how I can improve my methods.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYBODY who posted and gave me great ideas. Now it's time for more Tylenol for my aching arms, actually mostly my triceps. They haven't been called upon for this much work in awhile. :)

Alan in Md.

[Michael Perata]

Lie-Nieslen's 40 1/2 @ $145 is a great way to go if you aren't into modifying old older plane.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/tool.html?id=40_5

[Roy Wall]

Or a NEW Lee Valley scrub is $80.........

Pretty good deal since a used Stanley scrub usually runs $60+; and certainly needs work before use......

[Alan Tolchinsky]

was considering. But the Veritas is $95 which is still a good deal. I wonder if it's worth going to $145 for the LN?

[Peter Mc Mahon]

James Bay tool Co. has a pretty nice scrub for a good price as well.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

It was a hard choice since I've never used one of these but I think it will be fine. And this isn't my last plane either.

[Brad Olson]

was considering. But the Veritas is $95 which is still a good deal. I wonder if it's worth going to $145 for the LN?

$145 for a scrub is too much. You don't even need A2 steel for the iron as HCS is more than enough, and Rob Lee only offers an A2 version to satisfy the market, but will tell you straight out that it is overkill. These planes are taking off a lot of wood and you really don't need to hone the bevel, right off your grinder is more than enough just like for woodturning tools.

The key to success (or not killing yourself) is making sure the thing isn't too heavy (if converting an old one). For this reason, I often recommend this as a good first plane building excercise since a plane of this task is not complicated and gives you a good understanding of the concept of how a plane works..

[Derek Cohen]

.... You don't even need A2 steel for the iron as HCS is more than enough, and Rob Lee only offers an A2 version to satisfy the market, but will tell you straight out that it is overkill. ..... The key to success (or not killing yourself) is making sure the thing isn't too heavy ...

Brad

You obviously do not flatten Australian hardwoods! :) If you did, or regularly flattened any hardwood, you would be looking around for an A2 blade. Plus, I has found myself prefering a heavier scrub plane in these circumstances - momentum is very welcome.

I shall shortly be comparing the heavier LV against a Stanley #40 and ECE-type woodie, and will publish the results for all to consider.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brad Olson]

Brad

You obviously do not flatten Australian hardwoods! :) If you did, or regularly flattened any hardwood, you would be looking around for an A2 blade. Plus, I has found myself prefering a heavier scrub plane in these circumstances - momentum is very welcome.

I shall shortly be comparing the heavier LV against a Stanley #40 and ECE-type woodie, and will publish the results for all to consider.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I look forward to your review, as I am considering a scrub plane. This is a tough one because there is the camp that believes that a scrub plane should be wood and light and the other camp that likes heavy iron planes either the #40 or a converted Jack plane (#5's seem commonly changed over IIRC). For me this is tough because I learned to scrub with a Jack plane and I find that it is too heavy for my tastes hence my use of a couple of crappy #4's I have accumulated.

You don't happen to know how Aussie hardwoods would compare to something like Jatoba would you? I have a few "junk" #4's that I use for scrub work (right now on a lot of jatoba), and I can't remember the last time I sharpened them, so I suspect Aussie must be harder?

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Brad, Derek will be the better one to answer, but I also use a lot of Jatoba. Jarrah as far as I can tell (I just picked up a small board for testing yesterday) works very similar...but it is not as difficult as some of the other Aussie woods Derek is familar with.

For me, the most difficult has been blackwood and perhaps some Panamanian Rosewood. I also tried to take one swipe from some unusual cocobolo I have. It planes nicely but I had to take such a little bite with the scrub that I just wore it down with a regular jack.

Mike

[James Carmichael]

You might check with Woodcraft for the LN scrub, they're having LN "Plane days" at my local store right now where all LN planes are 20% off.

[Michael Perata]

, so I suspect Aussie must be harder?

I use Lyptus as my primary wood. It is a hybrid of two Eucalyptus tress. Most of the Aussies I have talk with consider Lyptus to be a "softer" wood to their homegrown stuff. It is still harder than almost anything you'll find on the shelves here.

With that said, I can't use a scrub plane on the stuff because of the really bad tear out. I need to use power equipment, and the sharpest HSS tooling I have to keep it workable. Once done, it is spectacular.