Plow Plane as a Marking Gauge

[Don Rogers]

Plow Plane as a Marking Gauge


Don’t know how common and/or useful this might be but it sounds like a good way to solve my sight problem when sizing a board’s thickness after flattening the opposite side,. My eyes have deteriorated to the point that seeing a line made with a marking gouge is very difficult. Darkening the line with a pencil helps somewhat but is still difficult to read.


Using ] a plow plane instead of a marking gauge is expensive and even slower, however I already have a plow plans and a 1/16” blade.


This idea, which I’m sure is not an original, came to me today as I was watching a video about bringing a rough-surfaced board to a finished one. (4 square, I believe). I quickly tried marking a board using the 1/16” blade to about 1/16” deep. Was not able to plane it down to thickness today but, so far, it appears as though it might be a good solution for me.


I’m sure this procedure will also come in handy elsewhere.


Would appreciate your thoughts and ideas on this.

[Frederick Skelly]

Lots of ways to skin a cat. If this lets you keep woodworking with your eyesight, I think it's a great idea.

[Derek Cohen]

Don, that will work. I use this when turning spindles to a specific depth.

What you might try instead is a chamfer to the line, which is easier to see disappear than craning your head over the end of a board ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/AThicknessingTechnique_html_m1ba87cd2.jpg

Article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/AThicknessingTechnique.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chuck Hart]

Hi Don, Derek's chamfer idea works I have used it. You can "feel" the edge even if you can't see the fine line. That brings up a marking gauge, if you make that deep enough you can feel the edge also. Try marking a deeper line and see if that works for you. Have you tried using a red pen instead of pencil? That also works for me when I am having trouble seeing lines. I think the plow plane is a good idea but costly and time consuming. Good luck

[Jim Koepke]

I have done this with a narrow blade to mark pieces for resawing.

jtk

[Zach Dillinger]

I often chamfer to the line as well. This has the happy effect of easily enabling you to plane a consistent thickness around the edges of the board where it usually matters most, while allowing the center of a face to be less consistent or not flat if allowed by the project requirements.

[Bob Glenn]

Christopher Schwarz says, there are six ways to do anything. Two are good, two are bad, and two will get you by. Your experience may differ.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have irreversible damage to my left eye so I know where you are coming from, but explain to me what you are marking. I could see maybe an extremely narrow blade for marking a panel or other long mark, but it still seems like a difficult way to mark something. Have you tried the Pica pencils from LV? The white on mahogany or other dark woods is a lifesaver, and the dark lead is something like an 2B which is a nice dark line on lighter woods. I even use the magic marker version if it is not going to be seen.

Derek's blue tape dovetail marking process may work well for you, but I bet you already knew that.

Those with good vision count your blessings. It is a scary thing to see a spot in your vision and have the doctor tell you it will only get worse over time. That said, thanks to modern medicine I can see, and without it I might be blind in my left eye, thanks to a kayak, a rock, and a pair of sunglasses that jammed into my eye while surfing said kayak over said rock.

[Tony Shea]

I honestly don't think plowing a line around the board while referencing off the flat face is a bad idea. If you are looking to be very accurate with your thicknessing then I think this is a good way to go about it. The only issue I have with a chamfer is that it can be difficult to get your chamfer dead on the line especially if your board is really wonky.

[Don Rogers]

Thank you all for your ideas, suggestions, and experience. I knew I could count on you to teach me new techniques. My problem is Maccular Degeneration in both eyes for which I have been getting monthly eye injections for almost 4 years. Despite this getting worse over time, my Doctor tells me I would be blind by now without his treatments. Both eyes have large blind spots in their centers which causes all sorts of problems and there is never enough light to see what I want to see.


I could see this coming which is my main reason for slowing down on my power tool use in place of hand tools. Also, I enjoy learning new skills such as those required with hand tools.
I intend to continue with woodworking as long as possible.


Aside from this explanation so you could see where I’m coming from, I am elated over my non-original plow plane/ marking gauge idea as a way to more easily thickness a board. If l make a 1/16” wide mark around the board, then when I plane slightly below the mark’s width I will be able to see the mark from the top of the board and that I have 1/16: to go. This should be easier than trying to see a scribed line from the board’s side. I know that technique works but the plow plane idea seems to suit me better.


Derek’s and others, chamfering idea is good and I want to try it also. I remember my father using a doucle-beveled marking knife for making outside curves on a board and then sanding to the bottom of the V mark with a disk sander He could do that very precisely.


Blue masking tape. red pens, the LV pencils are also things to try. As Frederick and Bob Glen repeating Christopher Schwarz have said, “There are many ways to solve a problem”. And I also believe that “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”. I’m sure to run into other problems as I get deeper into tailless tools.


Thanks again for all your help.

[Jim Matthews]

..thanks to a kayak, a rock, and a pair of sunglasses that jammed into my eye while surfing said kayak over said rock.

Yikes.

I'm just getting old.
You win.

[Jim Matthews]

I've seen something similar done with a fine saw fixed in a board that is offset a given distance.

The advantage of the saw blade is that it should cut equally well across endgrain.
A plow blade will try to follow the grain, riding away from the end on the harder part of the rings.

http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/a-kerfing-plane-in-pennsylvania.html

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Yikes.

I'm just getting old.
You win.

No, actually YOU win... at the rate I'm going, I might not make it to getting old! :-)

[Jim Matthews]

I've seen pictures of the boat AND your long suffering spouse. No way I make up that much ground, even if you coast to the finish line.

Two of my former hockey friends suffered similar trauma.

They're still having trouble judging depth, and
distance. Driving seems routine for them, much to my surprise.

Sorry to hear this, sight is precious.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Don and All,

Reading this has me thinking about a quick solution to the marking gauge thing. I don't have a marking gauge, but do use a combination square and a pencil or knife at times for a sort of marking gauge. There are lots of hand tools I don't have and plan to get and restore or build. I have been thinking about making a marking gauge.

This thread has given me an idea that should beat using my combination square for a marking gauge a lot.

My idea is to use my splitting iron in my Stanley 45 for a marking gauge. You can find replacement splitting irons on that auction site frequently, normally not for a lot of money. Thus I can buy a spare blade and sharpen it like a marking gauge iron.

Any way that is my idea, and I think it will be much more accurate at marking than my combination square and pencil or knife.

What do you think of using a 45 and splitting iron? Am I on to something?

Stew

[Karl Andersson]

Stew, I think that would work - might be harder to manipulate than a slitting gauge, but for long pieces especially, it would have a tendency to wander less with the grain. Something I thought of while playing with the pieces of the Stanley 55 I wrote about is that you could take that impressive slitting blade (same on the 45 and 55) and mount it on a custom-made slitting gauge or panel gauge, which may be more versatile than holding the plane.

It seems that Don's original need was for something other than a sliced line, so he could see it better, so he used the 1/16 blade to make a groove. I have made much narrower grooves by hand with a Tamiya "modeler's scribing tool" when marking irregular surfaces like antler and bone- it has a hooked blade that works like a tiny plow blade (you pull the scribe towards you and it cuts on the hooked end:
315074
I've thought of making a marking or panel gauge with a blade shaped like this made out of old saw plate - maybe one of us could make a similar blade to fit the 45/55 slitter position if we had the same need as Don for a more-visible line. Beats trying to make a 1/16 or 1/32 blade for the 45. it could also be used for making grooves for stringing - if it followed the edge.

Karl

[Don Rogers]

Thanks for all your ideas and help.


My apologies to all for the 1/16” plow plane blade. I made a quick, but incorrect guess on that size. Actually my blade is 1/8” , not 1/16”.


Actually, this does not make much difference in the overall idea. A 1/8” groove cut about 1/16” deep around all 4 sides using my plow plane Is not difficult to make, at least on the board I tried.


The resulting groove Would be easy to see and it’s lower side would be be set at the desired board thickness the same as if using a marking or cutting gouge. It’s upper side would be 1/8” (or more depending on the blade thickness if not 1/8”) above that. The upper wall side may may or may not be there depending on tje board’s rough thickness.


Assuming that the complete groove is there and one planes the top surface down to that point, then the desired thickness marking lime becomes visible from the side and also from the top. The original groove is now a rabbet which should make things a lot easier for some of us to use as a target to plane the board to size. The lower side of the groove or rabbet could even be darkened or colored and when planed off would signal arrival to the desired thickness.


I have not yet found time to try this and only got as far as making the plow plane groove around a board. But, it sounds good to me at this point and I am after your opinions also.
Of course, as I mentioned before, I already have a plow plane which considerably reduces my expenses in using this idea.


Stew, I believe the idea of a using a Stanley 45 in that manner is almost the same as mine although I do not have a Stanley 45 and really know almost nothing about them. However I think a slitting blade is not necessary - any larger blade should work but too large might be difficult to push. I use an adjustable square, and marking knife quite often myself but mostly on smaller work. Keep collecting tools, Stew, and try to use them while you can. I look forward to seeing pictures of the marking gauge you are going to make.


Karl, you suggestions are good also but again, I don’t believe a small blade is necessary as long as the blade is sharp and can male a clean groove.
Again thanks to all who responded - you have given me lots to think about and to try.

Don

[John Schtrumpf]

... The original groove is now a rabbet which should make things a lot easier for some of us to use as a target to plane the board to size...
Don

Page 70 in: Wood-Working Tools - How To Use Them

A Boston industrial school manual. Shows using rabbets on the ends of a board, to flatten a surface.

[Don Rogers]

John, thank you for posting that information confirming that he idea is not new. My first statement " Don’t know how common and/or useful this might be but it sounds like a good way to solve my sight problem when sizing a board’s thickness after flattening the opposite side" .

The Boston Industrial School manual shows a rabbet on the board's ends but my first attempt will have rabbets on the long sides also. Others, of course, will be able to surface a board from a marked or cut line. I may even try that but I probably need a more pronounced visual target.

Don

[Don Rogers]

In reporting my plow plane/markng gauge attempt when thickness surfacing a board, I discovered the following:

1. The 1/8" cutter on the plow plane makes marking the thickness of a hoard relatively easy, even on the end grain. It is not as fast as using a marking gauge but speed is not my concern. It is certainly more visible to me.

2. When planing the thickness down through the upper wall of the plow plane groove, it became a rabbet which was more difficult to see when looking down from above. The freshly cut lower rabbet wall blended into the freshly planed surface which made it more difficult vor me to see. However, after marking the lower part of the rabbet with a black dry marker, the target thickness became much more visible. I was then able to plane down to that black mark and then finally plane off the black mark to reach the desired thickness. To be more precise, the original plow plane groove could be moved up a very slight amount to compensate for planing off the black mark.

3. While not as easy as using a marking gauge, this method works for me. YMMV. Later, however, I will try using a marking or cutting gage and then coloring the line. My perceived problem is having to remove the board often in order to check my progress.

Don

[Jim Matthews]

Good idea, using the marker.

If you can get a good groove in end grain,
this should be a workable solution.

Is there a minimum thickness that you can set the plow plane?

That would be the primary advantage for a purpose built gauge,
thin boards can be readily marked.

[Don Rogers]

Hi Jim

As far as a minimum thickness with the plow plane, it's fence goes as far as touching the blade but I don't know how usable this might be. I have not yet found a need to go much thinner than 1/4". BTW, I have not tried that.

A purpose built gauge sounds for groove cutting sounds like a good idea. Do you plan to make one?

Don