Old Molding Planes and the Rehab Enthusiast

[Jim Koepke]

As is often the case with metal planes, when a wooden body molding plane enters the shop, it is usually in need of some TLC before going to work. Some have expressed interest in knowing more about the process of bringing an old molding plane back to a usable state.

I am just a beginner when it comes to working on wooden planes but I'm happy to share what I have learned. Over time I hope to be able to add more to this thread and hope others will also add their experience.

The images used to illustrate this post will be of various planes. So if a blade and sole do not seem to match between shots, it is because they are from different planes.

Also a tip that might help is to not disassemble more than one plane at a time if you do not have a way of keeping the components together. Getting a bunch of wedges mixed up can make for a lousy day.

Depending on where one finds a molding plane it may have different characteristics. Usually in an antique shop they will be cleaner than something that was in a box in a barn. Some of the planes in my accumulation were coated in shellac to look good in an antique store or were coated with tallow, sweat or oil by a previous owner.

334192

My first step is to wipe off the dust if the plane is dirty. There is an old rag in my shop that is mostly used for wiping blades after they have been honed on an oilstone. The rag is near saturation with mineral oil. This works for me for cleaning dust and other crud off of old wooden planes. A clean rag with mineral oil would also work as would any number of other wood cleaning materials. I like to use materials with wax or oil as most of the old planes that have come my way could use a little of the rejuvenation oil and wax offer.

After a preliminary wipe down the wedge and blade are removed.

334193

Here my grip is focused mostly on the blade and iron with a light hold on the plane body. The plane is held an inch or two above the bench to prevent it from falling to the floor. Start with light taps and check to see if the blade or wedge are working loose. If light taps are insufficient use a stronger swing of the mallet. Often the blade will become loose and can be removed before the wedge can be extracted. The wedge may have swollen over time or if it was given a clear coat causing it to be slightly stuck.

In severe cases I have clamped the wedge in a wood faced vise and carefully tapped on the back of the plane.

In extreme cases most of the blades in old molding planes are tapered. It may be possible to loosen the blade by tapping on the tang to drive it out of the plane's mouth.

Check the wedge and blade mortise for dirt and clean as needed. More on this latter

Only a few of the planes that have come my way didn't have a bit of pitting with which to contend.

334194

Unless you find a plane that was kept in a dry environment there is likely to be some rust or pitting on the blade.

The flat disk on the Mk.II Power Sharpening system is a natural for working on blade backs. Other methods are as abundant as there are ways to sharpen.

334195

The sides are also given some attention. If a blade works along the edge like a rabbet plane or hollows & rounds, they will have a bevel on the edge.

334196

A little bit of grinding makes quite an improvement. There is still a lot to do including the shaping.

I have not found many molding planes with optimum blade shaping. Most of them are also somewhat dull.

334197

Obtaining a clear picture of this is difficult. It is possible to see the blade is extended more in the concave area than the convex part of the curve. This will require some care in reshaping the blade.

334198

If you are going to use molding planes or gouges, you will need some slip stones or other way of working on irregular shapes. Abrasive paper on dowels can do some of the work.

334199

I also have another set in water stones.

Looks like this will have to be continued on another page if I want to add more images.

To be continued…

jtk

[Chris Hachet]

Thanks for posting this nup, I would like to get started with using a few of these.

[Charles Murray Ohio]

Jim,

Over the years I have run rehab a few molding planes. I follow the same procedure you are using, except I normally use Turpentine, I will have to try the mineral oil (I'm shure it better on the hands).One of the most important thing that I learned is to take a straight edge with you when you purchase them. A slightly warped plane can be very difficult to put back in working order. Also as we all know most of the planes are bedded for soft wood, as miles of molding were cut for architectural work as opposed for the few feet that went on furniture. In our area finding planes bedded at 50* or higher is difficult.

I truly believe rehabbing or making a plane helps one understand better how this deceptively simple looking tool works. This helps you to better understand how to use it.

Great thread.

[Kees Heiden]

On almost all my hollow and round planes and the rebates that I have rehabbed, the sole just behind the mouth is higher then just before the mouth. That makes the plane difficult to work with. I usually rehab the round plane first and straighten the sole, then use that plane to repair the corresponding hollow.

[Dave Anderson NH]

+1 Kees it's a great way to clean up one plane sole from another.

[Jim Koepke]

I normally use Turpentine, I will have to try the mineral oil (I'm shure it better on the hands). One of the most important thing that I learned is to take a straight edge with you when you purchase them.

I use the mineral oil rag because it happens to be laying around. Don't even have to look for the container and open it. Not sure I would want to keep a rag soaked in Turpentine laying around.

There is another rag with furniture polish on it that is used when the plane is closer to done.

The straight edge is also a great idea. I am still pretty good at eyeballing them as long as I remember to use my left eye. My right eye has a slight astigmatism.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Before there were cap irons or chip breakers there were wedges. One of the things a wedge must do is divert the shaving so the mouth of the plane will not clog.

Here is a fairly decent wedge:

334285

There is a little damage at the end, but it will be easy to repair. This is a dado plane and the blade is not all the way in to working position. The wedge has a shallow angle to help lift the shaving and angles to the side to divert the shaving out the escapement.

Here is a wedge that looks bad from the get go:

334283

It appears to have been cut a bit short and has more of a blunt end. Before making a new wedge this one was given a go to see if it could be turned into a good wedge.

I wanted to show the full plane as it doesn't appear to be in the English style. The other hint that it may be from the continent is the marking on the back specifies it as 18mm. If my memory is working metrification didn't start in earnest within Great Britain until the 1960s. Besides, the plane looks a bit more Ruboesque.

334288

Here is a closer look:

334287

When this happens the shaving will have to be cleaned out before taking another shaving. If a longer piece is being worked it might not be possible to get to the end before any new shaving has no place to go. It can consume a lot of energy to make an accordion shaving.

Before doing anything else, this wedge was tight side to side and would get stuck in the plane body without a blade. The blade/wedge mortise was checked and the sides were cleaned up with a very light rasp (Auriou grain 15). When those were straight a test fitting indicated it was still tight. The wedge was set against a stop and a smoothing plane with a sharp blade was used to take off a few thousandths at a time until the fit felt right. The wedge should be free moving, but not loose enough to rattle from side to side.

Before making a new wedge I wanted to give this one a chance at redemption:

334286

The intent is to make the angle less blunt. A bit of paring with a chisel made it a bit better:

334284

The shavings do come out the side more often but there are still some jams. Before making a new wedge I want to get the blade properly shaped:

334282

There are still a few spots on the blade that need a bit of work to get the shaping correct.

To be continued...

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi Jim and all,

This looks like it is going to be a really good topic. I have read it so far with great interest, as I think wooden molding planes are something very useful for me to learn about. Right now I have only actually handled a tiny number at an antique shop, but had no idea what to look for to know if the plane was a good one. I will guess that there are quite a few Neanders that are like me...very green on the old woody molding planes.

At any rate, Jim, thanks for the first post, and also thanks to the rest of you who have also chimed in. The information is very much appreciated, and I think it is of value to me, and I would guess to others as well.

Right now I don't have a shop, and don't have much room for storing any woody's, so it will be a while until I can buy one....time to get to work on my shop when the time situation begins to look better.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Tom M King]

If you need any strips of Boxwood to replace parts, let me know.

[Jim Koepke]

Wow, I have been busy since last posting on this. Have had a few minutes here and there to work a little more on the blade on this plane.

Three big trees were cut down in my pasture yesterday. Now I have to figure out how my neighbor and I can get them milled. He has a lot of trees he took down on his property. Watching Mark cut down trees was worth the price of admission. He cut the last one to fall in a fairly narrow area. Maybe I should post the video.

In watching some videos on line another way of blade and wedge release was learned. The person in the video held the wedge and blade secure while thumping the front end of the plane sharply on his bench. The more ways one knows the better.

A close up of how things were last left off may help:

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The quirk is a bit ragged at the top. Looking close reveals an uneven transition in the blade.

It is penciled here with the blade to identify the location:

337900

The cause may be due to previous honing attempts:

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The bump in the blade may actually cause an area without enough relief angle as part of the problem. There is also a bump that can be seen in some of the images from previous posts.

With great care it isn't difficult to correct an edge:

337901

Care must be taken to avoid hitting the far edge of the blade against the grinding surface. After the grinder it is on to the stones for fine honing. Here a water stone is being used:

337905

Three of my water stone slips are 1000, 4000 & 8000 grit. If you are going to use wooden molding planes these three or a similar set in oil are needed. It is possible to use sandpaper on dowels and shaped wood, but that grows old fast if one has more than a few blades to keep sharp.

337904

The edge farthest from the fence was ground to a point. This may be part of the cause of the roughness in the first image. The edge also didn't have any bevel so that was also corrected:

337899

The performance has been greatly improved:

337902

There is still a little bit of work honing the blade to get it evened out. At this point that can be taken care of over the next few times the blade needs honing.

My earlier thoughts on this plane is it would need a new wedge made. It seems with the adjustments made to the wedge earlier and the work on the blade the plane can finish the job without the shavings jamming. Guess I need to find a plane in need of a new wedge to cover that angle.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

I forgot to mention dykem blue. Some like to paint a blade with dykem blue and then scratch the outline as a guide for grinding. I just go by eye. It might work to use dykem blue and then take some shavings to find high spots on the blade. I haven't tried that.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi Jim,

The "after" picture is much improved. Good job.

Stew

[Chuck Hart]

Hey Jim,

You got me thinking. I've got a box of old molding planes (I think 11 of them) none of which have irons. If you would be interested I will send them to you. Some are very old. Let me know

Chuck

[Jim Koepke]

Hey Jim,

You got me thinking. I've got a box of old molding planes (I think 11 of them) none of which have irons. If you would be interested I will send them to you. Some are very old. Let me know

Chuck

Chuck,

I just stepped in to take off my shoes. Will send you a PM later.

Thanks,

jtk

[Mike Cherry]

Thank you for taking the time to put this Jim. I must have missed it the first time around.

[Jim Koepke]

The molding plane refurbished in this thread was used in making a couple of pieces to be used on a small side/display table. In all four planes are used to make the molding.

Why not make a video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apLzrpsdcK0

My orange handle brush disappears at about 8:00 minutes.

jtk

[Normand Leblanc]

That's a very interesting thread Jim.
I own a few of those wooden moulding plane but I've never been able to rehab one properly and they were store away.
I really need to do something about those planes...mouldings are so nice to have on furniture.
Thanks for sharing your know-how.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for the kind words Normand.

Most of what I am sharing isn't so much 'know-how' as it is watching and reading a lot of what others have done and posting how it is working for me. Hopefully it will help others to use some and find enjoyment with their dormant tools from the past.

One example of seeing something somewhere else is a point about the runners (skates) on the Stanley 45 needing to be 'shadowed' by the blades. In other words there needs to be blade visible all around the skates when using a beading blade. This used to give me fits until it stuck. It may actually be in the Stanley 45 instruction booklet. I had a #45 along time before finding a manual.

There used to be a member here from Australia who posted a lot about using a Stanley 45. I think he still posts on the Australia woodworking site. I think it was his comment about the edges of the blades needing a slight bevel that finally clicked for me.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

Jim,

I have an Ariou rasp, but I don't have the foggiest notion about what grain 15 means. Please enlighten me.

Never mind, I figured it out.:rolleyes:

[Jim Koepke]

Jim,

I have an Ariou rasp, but I don't have the foggiest notion about what grain 15 means. Please enlighten me.

Never mind, I figured it out.:rolleyes:

15 grain = smooth surface. :D

jtk

[Don Emmerling]

I just love this thread. The first time I saw a molding plane in use it was love. Since then I have acquired about 20 or so. I do very little to them other than sharpening the iron and cleaning them up and some wax. I marvel at their simplicity. I did not know there were so many people that collected and used them.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Jim,

I just got around to watching the video. It is much appreciated, nice job of illustrating what the old woodies will do with a little help from a 45.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jim,

I just got around to watching the video. It is much appreciated, nice job of illustrating what the old woodies will do with a little help from a 45.

Stew

This table doesn't have any Neanderthal joinery, it is held together with screws:

338375

This is what the material made in the video was used to make.

The piece of tile used for the top is 16" square.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Well, not really a plane a day. I was rounding over some 1X fir strips with a large hollow plane. Then I realized there was a big side bead plane waiting for some attention. It just seemed natural to fix up another plane for the job.

After a quick clean up of the blade a few problems presented themselves.

The shavings had a propensity to jam:

338668

The wedge seemed to be okay so it was mostly just cleaned up and given a rub down of an oil & wax mix. The geometry was changed slightly to help guide shavings out.

The blade was uneven and would take thick shavings at the edges when making a minimum shaving in the center. So the high spots on the blade were marked:

338667

The high areas were honed down.

A few shavings were made while watching the shaving.

The front of the escapement was a bit tight in places and this is where the shavings would curl and then turn into accordions.

A chisel was used to remove some wood:

338665

Care was taken to smooth this area as much as possible. Afterward a bit of wax was forced into the area in hopes of making the shavings slip out better.

It seems to have helped:

338666

I was able to round over some rather uncooperative fir. There was still a bit of jamming, mostly in the gnarly areas around knots, it didn't have much effect on the work.

The wedge may be in need of replacement:

338669

There is a small piece of fir visible at the tip of the wedge. The wedge isn't fully seating against the closed side of the escapement. Most likely this plane would benefit from a new wedge.

One of these days I will have the time to make one and document the process.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Worked on another plane today. It is a 3/16" hollow I wanted to use to round over some edges.

Most of the time I tend to allow for tool maintenance while working in the shop. Molding planes are usually cleaned before they are placed on a shelf in wait of being used. They usually get a preliminary sharpening when first inspected. Many of my hollows & rounds are ready to go. Occasionally when there is time I will grab one that hasn't been put into service of yet.

This plane had a sticky wedge and needed quite a bit of blade work. I recalled something that came in an ebay lot purchase that came in handy, a radius gage:

342346

This gauge only measures up to 1/4". For larger sizes I have a radius template from my days as a drafter. They are likely available at art or engineering supply retailers.

This also illustrates an answer to an oft asked question, why does a plane need to take super thin shavings? Well every plane doesn't, but it is nice to have a way to remove a few thousandths from a wedge against a bench dog. A couple of very fine shavings and the wedge moves free. Added a little furniture wax to help.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

As things get better and restrictions on activity are lifted I have been dying to get into the shop and do something, anything.

Today a couple of wooden rabbet or rebate planes were wanting my attention. One of them is an Ohio Tool company 1" model that has been sitting around for quite a while. The other is a 1-1/8" with a mark that looks to be Wm Marples & Sons.

348305

It might be possible to date this plane by the mark, maybe not.

The mark on the Ohio plane was too faint to photograph. Here it is in an 'after' picture:

348306

It didn't need much work. Though maybe in the future it will get a new wedge with a touch further reach. The blade bed and wedge mortise had a slight step and the edges were not well finished. A 1/4" skew chisel was able to take care of that. It was having a difficult time taking an even shaving. Turns out the sole wasn't square to the sides. With a plane set to take very fine shavings it was soon corrected and cutting well. There is still a bit of trouble getting the blade set easily. That may be the wedge's fault. It will need just a bit more work over time.

The Marples plane will be a bit more work:

348307

That will be another day. It looks like it will need a new wedge, the sole needs to be planed and the iron will need some work.

Just for fun the Ohio plane was put to work. First a line was scribed for the rabbet/rebate:

348308

This is a Stanley pin gauge with one side of the pin ground flat. It is best to mark this line a few times to make a well described slot for the plane to start . To begin, tilt the plane to use the corner of the sole to make the gauged line a bit more pronounced:

348309

This is where it is important to have the blade's side projection set. Too much and your rabbet will drift in toward the center of the wood. To little and it will drift toward the edge with a slanted wall. Go slow and be careful to keep the plane straight. My lead hand is often curled under the plane so my fingernails can act like a fence. Well at least when the plane is being held right handed.

As the wall of the rabbet becomes better defined lift the plane towards the vertical to continue:

348310

When the work continues on the Marples plane, pictures will be taken and posted if there is any interest.

jtk

[Glen Canaday]

I'm interested. I have an old Ohio with a deep stamp that needs rehab. I was able to get a small 3/4 or so ogee rehabbed enough to use, but would like to learn to make and use woodies well.

Do you have any tips as to what to watch out for when planing the sole of a skew rabbet? That's what that Ohio needs and is the whole reason why it's in a drawer and not in the till.

[Stewie Simpson]

Jim; I am a little surprised at the height the wedge ends on both your wooden rebate planes. Here is a comparison;

http://kapeldesigns.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/free-wooden-rabbet-plane-plans.html

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w1uH8yktLOw/UVD2mlPv9dI/AAAAAAAAAZg/UaARdSjTJ7k/s1600/3:4%22+Wooden+Rabbet+Plane+Plan+by+Caleb+James+Pic ture+2.tiff

[Mike Holbrook]

Great thread Jim,

Now I have a place to turn when I refurbish a wood round plane. Wedges seem to me to be the key to good performance with wood planes, particularly the ornamental\special contour planes which always seem to use wedges. I spent a great deal of time trying to make wedges for the wood planes I made. I probably wasted a great deal of time trying to come up with good designs. Some of the many questions being: do I cut out a portion in the bottom middle, how do I shape the top so it is easier to grip, strike with a hammer/mallet, how far below or above the iron should the wedge extend....

I have been using Iwasaki rasps to form many of the parts for my wood planes. I suspect I need to get more of my chisel collection involved in the process as well, although the cut Iwasaki's make is closer to a chisel cut than the rasps with hand made teeth. I just happen to have a couple new Japanese paring chisels....

My only issue is this probably means I have to spend more time on "fleabag". I have some hope that the new location I plan to be living in soon will present more flea market opportunities.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Stewie,

Thanks for posting the drawing and the link. I have a 2" rabbet/rebate plane that is worn along the edge in need of some boxing to bring it back to its full function.

It appears both of my plane's wedges have been broken in the past. The one on the Ohio plane looks like the end was cleaned up with a gouge.

That is why I mentioned making a new wedge with a further reach in the future.

Looking back over this thread it appears a few wedges have been fettled, but none made.

Maybe a new wedge for the Marples plane should be made and documented.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Maybe build a box to store them in?
348352
Maybe add some felt...that I didn't have..
348353
Then you can keep it dust free, by closing the lid..
348354
Hardest part was making the recessed holder for the Ohio Tool Co. 1.25" plane to sit in...

[Jim Koepke]

Maybe build a box to store them in?

It would have to be a pretty big box:

348360

For perspective the shelves are ~24" wide.

That is just the most used ones. There are a couple of boxes of woodies to be sorted and worked on.

Then there are the metal bodied 'molding' planes.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

My Marples rabbet/rebate plane's wedge was not only broken, on closer inspection it isn't even proper for the plane. The plane like many rabbet planes has a skewed blade. The wedge in this plane wasn't properly skewed for the job and it didn't fit too well in the wedge mortise:

348427

A piece of scrap maple from a salvaged kitchen counter was chosen:

348428

The piece was cut a bit long and then it was ripped on my bandsaw. The saw marks and other imperfections were planed away.

Normally any angles are taken from the old wedge, but since the old wedge wasn't proper the angle to be transfered was taken from the wedge mortise:

348429

A wheel gauge was used to transfer markings to the sides. Then a plane was tilted on the piece and occasionally checked to see how it was doing:

348430

After this the old wedge was used to lay out the slope of the wedge since it seemed to match the angles of the mortise. A circle template was used to layout the top, since round is one of my preferred shapes. Care should be taken to make sure everything is oriented correctly or this could happen:

348431

That is just one good reason to make a wedge longer than needed. A little more work with the plane corrected the situation:

348432

Next was smoothing the slope of the wedge:

348433

A small plane comes in handy in such work. One could also use a chisel, with care, or a spoke shave for this part of the work. The saw marks on the round head and the cutout below the head were cleaned up with a chisel.

At this point it was checked for final fit before marking and cutting the toe:

348434

A pencil was used to mark where the wedge should reach on the blade.

Since there is an eight image per post limit this will be continued in my next post.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The toe of the wedge not only holds the blade to the bed, it has some properties of a chip breaker or more accurately a chip diverter. A gouge was used to create a guide for the shavings:

348435

When this was shaped pretty much to my liking the toe was trimmed. Care should be taken to not break the thin wood here. The toe needs to work with a fine beveled edge. If there is a flat at the toe, it could cause shavings to jam and make accordions that get stuck in the escapement. There shouldn't be anything on which a shaving might get stuck.

348436

Again for the umpteenth time the fit is checked:

348437

Looks good for now. This plane's sole was in pretty bad shape. A few swipes with a smoothing plane removed the scratches and random streaks of paint:

348438

The plane is now useable. It does need a bit more work on the blade and sole. Specifically the sole's corner is worn a bit. This makes it almost impossible to start the plane in a scribed line. That will be taken care of at a later date.

Sorry for the next picture being out of focus. I usually check before turning off the camera:

348439

I made the wedge to eject the shaving out of the larger side of the escapement. Afterwards I realized most of my molding planes eject the shaving out on to the bench instead of the floor. For this plane it isn't going to bother me. Easy enough to change if a reason presents itself.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

One thought is to get the wedge to fit as wanted before cutting the top. This would have allowed for it to be placed a touch lower.

Not a biggie, just a thought...

jtk

[Stewie Simpson]

Excellent work Jim.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Stewie

jtk

[Jerry Olexa]

Excellent thread.....Thanks Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Glad you like it Jerry and you are welcome.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Just saw an excerpt from a new Lost Arts Press book, The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume I. The piece is "How to Sharpen Moulding Plane Cutters."

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2017/02/16/how-to-sharpen-moulding-plane-cutters/

Good information for those interested.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Thank you Jim. This is a great tutorial! Appreciate you taking the time to post this!
Fred

[Jim Koepke]

This was posted by Kees Heiden in another thread about a moving fillester plane. It is good information about the wear angle and its relevance to a smooth working plane.


There was an interesting blog post about clogging mouths in side escapement planes lately:
http://musingsfrombigpink.blogspot.nl/2017/03/wood-planes-that-always-clog-and-wear.html

Thanks Kees,

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Jim, I was very interested in your post when it came out originally, but didn't realize at first that it was the same post when I first saw it this time, so started reading it again, and again with great interest. The updates are great. Very informative.

Great Post.

Thanks!

Stew

[Rollie Kelly]

Jim, thank you so much for this thread.
Early on in this thread, you said most of these planes were bedded for soft wood use. Would it be possible to relieve some of this problem by putting a microbevel on the iron?
Thanks,
Rollie

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, thank you so much for this thread.
Early on in this thread, you said most of these planes were bedded for soft wood use. Would it be possible to relieve some of this problem by putting a microbevel on the iron?
Thanks,
Rollie

Stew, Rollie and everyone else, you are welcome, glad you are enjoying this thread.

I think it was actually someone else who mentioned the soft wood. Most molding plane blades are bedded at 50º.

A micro bevel would be a nightmare on a molding plane. In the case of a simple bead the micro back bevel would be on a radius. On a complex shape it would have to change with the changes in the shape.

An important aspect of using molding planes is the selection of the material to be worked. The less challenging the work piece the better chances the finished molding will flawless.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

My current project brought something to the forefront recently.

Most of the used hollows that have come my way have unevenly honed irons. Most likely caused from it being easier to sharpen the middle of the curve than it is the edge. What happens is the edges become sharp points that can dig into the work at the edges.

My camera wasn't taken out to the shop the last few days so maybe some pictures later.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Today allowed me time to make some images of the blade in a 3/4" hollow plane. First is the blade as it was at the start today:

383337

This isn't as bad as it started out since some work has been done on it each time it has been used in the past. Notice on the right side the 'point' on the edge is sticking up and on the left the edge is barley even with the sole of the plane. Kind of hard to get a good image of this with my camera.

After a bit of work with some slip stones it is better:

383338

It may be difficult to see the difference here, but here is what matters:

383339

A full shaving without leaving any tracks.

It is kind of like cambering a regular plane iron only it needs to take a shaving all the way to the edge on a hollow plane.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

On almost all my hollow and round planes and the rebates that I have rehabbed, the sole just behind the mouth is higher then just before the mouth. That makes the plane difficult to work with. I usually rehab the round plane first and straighten the sole, then use that plane to repair the corresponding hollow.


+1 Kees it's a great way to clean up one plane sole from another.

In this post a hollow & round pair is cleaned up and uses the technique mentioned above. The hollow plane had a bit of a rough sole and was not a perfect match to the round plane.

Whilst ruminating on deeper subjects it is often beneficial for me to engage in a simple shop task. So today time was spent on rehabilitating a hollow & round pair of planes. These planes are what would be considered a Harlequin pair, i.e. not from the same maker.

When buying a set of hollows & rounds a Harlequin set is, supposedly, with pairs of planes being from the same maker but not all of the pairs being from the same maker. A double Harlequin set means that the planes paired by size may also be from different makers.

This is one of my 'pairs' waiting to be cleaned and sharpened. First the round plane was checked and the blade cleaned up and sharpened. It was then used to clean up and shape the sole of the hollow:

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This is a time to take off as little as is needed to get the soles to match. Too much and not only does the mouth become more open but the hollow becomes too deep to be effective.

If one is going to acquire a set of hollows and rounds via the rehab route, it may be helpful to either purchase a radius gauge or to make one using a compass. They come in handy to check the radius of a blade:

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These are available at art and drafting supply stores.

The hollow blade needed a bit of honing to cut evenly. Here are the planes after today's work:

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These planes now make complimentary profiles even though they are clearly not mates from birth. The hollow is bedded at 60º and the round at 55º. The hollow has the common profile with a stepped side and the round has a flat side. They are an odd couple but they can work together.

jtk

[Jerry Olexa]

Good work and results Jim.

[Tom M King]

I guess my set of hollows and rounds is a bastard part double harlequin set. There may be some matches, but in no particular order. I recently used them to change the profile cut by a sash plane, from an ugly Ovolo that I would never need, to an Ogee that I did need. A 1/4" rabbet plane also had a job in this. The beech is a wonderful wood to work for molding planes, and I see why it was so greatly favored.

I accumulated a lot of molding planes back when getting a small packet shipped from the UK was just a few bucks. I don't remember how much I paid for each of these planes, but am sure it was not over 15 bucks a piece. They took better care of the old ones in the UK, than they did here in the states. I never had time to rehab ones that needed a lot of work.

These pictures were taken while in the process. I rarely remember to take pictures once I'm producing work. These were before the modified plane was completely ready. The iron profile was changed with combination CBN wheel, and diamond files, then honed on water stones.

[Jim Koepke]

I guess my set of hollows and rounds is a bastard part double harlequin set. There may be some matches, but in no particular order.

To the best of my memory, three of my pairs are made be the same makers, though separate for each pair. In one of the pairs both planes have the same maker's name with some differences between the stamps. They were likely made years apart from each other.

jtk

[harold schmonz]

Thanks for this thread, Jim

I picked up a couple of wood planes with the intention of rehabbing them.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for this thread, Jim

I picked up a couple of wood planes with the intention of rehabbing them.

Can you post images of your planes before you get started?

jtk

[steven c newman]

Once that Kitchen Island Project is done, and out of the shop...I have this to get working..again..
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Sargent No. 3416 Jack plane
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Could use a bit of sprucing up...

[harold schmonz]

Here is a picture.

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Most of the wedges need replacing. The irons are all pitted, rusted and don't fit the profile or the bed very well. My goal is to just get them functional. It may be awhile. I just finished up making some floats and would eventually like to make my own.

[Jim Koepke]

Work was being done in the house today with a crew installing a walk-in tub for Candy.

This gave me a good reason to get out of the way and into the shop to try tuning an old coffin plane. Coffin Planes are not molding planes but they do have similar problems and solutions.

It is an Ohio Tools product that appears someone has tried unsuccessfully to get working in the past. The main problem is it tends to jam at the mouth:

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The first problem noticed was the toes on the wedge were too long making a crevice for shavings to catch:

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The foot of the wedge also would catch shavings and was trimmed while the toes were being corrected:

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This produced better results but shavings were still getting caught in the mouth. The front of the throat/mouth was a bit rough and shavings were also catching against it. A little work with a rasp helped. Also an application of paste wax helped the shavings slip through:

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The tool in the lower right corner of the image is a spring hook. It is not only handy for installing springs, it can get into tight places to clear shavings from a clogged mouth.

It is better than it was but still needs a bit more adjustment.

Getting the chip breaker, blade depth all working together is a bit tricky. The front of the mouth will likely need a bit more work. The chip breaker also may need some work to get the shavings to exit without becoming a tight roll that jams.

It now goes back on the shelf for another day.

Having become comfortable with and preferring metal planes has kept this project on the back burner for a few years now.

jtk