Wood plane sole crack - an issue?

[Jimmy White]

All,
Newb to hand planes here..

I have the opportunity to purchase a 1920's plane that has a small crack on the sole. I want to purchase planes to collect and also to use. Is this a usable plane?

Crack is on the right side of the iron.

Thanks for the input!

372315

[Phil Mueller]

Hi Jimmy, welcome to the creek! I’m no expert on wooden planes...others will be along. I don’t know that the crack will be a big issue, but I’d be concerned about the chipping in front of the mouth...and perhaps the dings on the bottom surface. The iron is also in rough shape...will take some grinding to get past the chips. Don’t think I‘d invest too much $ into this plane.

I’m sure those more familiar will be along soon...

[Pat Barry]

I'm not so sure from the picture that is a crack. It might just be a scratch. If it is a crack, we certainly can't tell how deep it is but from the single picture I'd consider it more cosmetic than a functional issue.

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Jimmy and welcome to the Creek.

A plane like this one can be resoled. Not sure if you want to do that kind of work. One of my bum ebay deals left me with a couple of metal planes like this. They actually are useable, but it was still a bum deal. So instead of falling into self pity and such one of them was converted for use as a scrub plane. Now it gets used more often than the good condition plane of the same size.

One of the hidden treasures here is the accumulation of knowledge. Sometimes it isn't easy to find. Here is a link:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?103805-Neanderthal-wisdom-FAQs

That is a page of links to posts by various members. One of them, Bob Smalser posted about restoring wooden bodied planes.

As to the plane you are looking at in particular, you might be able to find one in better condition at a good price.

Not knowing your location, the price being asked for the one in your post or a few other bits of information it is difficult to asses the situation.

Most of the standard bench planes in my vast accumulation were less than $35. Of course most of them required a bit of work to get them to perform as desired. A lot of that was luck and the perseverance of stopping at yard sales, antique shops and junk stores.

jtk

[steven c newman]

From the looks of things....owner had ran over a bit of metal at one time....maybe twice? The "cracks" (2) are tracks where the metal went along the sole ( nail, maybe?)

IF you look at the iron's corners and where both tracks went by, you will see a chip in the iron's edge.

When you go to flatten the sole, the tracks should disappear. Which leaves sharpening the edge of the iron.

Oh, about the wedge...rough it up a bit, you do not want a slippery wedge, makes it hard to keep settings. A few passes with a bit of 60 grit sandpaper should do the trick.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Hi Jimmy, welcome to the creek! I’m no expert on wooden planes...others will be along. I don’t know that the crack will be a big issue, but I’d be concerned about the chipping in front of the mouth...and perhaps the dings on the bottom surface. The iron is also in rough shape...will take some grinding to get past the chips. Don’t think I‘d invest too much $ into this plane.

I’m sure those more familiar will be along soon...

I agree the iron may be the more significant issue. If the back is heavily pitted, you will not be able to lap that out, and if you use it with the pits you will always have little knicks or serrations where the edge runs across one of those little pits. That would not stop you from using it for rougher shaping, but is something to keep in mind.

[Jimmy White]

Thank you for your responses!
Very useful information.

[Oskar Sedell]

I would try to get some glue into the crack, maybe CA glue that sucks deep into the crack. Clamp it up and when the glue has cured, flatten the sole. Then tap the wedge home, as you would for using the plane and see if the area behind the mouth bulges out. If so, I'd try to reinforce the crack in some way.

[Rob Luter]

They look like glue joints to me. The locations are way too coincidental with the outsides of the mouth. I suspect the plane was machined in parts sawn from one piece of wood then glued back together.

[Stewie Simpson]

Those cracks indicate the signs of seasonal movement while the plane has been held in storage with its cutting iron locked tightly against its bed. If seasonal movement cannot release across the bed, it will eventually release itself at the next weakest point. In this case, that was on both sides of the mouth opening.

Here the clue;

Wood Movement — You Can’t Stop It

Wood is hygroscopic, which means its MC will fluctuate based on the relative humidity (RH) of the surrounding air. As humidity increases, the MC increases, and the wood expands, and as the humidity decreases, MC decreases, and the wood shrinks.

http://workshopcompanion.com/KnowHow/Design/Nature_of_Wood/2_Wood_Movement/2_Wood_Movement_Images/NOW_2_7_288.jpg
Wood is fairly stable along its length, moving only 0.01 percent as it loses its bound water. However, (on the average) it moves 8 percent tangentially and 4 percent radially.

[Stewie Simpson]

To the OP; its likely those cracks wont impede the function of the plane. If you want to fill those cracks I would suggest a Thin CA Glue.