Cracks in woodie jointers, etc?

[Jeffrey Larsen]

Hello--

yesterday one of the nurses I work with brought me 2 old woodie jointers. They are about 2 feet long. They are solid, but the blades and chip breakers are frozen in place. The planes themselves have some longitudinal cracks in them. They are still very sound and I don't think they would affect the sole--however, I think over time it could be an issue. with that in mind, I am considering my options. I was thinking of filling the cracks with stainable wood glue--then I will be running the soles over a jointer and probably for esthetics, sanding and staining them. I am interested in what they can do and not so much in maintaining complete originality.

How about the blades and chipbreakers? Tap them gently with a brass hammer? I just got my first usable wooden tool yesterday in a collection of 20 + old stanley tools that I picked up for 31$. it is a wooden spokeshave and cuts like a dream. I don't know how to get the blade out to sharpen it, but it cuts so well, don't think it needs sharpening.

Insights appreciated! Jeff

[Bob Smalser]

Hello--

...I was thinking of filling the cracks with stainable wood glue--

....How about the blades and chipbreakers?

These crack because they dried out. The original beech they were made from was airdried, probably to around 9% EMC and then often used in shops without central heating. 100 years inside centrally-heated buildings brought them down to 6% EMC or even lower and they cracked.

So if these are as dry as you think they'll get and you'll use them indoors, fill the cracks with only dyed, thickened marine epoxy, the most flexible of glues. Do that to a hunk of wood that still has some drying to do, and it'll make the cracks worse, so make sure of what you have. I have a couple articles here on using epoxy and dye....Repairing Varnished Hardwood is probably the most thorough.

Then I finish the upper parts of the plane with either Truoil gunstock finish or spar varnish, to minimize absorption of humidity and slow down seasonal movement. On the soles I only impregnate them with paste wax.

Spray a penetrating oil like Kroil all around the stuck irons and leave them rightside up overnight. The next day, holding the plane upside down in your left hand grabbing the wedge and iron assembly with the plane's nose pointing away from you, whack the plane's tail hard with a wooden mallet. Repeat until the iron pops free. A mallet made of softer wood than beech is best. I keep a shop-made jointers mallet around made of soft maple just for that purpose.

[Pam Niedermayer]

To remove a blade from a woodie I hold the plane by the blade upside down, then bash the plane body heel with a wooden mallet.

Pam

[Ken Werner]

Something I've done with old wooden planes is to leave them sitting vertically in a coffee can with a few inches of linseed oil for a day [for each end] This may help close up cracks, as the oil can be absorbed into the end grain. Bob S. knows lots more than me, but this is something that might be easier, and depending on what you're starting with and what you want to end with may be a solution.