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Thread: wooden planes

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
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    Forest Lake MN
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    340

    wooden planes

    Hi guys,

    New to this type of wood working. I found a guy who had a bunch of old wooden planes that can be had for very little money. Irons in them look mostly good with very little rust and pitting. I grabbed one today that was auburn tool company.

    Is it worth going back and getting a few more?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
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    N Illionis
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    49
    were they bench planes or moulding planes. i like wooden bench planes for preparing rough stock

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    Virginia
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    1,209
    I like wooden planes. Don't know enough from your post to tell if it is "worth it." They take a little effort to get used to, but in my opinion the effort is well worth it. Auburn tool company is a good name.



    Quote Originally Posted by Brandon SPEAKS View Post
    Hi guys,

    New to this type of wood working. I found a guy who had a bunch of old wooden planes that can be had for very little money. Irons in them look mostly good with very little rust and pitting. I grabbed one today that was auburn tool company.

    Is it worth going back and getting a few more?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    Just to keep this going, some of the members have complained that we do not talk enough about wooden planes.

    Some folks prefer them to metal bodied planes for various reasons. Their feel/feedback in use is a bit different than metal planes. It is really a matter of personal preference.

    All but one of my standard bench planes are metal bodied. Most of my molding planes are wood.

    If the guy you are buying from has hollows and rounds, try to acquire matching sets. This means a hollow and round of the same size. Complimentary pairs do not necessarily have to be from the same maker, but that is better if possible.

    For more on molding planes see my post on them:

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...hab-Enthusiast

    When purchasing wooden bodied planes you want to avoid planes with a split or warp in the body. Something with a bit of blade life is also preferable. This is especially true with molding planes. Over time molding planes often pass through unknowing hands. Blade profiles may not match the sole. Reshaping a blade can be a lot of work.

    There seems to be even more to learn about wood bodied planes than metal bodied planes. Some are made to use a double iron and some will only use a single iron plane.

    There was a double iron, round, ~3" radius, bottomed plane in an antique shop tempting my wallet yesterday. Almost went back to get it today. Then my thoughts wondered to trying to think of where it would be used. Hmmm, no answer came to mind. So if it is still there next time my travels take me across the river maybe it will come home with me.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Marietta GA
    Posts
    1,120
    Hello!

    I have several wooden planes and a few transitionals. I've found the wooden planes to be a real
    pleasure to use. The ones made by Steve Knight are exceptionally fun to use and very easy to
    maintain. Great blades too.

    The transitionals are my go to planes for jack work. The blades are easy to sharpen and the Hock blade
    in one is like a smooth car....great to drive.

    I also have a lot more metal planes. Yep, I'm happy with both!! ;-)

    Mr. Koepke knows what he is talking about.

    Enjoy the shavings!

    Terry

  6. #6
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    Aug 2007
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    Dickinson, Texas
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    My Steve Knight planes are missing since Harvey came through Galveston County. I hope they turn up in a box of stuff that had items put in them to save.

  7. #7
    Brandon, I own and use both types (metal and wooden) of planes. I have a wooden plough plane that works beautifully, and it's very similar to what my LV RH plough plane does. The blade in the LV is better (much!), as is the fence mechanism and slitter; but both get the job done. I' enjoy the wood transitionals, too. These are much lighter than my vintage hand planes but have the same brass wheel adjustors. OTOH, the few razee pattern woodies are somewhat a hit and miss. For rough work (somewhat akin to a scrub plane), they work excellently; for fine finishing, I still struggle with all but one (and that one is very nice indeed). My wood shaves work equally as well as my vintage metal ones; I can't really tell much difference when each one is tuned.

    Consequently, if you have the chance to purchase some "good" wood planes at a very good price, I think that could be great!!! That's just my 2 cents, however.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Twin Cities, MN
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    If they can be had for little $, go get them and have fun. All part of the process. I came to possess an auburn wooden jointer plane that had been in my family for four generations (my dad and grandfather never used it AFAIK). Put it to work this year, really handy actually.

  9. #9
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    Due to a power outage that was a part of a landslide that also closed our road into town we went out to the coast today and strolled around Astoria, OR. One of the antique shops had a rather well stocked selection of wooden jack and jointer planes at ~#20 ea. It was awful tempting to bring one home.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  10. #10
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    Oct 2010
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    Australia
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    Not much gets said on the benefits of a lighter weight within wooden bodied smoothing planes. The plane on the left is a 50 degree double iron smoother, and the other is a 50 degrees single iron smoother with a steeper back bevel.


  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stewie Simpson View Post
    Not much gets said on the benefits of a lighter weight within wooden bodied smoothing planes. The plane on the left is a 50 degree double iron smoother, and the other is a 50 degrees single iron smoother with a steeper back bevel.

    I suppose that you will expound on those benefits in your next posting??

    by the way, they are very nice tools. Are they both your own making?

  12. #12
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    Jun 2010
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    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    Put one of mine to use, today....was a bit too tired to push one of the iron planes..
    IMG_2726 (640x480).jpg
    Stanley #31. 24" long, 2-3/8" wide iron. had so Ash that needed jointed..
    IMG_2728 (640x480).jpg
    The two Ash stiles are about 35" long. Just about the right length.

  13. #13
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    Pat; the German Horn smoothing plane is one of my builds. The single iron smoother is an early French maker that I refurbished back into service. The opening in front of the cutting edge is close to 1/4" but it doesn't seem to impede its performance. Its also bedded at 50* with an applied back bevel of 10* to raise its effective approach angle up to cabinet pitch (60*). I can work this plane in both grain directions and not fall fowl of inherent tear-out.

    The following shows the results of using this plane against the grain on Kwila. (Merbau)



    Now it would be fair to say I am not a total die heart fan on using double iron planes to control tear-out. The following example shows a 50* double iron jointer plane that's had the leading edge of the cap iron backed off to around 1/8". A back bevel of 10* was also applied to the iron to raise this planes effective approach angle to cabinet pitch (60*)



    Using Kwila again as the demonstration wood, this plane was worked with and against the grain, with no signs of visible tear-out. Now before anyone makes the claim that a higher bevel down approach angle of 60* is much harder to push than a 45 degree bed with a closely set cap iron. That argument falls short within my own findings.




    Last edited by Stewie Simpson; 01-01-2018 at 6:52 AM.

  14. #14
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    Don't have time to show off skinny shavings. I USE a jointer like a ...well, a Jointer..
    ganged up stiles.jpg
    And as soon a shaving runs the full length of a board being jointed, I stop. As the job is done. Even with the iron planes..
    Junior Jack.jpg
    Junior Jack vs 3 sticks of Ash.....When all three match, and the shavings are the entire length, I move on to the next phase of a build.

    Would take all day, using them way too thin shavings, just to joint a few edges. Fine if all one is doing, is showing off....I haven't the time for that

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brandon SPEAKS View Post
    Hi guys,

    New to this type of wood working. I found a guy who had a bunch of old wooden planes that can be had for very little money. Irons in them look mostly good with very little rust and pitting. I grabbed one today that was auburn tool company.

    Is it worth going back and getting a few more?
    Hi Brandon

    Are you able to post some pictures of the planes? Wooden planes can be wonderful to use but, as with everything, they become tired with age. Also, there are many different types of wooden planes, ranging from bench planes to joinery planes and to moulding planes. It is not evident what you have, or their condition. As I recall, Auburn were a decent company.

    Regards from Cape Town

    Derek

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