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Thread: How flat a scrub...

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    How flat a scrub...

    Hi,

    I got a 5 in my possession thst the previous owner must have something bad to. When I put it on a flat surface it rocks back and forth on two corners. So it's rather badly twisted. Maybe 1.5mm or so.

    I was thinking of converting it to a scrub, would such twist be ok in that case? Of course I can attack it with a file to make it flatter, but perfect it's not gonna be!

    As always any hints welcome!

    Bram

  2. #2
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    Lets see, to "scrub", you are using a thick, highly cambered edge, to take HEAVY cross-grain shavings.......a "flat sole" is usually not a requirement. Of course, one could hold the plane in such a way, that the sole can wear away the supposed high spots...over time.....since that seems to be the way the sole got the way it is now.

    Unless an iron body was subjected to a fire....iron bases do not "warp".....they wear....slowly. Figure out how said "warpped" plane was held....was it used at a skew to the grain? Skew the plane the opposite direction, and over time ( decades?) things will even out.

    It wasn't just the "previous " owner....more than likely it was a line of previous owners.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Might have left the factory that way, plenty are warped out of the box. If I was in your position I'd sharpen a blade with 8" radius and give it a try. Then use a belt sander to knock the corners down if it needs it. What have you got to lose? I know I couldn't sell it as a bench plane in that condition.

  4. #4
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    If this plane is used as a scrub plane the twist shouldn't be much of an issue if any.

    The only 'precision' required of a scrub plane is from the user making sure it doesn't pass the desired depth of material removal.

    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
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    I agree with all the above. I have one blade for my scrub cambered at 3" radius. It leaves a washboard but it chews through spruce and fir like a locomotive. 1.5mm of twist in the sole on mine would not be noticeable.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bram de Jong View Post
    Hi,

    I got a 5 in my possession thst the previous owner must have something bad to. When I put it on a flat surface it rocks back and forth on two corners. So it's rather badly twisted. Maybe 1.5mm or so.

    I was thinking of converting it to a scrub, would such twist be ok in that case? Of course I can attack it with a file to make it flatter, but perfect it's not gonna be!

    As always any hints welcome!

    Bram
    No, it's junk. Melt it down or throw it away.

    Or paint stuff on the side of it and sell it, maybe on an auction site...
    Last edited by Doug Dawson; 12-07-2019 at 8:29 PM.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    If this plane is used as a scrub plane the twist shouldn't be much of an issue if any.

    The only 'precision' required of a scrub plane is from the user making sure it doesn't pass the desired depth of material removal.

    jtk
    Agreed. You don’t need flat to scrub.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Kurtis Johnson View Post
    Agreed. You don’t need flat to scrub.
    A scrub is concerned with the global shape of the board. You're trying to remove material en masse. The dedicated scrub (#40) is short for weight reasons and because flatness doesn't really matter too much there. When you start talking about converting much longer planes like the #5, there will be a tendency for the "global" shape of the board to start conforming to the twist of the plane, which is exactly what you _do_not_ want. Aggressive twist like the OP describes is IMO a disqualification. You just don't need it.

  9. #9
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    Run that by a tad slower.....as in "HUH?"


    "Aggressive twist"? 1.5mm? over 14" in length? Really? Sounds more like a "Much ado about..."

    The curve of the cutter would stick down further than that......sheesh. Worry about "flat" when the Try/Fore plane is getting used....

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Dawson View Post
    A scrub is concerned with the global shape of the board. You're trying to remove material en masse. The dedicated scrub (#40) is short for weight reasons and because flatness doesn't really matter too much there. When you start talking about converting much longer planes like the #5, there will be a tendency for the "global" shape of the board to start conforming to the twist of the plane, which is exactly what you _do_not_ want. Aggressive twist like the OP describes is IMO a disqualification. You just don't need it.
    Doug, For some reason your post doesn't make sense to me. Maybe something is being missed. Even this plane seems to do okay for scrub work:

    Round Sole Razee Plane.jpg

    Its sole is far from flat.

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

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    Run that by a tad slower.....as in "HUH?"


    "Aggressive twist"? 1.5mm? over 14" in length? Really? Sounds more like a "Much ado about..."

    The curve of the cutter would stick down further than that......sheesh. Worry about "flat" when the Try/Fore plane is getting used....
    Well, maybe it's easier to find a plane that you can convert to a scrub, that is not steeped in such perversity. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. :^)

  12. #12
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    Interesting Gutter Plane Jim.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Doug, For some reason your post doesn't make sense to me. Maybe something is being missed. Even this plane seems to do okay for scrub work:

    Round Sole Razee Plane.jpg

    Its sole is far from flat.
    It's HOW it's flat or not that matters. Twist is different.

  14. #14
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    More wisdom from Left Field?

    Since I don't smoke....explain.

    IMAG0140.jpg
    To take Sycamore slabs like this..
    IMAG0142.jpg
    And run a scrub jack over them...and not even worry about it having a "flat" sole. Of course, one could use a "perfectly flat" soled plane, taking sub-thousandths shavings, and maybe a week to get this same plank flat....haven't the time, actually.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    More wisdom from Left Field?

    Since I don't smoke....explain.

    IMAG0140.jpg
    To take Sycamore slabs like this..
    IMAG0142.jpg
    And run a scrub jack over them...and not even worry about it having a "flat" sole. Of course, one could use a "perfectly flat" soled plane, taking sub-thousandths shavings, and maybe a week to get this same plank flat....haven't the time, actually.
    Why would you work with a bent screwdriver when you could just rummage around and find a straight one?

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