Adding to sole of Japanese plane

[Cameron Wood]

I'm working on this that I got from ebay. It's pretty old and the block is thin, with large mouth opening in spite of having had a filler piece fitted.
Thinking of adding 5/16" to the sole, which should move the blade and chip breaker down, improving the fit.
I haven't seen this done, 'tho I do have a grooving plane with corner pieces let in, and a plane with plastic laminate added to the sole.

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[Richard Coers]

My concern would be conflicting movement between the added sole and grain direction of the dai. Most of the oak dai are quarter sawn. Put a flat sawn sole on it and you have the conflict.

[Howard Pollack]

I would take out the old insert and add a new one. You could even cut off a piece of the plane and use it for the insert. -Howard

[Cameron Wood]

My concern would be conflicting movement between the added sole and grain direction of the dai. Most of the oak dai are quarter sawn. Put a flat sawn sole on it and you have the conflict.

That is something to think about.

Oddly, this other plane that I've had for several years works surprisingly well in spite of coming from Japan to dryer climate.

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[Cameron Wood]

I would take out the old insert and add a new one. You could even cut off a piece of the plane and use it for the insert. -Howard

Interesting idea. Part of the problem is that because the block is thin, the chipbreaker is effectively backed out with the ears bent severely, so it doesn't stay in position well.

The block is not a great piece of wood & has bowed. I hope my fix will help it stay flat.

[Jim Koepke]

My question is why not just find a good piece of wood and make a new body?

jtk

[chuck van dyck]

These are often glued with a reversible like hide glue. Try heating the glue and advancing the insert. Learned this from an Andrew Hunter piece somewhere. I’ve started doing this and it works well.

Once the insert is where you want it, true up the sole and the mouth back open to accept the blade.

Hope that works for you.

[Cameron Wood]

These are often glued with a reversible like hide glue. Try heating the glue and advancing the insert. Learned this from an Andrew Hunter piece somewhere. I’ve started doing this and it works well.

Once the insert is where you want it, true up the sole and the mouth back open to accept the blade.

Hope that works for you.

This one is more crude than that- the insert is nailed. Some of the nail points came through when truing the sole. Could have replaced it 'tho...

AFAS making a new body, maybe we'll try that next year.

[chuck van dyck]

Ah yes I see that now. Maybe try to tap out the nails? The holes are in the hollow so shouldn’t come into play. Then use some hide glue to reattach the insert?
A 3/8” brass wear strip could be good too since the dia is already thin and looks like it doesn’t have a ton of flattenings left. Am I mistaken or is this a jointer plane? If its not a finishing plane I wouldn’t go too crazy.

I have an old kanna I really love, but the dia is cracked in front of the mouth so if not careful the blade really deforms the sole. I’m considering a bolt to pinch everything back tight. Unless aesthetics are important, maybe just make it work for you. Thats why I like these planes. I can easily sand, grind, chisel, glue, etc to make them work the way I want. Personally I think it’s a huge advantage over their western counterparts. That being said, someone will have to pry the 1/2 SH chisel and LN 102 from my dead cold hands.

[Cameron Wood]

Yes, jointer plane. I think it will work- need to let glue dry some more, cut the mouth and refit the blade.



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I've had pretty good success gluing cracked dai, if it's not too oily. I dislike that bolt thing, aesthetically. This one was a real mess. It had a bolt and a clinched nail, & is holding up well with just glue.

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[Cameron Wood]

OK, we're in business. Probably over hour on the iron, which needed a lot of work, and maybe 5 hours on the rest- good thing this isn't to make a living!
Set the sole up with six high spots
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