old tools

[lazeyjack]

some of you guys might be interested, these were my dads tools
Strange hopw modern things have taken awy lots of skills, like sharpening saw blades by hand,
thinks like the planer(buzzer) instead of a number 6 plane, the compound slide saw, doing most of the work a tenon saw did

[Frosty]

I think it really nice that you used your Father tools as a decorative feature in the lounge. Its difficult to know what to do with stuff like this. Must be a dusting nightmare.

WWhhhhooaaa is that your underpants on the clothes horse?

[longliner45]

never ever get rid of your fathers tools ,,that is a fantastic colletion ,,you can build a boat (almost) of what is there,,,hand tools are a lost thing ,,many dont know how to use them ,,the planer for example ,,how many know how to square a board?,,and you have end plainers ,,box plainers,,,,,,,all stained withe your fathers sweat,,,,,too cool,,longliner,,,cant make out the stuff on the bottom,,,what is there,longliner

[lazeyjack]

thats mas cabin, he died, as they do, 85, worked like a horse all his life,, got his machines lathes etc, all wrapped in sacking with oil, , , thanks John, fcrosty

[Poida]

Beaut collection Lazyjack, reckon your Dad must have bought half that stuff off Noah.

This is Australia Frosty, we don't have dust here.

Poida

[Bergalia]

Dammit Stu - I have to nag you about the state of your lawn...Now I've got to shout at you for sitting the planes (box, jack and smoothing) on their face...Never, I repeat never my boy set them down on their face - it ruins the edge of the blade. Planes should be placed on their side... Did your dad teach you nothing...?
But what a great collection. It really is a worthwhile inheritance, and I trust they're not just a 'static' display. Pick them up, get a sense of your father's skills, and craft. Feel his 'spirit' because it will be there, as deeply ingrained as the timbers he worked.

[timgoz]

Beautiful collection. Is that a draw knife toppish/center?

[alan white]

i've got a similar (though smaller) shelf unit in the shop. Mostly iron planes, spokeshaves, and various old marking and cutting implements.
A couple I got 25 years ago when I started out. The rest are from yard sales and here and there. They are all sharpened and ready to use, which is a good thing, because hand tools made nowadays (unless you are wealthy) are mostly not worth a damn.
Yesterday I used a router with a flush-cutting bit to cut off the overlap of the 1/2" deck ply over a frame where a crossing coaming will be screwed. the router didn't make it into the end corners all the way, so I pared the rest off with a one hundred year old barn slick. No other tool could have done a better job. Note I didn't use a jack or block plane to cut the middle part. It would have been quicker than putting a bit in a collet and dragging out an extension cord, but that epoxy is hard on blades.
It's nice to have the modern power tools and the old tools as well.
Sometimes I do it the slow way just because I have time and the tools are so quiet and friendly.

alan

[SamSam]

Lazeyjack,
On the shelf below the bowsaw, second tool from the right is a planelike tool with a curved handle on the end, and another one two shelves below it. Are those planes or scrapers?

[lazeyjack]

draw knives , for rounding, Sam Sam., Bergs they are never used, I learnt at 5 to lay em on their sides, , the big jacks got used a fair bit
Want to hear a funnt story,My bRother was telling me, that he took a tingsten blad in for sharpening, one of Dads, the guy said "someone has tried to set this" so funny, you cant set tungsten its already set, But he would set and sharpen anything so he knew not His modern Jacks seem to have gone astray, suspect my brother in law, thanks all for nice words

[alan white]

I'm curious. I do quite a bit of scraping (for a living too, hahha). In any case, I use saw blades--- cut then to size, file and hone the edges square, and draw a hard (usu. fat round screwdriver) across the sharp corners (four edges). The result is a tool that can do what a sander can't, and faster too in many cases. I just wonder if anyone else uses scrapers.
I learned scraping early on,about the time I was working in a custom furniture shop. You could take a table top sanded with 35 grit and scrape for fifteen minutes and touch it uo with 240 grit or finer, and be done.
Scraping can't be done on soft woods. A good all-shape scraper set can be made from a smashed glass bottle. Anyone who works on boats and doesn;t yet use one is missing out. While most old-time tools have been replaced by power tools, the scraper, like the plane or the spokeshave, are the best tool for some jobs, and nothing else comes close.

[lazeyjack]

yes Alan I use one all the time, I used to use Scarsten then I discovered another brand with four edged blade, using a smooth file I can make like razor, and drawing it towards the body with varying pressure on the tool head I can strip a table top in minutes, I then use a long board to flatten the top, three feet long same as used for fairing hulls

[Bergalia]

I've found that if you sharpen the blades of metal paint strippers - the Triangular; Pointed with Round Heel; and Straight Flat, they give you a variety of 'scraping' edges - and as Stu and Alan say, far superior to modern power tools.
And it's nice to get 'intimate' with the wood you are working on.

[Frosty]

Lazy judging by the height of your bicycle seat, I am guessing you are vertically challenged.

Have you noticed that in most photographs of Lazies he has somewhere in the photo some underpants.

[timgoz]

Fetish :rolleyes:

[Bergalia]

... Have you noticed that in most photographs of Lazies he has somewhere in the photo some underpants.


Where do you think he stores his 'old tool' you idiot....

[alan white]

I went back two years, and sure enough, they are in every photo. Rather than embarrass him, I had a private, and brief discussion with him about it.
Turns out, underpants make one of the best lens cleaning rags available for any kind of money.
So I guess maybe you'll think twice from now on, Frosty, before calling attention to embarrassing photo details. And Lazyjack now has a better use for those briefs.

[lazeyjack]

Lazy judging by the height of your bicycle seat, I am guessing you are vertically challenged.

Have you noticed that in most photographs of Lazies he has somewhere in the photo some underpants.

that set low, for my son, goes up 4 inches for me,

[Frosty]

What no underpants???? They must be in the green bucket.

I like this 'spot the underpant' game. Does anyone else have any spot the underpant pictures.

[alan white]

What no underpants???? They must be in the green bucket.

I like this 'spot the underpant' game. Does anyone else have any spot the underpant pictures.

Speaking of holding shafts in, Frosty, I see your mom has been replaced by an internal snap ring. I thought for sure we'd see the external female snap ring. Good for you.

[Frosty]

Ahh you noticed that did you Alan. Yes well my mum found out that I was using her photo and she rang me and said I should go and see her imediately. She gave me a very cold reception and was not happy about the photo, She said hell will freeze over before she would allow me to use her photo. She said it didnt have her best side.

So I chose something else more fitting to my character.

Its an internal circlip, not a female. Circlips dont have sex,-- well ive never seen them. What all this 'snap ring' stuff its a bloody circlip.

Actually its my avatar from another forum.

Your up late Alan I thought America was asleep.

[alan white]

It's bloody eleven! I can stay up til I pop, and I will!
I'm glad you know the correct international terminology for retainer rings. It's kinda unfair, though, seeing as you belong to a retainer forum. Do you belong to a gasket forum too? If so, which favorite gasket would you choose to represent your personality?

[longliner45]

a wax o ring from a toilet???????/

[longliner45]

sorry frosty ,,coudnt help myself,,,,,longliner

[Frosty]

a wax o ring from a toilet/

Sure why not? maybe a toilet seat? it would'nt be the first time I have been familiar with a toilet seat. I was once offered a blind date and I accepted. So on the phone we discussed how we would recognise each other.

Forget the flower in the lappel I said. I will wear a toilet seat,---I joked. She thought that was so funny.

So with best suit, collar and tie--- and toilet seat,---we met.

Funny,---she wasnt laughing then. Silly cow!!

[alan white]

Was the seat up or down? That could have made a world of difference.

[longliner45]

frosty should be in sw ohio ,,he just aint right,,,,,,longliner

[Frosty]

Was the seat up or down? That could have made a world of difference.

Well of course the 'lid' was up ,---how could you get your head through a toilet seat with the 'lid' down. I dont know where Ohio is but if they wear toilet seats then it cant be bad place to live. They,--- unlike Alan would know that it is imperative to lift the 'lid' when wearing.

I dont tink you are even supposed to leave the 'lid' attached,--would be good if it was raining,---maybe Alan does know a thing or two about wearing toilet seats.

Toilet terminology--the round thing you sit on is a "seat". the flap thing that covers it is a "lid". You guys got nuclear weapons?

[alan white]

My mistake mixing it up with a toilet fashion scientist. However, Frosty, I've got you this time. Women can't stand seeing the seat left up, and a few women get all bent out of shape when the lid alone is left up. You obviously are an emasculated man who has no choice because his woman put a cozy on the lid and it keeps falling down and must be held by the emasculated male's knee whilst peeing. No wonder you have that fashion neurosis.
My advice is you stand your ground and spray the whole room a few times in protest. Also makes male visitors nervous when they sniff around, cuz they know you be the boss.

[lazeyjack]

you guys really shud go back to the drivel thread? um!!

[SamSam]

I use scrapers a lot and make them from various things. One place where they are real handy is getting nubs off fiberglass so another lamination can be applied. Unlike sanding and grinding, it doesn't leave all kinds of dust in the air or on the surface where it can affect bonding. It's easy to clean gunk off the scraper whereas grinding disks and sandpaper have to be thrown away.

[Bergalia]

you guys really shud go back to the drivel thread?

Alright Stu. Now settle down - don't get your knickers in a twist....:)

[eponodyne]

I knew i came to the right site!

I was lucky enough to inherit my great-grandfather's collection of turn-of-the-(last)century tools; bunch of Stanley transitional planes--the earliest models of Bedrocks and a few from just previous to that; drawknives; boxed set of Hibbard, Bartlett, and Spence socket mortise chisels; some beautiful old Disston panel saws including one 8-tpi ripsaw which, believe you me, is the cat's knickers on green locust and white oak. I just love them, and spend a disproportionate amount of my time combing antique stores looking for nice old things to flesh out the collection. Scored a nice 3-3/4" lipped adze in a junk shop in Florida not to long ago for $55 US.

It's cheaper and more productive an addiction than meth, anyway.

I'd like to take exception, though, to the common conception that a plane should be laid on its side. Why? Well, think about it: what's a plane designed to do? Shave wood, right? So how in the ham sandwich is setting it sole-down on a piece of wood possibly going to harm it? Furthermore, when it's upright, you're not going to brush your knuckles against the iron, you're not going to accidentally going to move a framing square into it and notch it (guilty, by the way) and overall, when its upright, the edge is protected.

Just my two pence.

[alan white]

In the shop, I stand planes up. Outside or at a customer's location, they usually go on their side. It has to do with grit and dirt. No reason to store them on their side at all. I've had guys working for me who felt just fine setting a plane down on someone's driveway right side up. They are buried not ten feet from the same driveways... on their sides of course.

Alan

[Bergalia]

I've had guys working for me who felt just fine setting a plane down on someone's driveway right side up. They are buried not ten feet from the same driveways... on their sides of course.Alan

Possibly the same guys who use chisels to open paint tins and as screwdrivers....:mad:

[alan white]

Hahaha! That actually happened on a job--- another crew, painting, the guy "borrowed" my chisel, freshly honed it was, and it came back with an eighth-inch chip in it. I nearly strangled him... twenty years later, he's a good friend. I can still embarrass him any time with that story. It worked when I bounced a basketball off his barn window one day playing with his son, and it will do me service twenty years from now.

Alan

[lazeyjack]

wot abt this i used to keep long expensive cedar fairing and lofting battens, some 7 m long, and old, crowd came in to paint boat, cut em up for stirring sticks, felt ill!!

[Bergalia]

.. i used to keep long expensive cedar fairing and lofting battens... crowd came in to paint boat, cut em up for stirring sticks, felt ill!!

There you go Stu - they probably saw your planes standing on their face and....Well you can imagine the rest.....:P

And before Frosty asks - did they then use your underpants to wipe the surplus paint ?:)

[alan white]

To top it off, I bet the paint ended up with wood fibers in it. Straight ones.
You can usually warn people about not touching things, but some people consider certain things as disposable. Rope is one of those things. But any tool will do, especially if it's old looking, like my 12 pt Henry Disston cast steel finish saw. I caught a guy (who was nearby digging a hole) working at a dirt-covered root with it. Beat that.

[eponodyne]

You know, I think that's it. These things look old, so they must not have any value. Everybody knows that modern technology can do everything faster and better, right?

I've got a Lie-Nielsen low-angle jack plane. It's definitely a sports car; it's really nice. But I've tried their #22 jointer, and I'm not entirely convinced it's any better than my old Bedrock. Either way, a modern power plane is no substitute for either. Neither is a belt sander.

[alan white]

That Lie-Neilson stuff is expensive. Made in Maine in fact, and great stuff. I have enough old Stanleys from very small to very large. I think only the low angle block plane made by Stanley is worth a hoot any more. The newer ones (and Records too) are nowhere as well made nowadays. Only Lie-Nielson makes decent planes today, I think, at least with the exception of good Japanese planes.
Most all of my squares planes, saws, spokeshaves, and chisels are about 50-100 years old, a thirty year collection from yard sales, antique shops, tool dealers, and one or two inherited.
I am not nostalgic at all. I simply can't find anything made in the world that work as well, though I suppose anything can be had for enough money.
Thankfully, most all of the tools cost a pittence, some ridiculously cheap.

Alan

[alan white]

Let me mention one modern tool that is fantastic. I use a Japanese double sided pull saw a lot. I can't say enough good things about it, especially the price of $20. No shop should be without one.

[Frosty]

Possibly the same guys who use chisels to open paint tins

Well what are you supposed to use then? Don't you think its a sign if a skilled worker? one who is familiar with his tools that can double up on there use.

This will also cut down cost, weight of tool box etc and will eventually benefit the customer. I have an electric drill that can be used as screw driver, grinder, drill, (ofcourse) --and a hammer.

[mydauphin]

I keep almost two sets of tools, one for my use and the other of others to use. Their set is the crapy chinese kind. I just buy more of the crapy for them as needed. Especially, sockets and wrenchs. Did you know sockets make great plugs to hammer on...

I also have a big magnet on a rope. I have recovered tools countless times from tanks, bilge, over the side. Even power tools.

Good tools are important, but so are cheap tools.

[lazeyjack]

sure MY specially when I lean on a ring spanner made in India and it breaks and skins my knuckles, then I really appreciate cheap tools:)) Not as much as I preciate my Stahwille, and Britool which I have had since apprentice days and never broken a one, Aunt bought me a Craftsman 1/4 drive set for my 21st, and that's indistructable too

[Landlubber]

Hey mate, look after those. I see no compass plane, was you Dad a carpenter or boatbuilder.
If he played with boats, do you have his caulking irons? I still have mine hidden away, but fortunately do not get to use them that much any more. They are near impossible to get now in Australia, I do lend mine to young shippies from time to time, but they get reluctant to return them.
Those planes on their soles are quite OK cos they are resting on a wooden shelf if you want to display them as such, it will do nothing to the edge just sitting there.
Look after them and yourself, kind regards.

[lazeyjack]

Hey mate, look after those. I see no compass plane, was you Dad a carpenter or boatbuilder.
If he played with boats, do you have his caulking irons? I still have mine hidden away, but fortunately do not get to use them that much any more. They are near impossible to get now in Australia, I do lend mine to young shippies from time to time, but they get reluctant to return them.
Those planes on their soles are quite OK cos they are resting on a wooden shelf if you want to display them as such, it will do nothing to the edge just sitting there.
Look after them and yourself, kind regards.

Thank you Dad made furniture, , caulking iron, still buy in Auckland .Fosters may have same, but turkey greece, still in everyday use,,

[Bergalia]

.... do you have his caulking irons? I still have mine hidden away, but fortunately do not get to use them that much any more. They are near impossible to get now in Australia.

Seems you are living up to your name Landlubber. Most 'old' boatbuilders' make their own caulking tools: Stonemasons' claws and wedges can be adapted (a little grinding) and zinc bucket handles suitably modified make perfect 'substitutes'.....Often better in fact, because they have been shaped for the particular craftsman, ad particular job in hand.

[timgoz]

A good friend inherited a small knife collection. Included was a beautiful small Damascus bladed folder. I almost crapped my paints when he attempted to use it to remove a battery terminal. I felt like doing something else associated with the word "battery".

Tim

[alan white]

I would have checked his "fluid" too, Tim. Or did you mean return him to Sears?

[Frosty]

[QUOTE=Bergalia Most 'old' boatbuilders' make their own caulking tools: Stonemasons' claws and wedges can be adapted[/QUOTE]

They are actually a little but heavy for working overhead. But so is the hammer I hear you say? Caulking is very hard work.

Here in Thailand most caulkers are women. Caulkng costs 10 dollars per day per caulker.

[timgoz]

Alan,

I did tell him he ought to give me the above knife. No good tool, let alone a Damascus knife, deserves such an owner. Other than that moronic act he is a hell of a good guy though.

Tim

[Bergalia]

... No good tool, let alone a Damascus knife, deserves such an owner.


Damascus steel ? Sounds like you're mixing with them Ayrabs Tim...Forced to send an email to George Junior. You're now on the 'suspect' list.....But cheer up, I believe there's good boating around Cuba.... :(

[timgoz]

To bloody hot down ther for me. Better behave.

Actually the knife is made by CASE, right here in PA. Them and the Zippo lighter company are up around Bradford PA.

Probably just damascus type opposed to actually from Damascus.

Tim

[Bergalia]

...Actually the knife is made by CASE, right here in PA.


CASE ?....No, No Tim - that wasn't a knife - it was a tractor...Can I suggest it's time for a trip to the optician.....:D

[timgoz]

A friend gave me a piece of damascus forged out of chainsaw chain. I surface ground it and profiled it. Still have to grind the bevels, build handle, and heat treat blade. Can't tell the individual pattern till you dip the blade in acid. Brings out the pattern like developer does a print.

[Frosty]

Damascus kills 99% of household germs.

[timgoz]

Back to the Drivel thread with you Frosty. :mad:

[Frosty]

But theres no one there!!. Your all over here talking about cleaning agent.

By the way a few of us are going to talk about septics while your all in bed, and seeing as its sunday tomorow and septics dont have home computers it will be ohhh Tuesday here before you find out.

[timgoz]

I just put the coffee on, and use a laptop here at home I stole from work.

Will just lurk and collect info for the list.

Reminds me, my tanks gonna need pumped soon.

Tim

[charmc]

By the way a few of us are going to talk about septics while your all in bed, and seeing as its sunday tomorow and septics dont have home computers it will be ohhh Tuesday here before you find out.

You're busted, Frosty!

[Frosty]

Your busted ??? What does that mean?-- I have busts?

[Landlubber]

Bergalia,
I am an unashamed user of tools, and regularly modify tools to serve a specific purpose, but my irons are at least 100 years old, and making them would require a decent forge, which is unfortunately not in my shed. Yes, I have made irons before from brickies bolsters, but only to give away. The fine handles and smooth bodies of the old irons would be very difficult to reproduce economically at home, sounds like Thailand might be a good supply for me next time I am there. I currently work in China making 34-60 footers.

[Frosty]

Landlubber,--I wouldnt get too exited about picking up a source of tools. They too are modified from wood chissels and bolsters, even axes.

I have to admit to not paying perfect attention to all the tools of all the workers. Its quite possible some passing foreigner might have given the proper tool to them, but I would be surprised if one could buy them there.

However as usuall Thailand is a constant source of surprises.

[lazeyjack]

Bergalia,
I am an unashamed user of tools, and regularly modify tools to serve a specific purpose, but my irons are at least 100 years old, and making them would require a decent forge, which is unfortunately not in my shed. Yes, I have made irons before from brickies bolsters, but only to give away. The fine handles and smooth bodies of the old irons would be very difficult to reproduce economically at home, sounds like Thailand might be a good supply for me next time I am there. I currently work in China making 34-60 footers.

Try an old light car leaf spring, they make good tools,

[Landlubber]

Frosty,
Yeah, you are probable right when I think about it, the situation would be no different from being in China. It was just a brain fart thinking that I could get something for nothing, guess I got all excited about nothing.
It is near impossible to buy anything here of quality, quality is only for the export market, but they do have some unique tools that are useful, such as back cut saws, 3 point cast reamers, crescent knives and a few power tools like a die grinder with a Jacobs type chuck on it. I was terrified to use the grinder when I first bought it expecting it to just dissentigrate in my hands, but is really is well balanced and is a very useful tool. They also have variable speed angle grinders here that are cheap (US$30) and work well. I wwork in Ningbo which is centre east coast, very industrial but full of boatbuilding, various standards, mostly horrific.
Are you working in Thailand or have you "done your time" and now relax with a Thai massage every night? Now that is something I really miss, Chinese massage is cruel and hard.

[timgoz]

Leaf springs can make a good knife. L6 (?) comes to mind, or is it A6 steel?

Tim

[Bergalia]

Leaf springs can make a good knife.Tim

No, leave them on your cart Tim. Gives a smoother ride to the 'hoe-down' and prevents finger-shake when plucking your banjo....:)

[timgoz]

Mountain Dulcimer Max.

Tim

[lazeyjack]

1. Stock preparation.
A. Resaw, join, thickness, and square the center block and cheeks. Use the plane iron as a gauge to assure 1/16" adjustment clearance on center block.
B. Plane the glue joint surfaces of center block & cheeks to remove joiner marks.

In plane view
2. The ramps.
A. Layout cuts in the body for 45° plane iron ramp & 65° forward slope. The mouth is generally about 1", increasing to 2", forward of center, varying according to the length of the plane. The forward ramp may be curved to allow finger room to clear shavings.
B. Bandsaw ramps and surface. Plane iron ramp flat & square to center block sides. Save the cutout.
C. Route cap screw slot 3/ 4" wide, centered on rear ramp from the top of the plane to within 3/ 4" of the bottom

plane throat detail

3. Putting it back together.
A. Lay one cheek on the bench and clamp the rear center block to it, flush to the bottom and end. Draw a line along the ramp onto the cheek.
B. Hold or clamp the sole stock to the forward center block with an edge of the sole flush with the forward ramp.
C. Place the iron on the rear ramp, bevel down.
D. Lay the front block and sole assembly on the cheek. Slide it toward the iron, making contact at a point where the iron is about 1/16" from protruding beyond the sole. Mark the front ramp's position on the cheek.
E. Index center blocks to cheeks with dowels.

4. The plane iron assembly.
A.Shape the breaker, starting with a bend of no more than 1/ 8" centered about 3/ 8" from an end. Grind a fair slope from the edge to the center of the bend. Continue shaping with a file and finally a stone, keeping in mind that the curve must not impede the flow of shavings. The edge needs to come in full contact with the iron so that shavings cannot jam between them.
B. Locate for the center of the cap screw, marking at the lower end of the slot in the iron. Drill and tap for the cap screw, ideally perpendicular to the cap iron surface.
C. Hone the iron.

cross pin location
5. The cross pin.
A. Pencil a short line parallel to the bottom 11/ 4" from the bottom of a cheek in the area of the cross pin location. Locate the rear center block on index pins and place plane and cap iron assembly on the ramp. Draw a line parallel to the assembly 7/ 16" away from it. The intersection of these two lines is the cross pin center. Transfer the center points to the outside of the cheeks and drill 5/ 16" holes through the body of the plane.
B. Make cross pins and allow for extras. Layout and cut several tenon shoulders on the pin stock before cutting to final length. Use the center block as a gauge to assure that the distance between the shoulders is less than the width of the center block. Round the tenons with a knife or file, checking the fit in a test hole.

6. Glue-up.
A. Dry clamp the plane body. Make sure that the index dowels and cross pin do not protrude beyond the cheeks. Use clamping cauls to protect the body and distribute pressure. If needed, clamp a strip of wood to the bottom of the center blocks so that they are aligned. Have enough clamps on hand to clamp at 2" intervals with none across the opening. Check that the cross pin is free to turn, that it is parallel to the ramp, and that you can get your fingers between it and the forward block to remove shavings. Place the iron assembly in the plane to be sure that there is at least 1/ 8" clearance for a wedge.
B.Glue-up body & cheeks. REMEMBER THE CROSS PIN! Place it in one of the cheeks before applying any glue.

7. The sole.
A. Scrape any excess glue from the plane bottom. Use a wooden shim in place of the iron assembly, snug up the wedge and make a light pass over the joiner. Heavy jointing will quickly increase the mouth opening.
B. Orient sole stock so that the "fur" of the working surface is running toward the back of the plane.
C.Mark the location of mouth opening on the sole and route or cut the slot.
D. Check the relationship of the sole to the iron as was done when determining the distance between the center blocks. The plane iron can now be a little closer to the surface of the sole, within about 1/ 32".
E. While holding the sole in place (the iron can come out), look inside the mouth opening from above and note whether or not you can see the sole. Ideally, it would still line up with the forward ramp. If you can't see it, some of the forward ramp needs to be filed to provide clearance. If you can see the sole, make a mental note of how much of it you can see.

F. Align the forward edge of the slot along the forward ramp with the relationship noted.
G. Index the sole stock to the plane body with small dowels or brads.
H. Draw a line along the rear ramp onto the sole. Remove the sole from the index pins. Using the cutout as a guide, chop a 45° ramp at the back of the opening. File the feathered edge blunt so that it does not tend to break off.
I. Glue the sole to the body, using clamping cauls against the sole and on the top of the body.
H. After glue-up, ensure that the ramp on the sole is flush with the plane iron ramp. Otherwise, a false reading will be obtained when filing the mouth opening and a bump will be raised on the sole when the iron is wedged into place.

8. The plane iron wedge.
A low angle is best to securely hold the iron, yet it must be steep enough to come to a firm stop. Use the cutout for wedge stock.

9. Tuning.
A. True the plane sole. The wedge should be as tight as it would be in use to truly flatten. Truing is done with a long strip of sandpaper clamped to a table saw top. With little more pressure on the paper than the weight of the plane, make a light pass. High spots, usually behind the iron, will reveal themselves as abraded areas. Continue sanding with a light touch, noting progress often, until the entire surface has been abraded.
B. File the final mouth opening. As you work, angle the file so that the opening is forward of perpendicular on the inside, allowing for shaving clearance.

10. Performance
Place iron assembly and wedge under the cross pin. Set the wedge with firm rap of a small (4-6 oz.) hammer. The cutting depth of the iron is most effectively controlled by tapping it downward. Sight the cutting depth from the back of the plane. Catch a reflection of light on the bevel of the iron. Tilt the plane up until you are looking directly along the sole's surface. Tap the iron to bring it just above the that apparent line.

The iron is backed out by rapping on the back end of the plane. Hold the plane with the palm on the iron to keep it in the plane should the wedge loosen.

Crankiness in a plane is most commonly due to a bump behind the iron. It may reveal itself in use in at least two ways. If the iron grabs at the beginning of a cut and then skips as the plane moves entirely onto the surface, check the area behind the iron with a straight edge across the planes width and along its length. Suspect a bump when it seems that either one corner of the iron or the other persists to dig in.

With the frog out of the throat, your instrument can be singing.

Soften the edges of the plane and use it before gradually shaping to your satisfaction.

[Landlubber]

Hay Lazyjack,
That is a great article, even when I was at tech we did not have such a description for block plane making, though we did have to make a few, which incidentally I still use. Thanks for that. I just bought on the weekend two Chinese wooden planes, they have wing handles on them, they are used exclusively by all yards that I have been into here, very well made if you buy the right ones.
Funny though, not one of them has ever been sharpened correctly, they just rub them on a stone, rounding off the edges, never really getting the honed effect required to shave with.

[lazeyjack]

well I changed from a number 6 jack to a Gillette Mach 3 for shavin'

[timgoz]

I have a hand-forged Swedish small forest ax (basically a long handled hatchet). It is so sharp that when shaving hair off my arm they shoot out like little ICBM's while the edge is a 1/4" away out of sheer fear.

When I go camping I generally leave the sheath knife at home as anything my pocket knife won't cut the ax's edge will.

Tim

[Frosty]

Why do you shave hair from your arm Tim. Is it just the one arm or both.

I would think that a block plane would be an awkward instrumument with which to remove hair from the body.

My father taught me that there is a tool for every job. Using a block plane to remove hair from the body is not what it was meant for and can be very dangerous. Take the testicles for instance or an arm pit.

FRIEGHTENING THOUGHT. Would you not agree?

[timgoz]

Frosty,

Shaving makes the hair (both arms) grow back thicker. This gives me the Gorilla look the area mountain girls find attractive.

Tim