# Stanley 4 scrub plane



## BenCviolin (5 Feb 2016)

Inspired by the video by Paul Sellers on how to make a scrub plane from an old Stanley 4, 
I made my own version. Basically Sellers just opens the mouth front a little and puts a camber on the 
blade edge. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN5QSTaVzRQ
I took things further by rounding the sole of the plane using files and the pad sander with oil. 
Took around 5 hours. I also opened the mouth into a smile shape, and ground the blade to fit. 
I didn't round the corners of the cap iron as sellers does. 
The old handle was wobbly and I made a new one from maple. 

Works well, on a fine or coarse setting


----------



## Rorschach (5 Feb 2016)

Need pictures!


----------



## Phil Pascoe (6 Feb 2016)

I'd have though using something as small as a No.4 would rather defeat the object of a scrub, which besides cleaning up is rough truing up of a surface?


----------



## bugbear (6 Feb 2016)

phil.p":2syfp1hl said:


> I'd have though using something as small as a No.4 would rather defeat the object of a scrub, which besides cleaning up is rough truing up of a surface?



I don't think the size of #5 is a problem - a German "Bismark" is around the same length.

But a thin Bailey iron, and the presence of a cap iron - these are larger issues, IMHO.

Certainly, a Bailey plane can be modified to take larger shavings than usual, but it will never
perform like a dedicated scrub.

For the longest time, I used a modified wooden jack plane, a much better starting point.

http://www.woodworkinfo.site88.net/scrub.html

BugBear (owner and user of a variety of scrub planes, and a few Baileys too)


----------



## deema (6 Feb 2016)

I'm unsure what the reason would be to round the sole? The cambered blade is to maximise the amount of material removed for the least effort. Opening the mouth is to allow the shavings to pass through, but I've never heard of a scrub with a cambered sole. I'm interest in knowing what the advantage would be.


----------



## BenCviolin (6 Feb 2016)

There's the handle.




Sole slightly rounded with file and abrasives. 

If you're gonna have a cambered blade you may as well have a sole that matches it's profile. 
Slightly rounded soles are easier to move than flat ones, and if you're working on hollow 
surfaces then they're essential. 
Wooden scrubs (as Sellers mentions) are lighter yes, but they're not so easy to set up after sharpening. 
The fine adjuster means you can also use the plane for lighter shavings and the thinner Stanley blade is 
just easier to sharpen than a thick one, each to their own.


----------



## lurker (9 Feb 2016)

I don't think I could bring myself to do that (unflatten the sole & open the mouth) to a reasonable user :shock: 
I'd sooner give it away to someone starting out.
I do however have a blade (that fits the 5 1/2) with rounded corners that gives me somewhere between the two


"Wooden scrubs (as Sellers mentions) are lighter yes, but they're not so easy to set up after sharpening." 

It takes next to no time to learn how to do this.
I can welly off 1/8" shavings or something far finer with a couple of taps of a mallet
My scrub is a good 18" can't imagine using something shorter

Took me all of 20 minutes to turn a woody into a scrub. I have been using it really hard last few months to remove layers of paint from doors and skirting. It needed cleaning with turps when I had finished and 2 or 3 minutes on a stone to bring back a good edge. Not a tool I use much but unbeatable when its needed.


----------



## bugbear (9 Feb 2016)

lurker":1lmd6hv7 said:


> "Wooden scrubs (as Sellers mentions) are lighter yes, but they're not so easy to set up after sharpening."
> 
> It takes next to no time to learn how to do this.



I disagree in _general_ that woodies are hard to set.

But in the _particular_ case of a scrub, depth setting is non-critical anyway.

"Oh woe is me, my 1/8" shaving is 1/1000" too thick, boo hoo"

 

BugBear


----------



## BenCviolin (9 Feb 2016)

It wasn't a 'reasonable user' and I have three other no. 4 planes one is the new S.W. 
'someone starting out' would do better with a flat new plane. 
I never said 'woodies' are 'hard' to set, and I have two.


----------



## bugbear (10 Feb 2016)

BenCviolin":3bhgj4oy said:


> I never said 'woodies' are 'hard' to set, and I have two.



OK. What were you thinking of when you said "...but they're [wooden scrubs] not so easy to set up after sharpening."

BugBear


----------



## ED65 (10 Feb 2016)

Mentioning something is not so easy isn't at all the same as saying it is hard BB. 

But it must be said, in the context of scrub planes it's not like the setting-up time for a woodie is in reality any sort of issue.


----------



## lurker (10 Feb 2016)

BenCviolin":261wi383 said:


> It wasn't a 'reasonable user' and I have three other no. 4 planes one is the new S.W.
> 'someone starting out' would do better with a flat new plane.
> I never said 'woodies' are 'hard' to set, and I have two.




Sorry, I did not intent to appear critical of what you did.


----------



## heimlaga (20 Feb 2016)

Personally I think a good scrub should have a flat sole and a thick blade without cap iron. 
The flat sole is there to allow the cambered iron to remove shavings that are very thick in the middle and getting thinner towards the edges.
Bench planes with rounded soles were used by coopers and by boat builders and by pattern makers but they are absolotely not scrub planes and rather useless for that purpose.

I have two scrubs. A wooden one with the traditional front horn and a cast iron one manufactured by Voskov in the Soviet Union. Both of them are good. 

Anyone who can convert a good smoother to a not so good scrub is also skilled enough to make a good wooden scrub. It is probably the easiest plane one can make due to the wide mouth and rather crude torerances.

Sorry if I am harsh with your craftsmanship but I just want you to stop doing things backwards. I also destroyed a couple of good tools trying to convert them before I knew better. Today I just wish someone had frankly told me the truth and stopped me before I had destroyed them.


----------



## sploo (20 Feb 2016)

Basically, what heimlaga said.

My plane experience is very limited, but as far as I understand the purpose of a scrub plane, rounding the sole doesn't make sense. Indeed, wouldn't it be counterproductive to the task of hogging off material for the purpose of getting a board towards flat?

Good job on the rear handle though.


----------



## Jacob (20 Feb 2016)

sploo":8hhjclzv said:


> Basically, what heimlaga said.
> 
> My plane experience is very limited, but as far as I understand the purpose of a scrub plane, rounding the sole doesn't make sense. Indeed, wouldn't it be counterproductive to the task of hogging off material for the purpose of getting a board towards flat?
> 
> Good job on the rear handle though.


Rounded sole means shallower cut (for a given radius of blade edge) which defeats the object i.e. deep narrow cut


----------



## BenCviolin (21 Feb 2016)

Each to their own


----------



## BenCviolin (21 Feb 2016)

Edit


----------

