Badger Hospital

[Richard T]

Inspired by Sheffield Tony's recent thread badger-plane-t63760.html and The Woodwright's Shop episode about panel raising http://video.pbs.org/video/2292074921 I was reminded that I was given a Badger plane a couple of years ago and thought it was about time I had a go at it.

Struck me as being not too bad when I got it.

But on closer inspection I found that the iron was more pitted than I had thought and even showed signs of a deep back bevel.

Only one way to find out - to the XXcoarse diamond stone.

Yup. Not only did it have a back bevel but the useful back bevel was only towards the more used right hand side of the iron, and towards the left hand side, less a bevel more an incline.

So the diamond stone was retired in favour of XXXXXXX coarse emery on a piece of steel plate on top of the plane body on its side.

Much better.

I am very glad that I found the wedge. At first I thought it had disappeared and that I would have to make a new one ... so glad that I don't - these angles are a nightmare. Just to get that skew there is so much else to get right.

Roy Underhill's badger has a repair that is a small, brass plate surrounding the edge of the iron on the face cutting side. I can see why. This one is starting to go there too.

But to make such a repair plate, the internal shape would have to be followed, which would mean a fair bit of metal work to match the wood going down to a feather edge at the bottom.
Here is the thickness of the side of the body at the top

... tapering down to nothing at the bottom.

Once I get it sharp I will try it first before any brass work.

The cap iron is suspect too. It has this horrible nut and bolt through the brassed thread which has been drilled out to fit it. :evil: My options for this are: leave as is - it works, skew another straight lever cap to match, re thread the remaining brass and cut a bigger bolt or watch Bargain Hunt .... I'll decide after Bargain Hunt.

Roy has two dodgy theories about the name Badger; A company called Badger made them or a badger has a sort of sideways gait ... I don't think it's either of those. I think it's more literal than that. Please don't try to tell me that this tote was made for a human ...

... it's much too small. Definitely for a badger. How else do they cut those setts out?

Anyway, I haven't shown it an oil stone yet so test cut pictures later.

 

[ac445ab]

I Richard,
Nice plane, it seems in general good conditions. I'm sure will be a strong performer! Has it a maker name?

Ciao
Giuliano

 

[jimi43]

Just watch the set Richard!

Coat? Brush! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[Sheffield Tony]

It looks very like my Moseley & son badger. Almost identical. The bottom of the slot in the iron on mine was a bit rough, and after flattening the back of the iron it looks like a join there, perhaps a harder metal is laminated on to the back at the bottom thicker bit.

The bit of damage at the corner of the mouth seems inevitable, as the wood tapers to nothing. I can't see it matters a lot in use. Though I still haven't used it in anger. I have an oak cabinet I should be making that needs some raised panels, which is why I bought it, but I got distracted making a pole lathe...

Interesting programme, that The Woodwright's Shop episode. I do wonder with these planes whether you don't really need a left and right hand skewed version, so that you don't have to plane against the grain on one side of the panel ? Making one looks hard enough. Making a matched pair ?

 

[AndyT]

I do wonder with these planes whether you don't really need a left and right hand skewed version, so that you don't have to plane against the grain on one side of the panel ? Making one looks hard enough. Making a matched pair ?

That comment set me thinking...I think it goes like this:

The wood fibres are parallel to the surface of the board. In use, the sole of the badger plane is tilted to the operator's left. This means that the cutting being done is actually progressive trimming of the ends of the fibres, so they are well supported by what remains.
When you turn the panel end for end, the same arrangement applies. If the grain is parallel to the surfaces, it's exactly similar. If the grain rises to the surface a bit - but at an angle less than the angle the plane is leaning at - you still have your fibres supported. If the grain is falling away, the end-trimming is even easier.

As ever, careful selection of stock is an important part of the job. (Assuming you have the luxury of not having to use every scrap of the wood you have!)

If you made a pair of mirror-image planes, you'd need to use one left-handed, or else plane the wrong end of the wood, which would be very awkward.

I know that Lie-Nielsen make a left handed skew rabbet, but that's for left-handed woodworkers isn't it?

 

[Richard T]

Hi Giuliano - no maker that I can see on the body.

The iron is Wilson Hawksworth, Ellison and Co. Sheffield.

Its the only iron of this make that I have seen. Very hard indeed.

Jim - Badger coat I think.

Tony - definitely an old, laminated iron on mine though not quite as thick as standard.
I will give it a good workout before I decide if it needs a plate yet. I suppose it would be better to do it sooner rather than later while there is still plenty of sound wood in the area. (I don't like that crack)
Do post some pics of yours and the panel raising - and the lathe.

Andy - oddly, to me, it does feel left handed ... or at least wrong handed for me to be looking around that lump of wood to the right of it rather than to the left ... never crossed my mind before as it doesn't seem the same with a #78 or a plough ... strange as I am definitely right handed in most things and not ambiguous .... :-k

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Definitely same handedness as mine. And old - that blade is no newer than around 1890.

 

[ac445ab]

I do wonder with these planes whether you don't really need a left and right hand skewed version, so that you don't have to plane against the grain on one side of the panel ? Making one looks hard enough. Making a matched pair ?

That comment set me thinking...I think it goes like this:

The wood fibres are parallel to the surface of the board. In use, the sole of the badger plane is tilted to the operator's left. This means that the cutting being done is actually progressive trimming of the ends of the fibres, so they are well supported by what remains.
When you turn the panel end for end, the same arrangement applies. If the grain is parallel to the surfaces, it's exactly similar. If the grain rises to the surface a bit - but at an angle less than the angle the plane is leaning at - you still have your fibres supported. If the grain is falling away, the end-trimming is even easier.

As ever, careful selection of stock is an important part of the job. (Assuming you have the luxury of not having to use every scrap of the wood you have!)

If you made a pair of mirror-image planes, you'd need to use one left-handed, or else plane the wrong end of the wood, which would be very awkward.

I know that Lie-Nielsen make a left handed skew rabbet, but that's for left-handed woodworkers isn't it?

Andy, if I understood well (I still have some troubles with English ) your explanation refers to cross grain use of the plane?
In the use with the grain a matched pair of planes, may be, could be useful, one for using it along the grain and other for using in the same direction on panel far side. However I have rarely seen matched planes like these we are speaking about.
Another option could be to make a joint panel in which the external pieces are glued with opposite grain?

Giuliano

 

[GazPal]

Just a couple of points to note regarding panel raising and I hope these help clarify possibilities;

Book matched sides (Mostly used in two piece raised panels in cabinetry and door manufacture) typically possess opposing grain direction at each side of the face side due to the act of opening out the board during the book matching process. This is readily dealt with using a single badger/skew/rebate plane and the skew iron truly comes into it's own when dealing with gnarly and cross grain. Left and right handed planes would certainly come in handy if working panels made from a single piece of timber, but the skew blade angle tends to negate - to a high degree - the need for such a facility.

 

[Argus]

.

Badger planes are scarce but not unusual and do crop up from time to time.

I have two – one Mosley that I picked up in a junk shop when wood planes were considered precisely that and another by Varvill that I bought on e bay a couple of years ago. Both are in very good condition with the exception of the side wall where the blade tip emerges. I think that they all suffer at this spot.

As with all Badgers of a certain age, the starboard side splinters and cracks where the blade emerges and the side wall is quite flimsy at this point, resembling a mouse hole in shape. One of mine, the Varvil, was splitting quite badly at this point so last year after some searching about and some time to spare I brassed both my planes along the right hand edge and this has improved the performance no end.

This plane is a work horse for cutting large rebates along the grain, in my opinion and although capable of taking a thin shaving, they are happiest when removing something akin to a squaddie’s belt.

It has no side fence or nicker, so isn’t suitable, in my view, as a panel raiser across the grain, but it is great for cutting deep, wide recesses on door frames.

Without a fence clamped on the board, it needs to be started either canted on its side for the first few strokes or in an already established groove.

When setting the blade up, if my two are anything to go on, each one is different in its own way. There is very limited lateral adjustment on these blades and too much enthusiasm adjusting sideways may be the cause of some of the side wall failures. It is essential to get the skew angle both parallel to the sole and the tip a tiny fraction beyond the side wall of the plane at the same time, setting the blade can be a tricky if you want even shavings and a clean step on the side of the rebate.

I have never heard of left hand versions.


.

 

[Richard T]

Argus wrote: "There is very limited lateral adjustment on these blades and too much enthusiasm adjusting sideways may be the cause of some of the side wall failures.

A very good point.

Do I understand that you brassed the whole right hand side(s) rather than just letting in a plate covering the area in question?

 

[Argus]

.

Yes, Richard, I brassed the whole lengths of each of the planes with a 1/2" wide strip rebated into a side groove parallel with the sole.
(not the whole side of the plane - though I guess that it could be done).

Originally I had intended to do it in one piece running from toe to heel, with a tiny amount nibbled out for the edge of the blade, but I discovered the minimal amount of lateral adjustment in spades when I eventually ended up with a tiny web of brass, so I cut them at angles to complement the iron angle and did it in two. The side of the blade and the backing iron took too much room.

I photographed the progress and I'm going to do a piece soon on my blog if anybody's interested.

All best

.

 

[ac445ab]

.

I photographed the progress and I'm going to do a piece soon on my blog if anybody's interested.

All best

.

I'm in pole position :mrgreen:
Let know when
Very interesting your blog, too!
Ciao
Giuliano

 

[Richard T]

Yes, thanks Argus - will be very interesting to see.

I've started stoning the emery marks off my iron last night, not up to arm shaving yet but not had the chance to play today as the forge was calling.

 

[bugbear]

Both are in very good condition with the exception of the side wall where the blade tip emerges. I think that they all suffer at this spot.

With my many trips to specialist tool auctions, tool dealers, car boots, flea markets, junk shops and so on, I've seen many badger planes.

They all have damage at that spot. I'd regard it as normal, and nothing to worry about.

BugBear

 

[Richard T]

Ok, between rain and hail and 'improvements' to Photobucket I can finally show you some results.

As best I can think, the easiest way to make a rebate with a badger is to start with a plough a la Underhill.

And start the badger tilted into the slot made by the plough - I used a 5/16" cutter and this seemed to be wide enough.

Starting with very thin shavings from the inside corner of the waste.

The damage on the line was caused by bad use of the plough plane and not the badger - should have been less lazy and scored that line insted of relying on the nicker.
Working the badger flatter into the waste while still working against the shoulder.

I love the conical shavings - the feel and the sound they make to produce. All in all I'm pretty impressed.
All I need now is a proper bench instead of trying to do it on the shave horse.
(Could have used a more photogenic holdfast too ... this was one I scrapped for sales by burning the end )

 

[Argus]

.

Looks fine, Richard.

Badgers are really a wooden jack plane adapted to cut a skew. They have a bevel down blade and conventional bed angle, (mine is 45 degree on one and 48 on the other), so going across the grain is not their primary task, but you have got a good cut, nonetheless.

I started thr first of a couple of blog entries about brassing the worn sole on mine just now, which you may find interesting.

.

 

[ac445ab]

.



I started thr first of a couple of blog entries about brassing the worn sole on mine just now, which you may find interesting.

.

Thank you, great pictures and description.

Ciao
Giuliano

 

[ac445ab]

Very good result, a useful tool for xl rebates.

Giuliano

 

[Argus]

.
These will do a cut over two inches - all you need is the muscle to move it.


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