What are the different types of floats?

[00dannyboy]

I am looking to figure out what types of floats there are.

Americans are mostly unaware of the useful float. I am researching and would like to find out how many types of floats there are and what uses they served.

I bought a few floats at auction. i have what appears to be a few dovetail floats, an edge float, face float, skewed face float and some curved floats im not too sure about.

any information or pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks,

dan

 

[Argus]

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I'm a great fan of floats. They are often associated with forming flat surfaces on end grain, but when flattened and sharpened proprerly, they can provide an exceptional finish on long grain, often better than scrapers, though frequently they are written off as no use because they can be difficult to fettle.

Floats can be used in a variety of jobs where a good, flat and smooth finish is required, especially in confined inner spaces that will challenge hand-held chisels.

Shape wise it depends on what you use them for. Plane makers and cabinet makers have specific shapes and sizes, and to this end many of them were and still are home made.

As a furniture maker, I have a couple of cranked face floats that I find exactly right for finishing decorative stopped chamfers in Oak on the long grain, right up to the ends and they give an exceptional finish. Also I use a forward cutting edge float to get a good, straight finish on the end sides of mortises.

Given the geometry of the cutting edge, it's similar to presenting a series of sharp scrapers and these can deal with cantankerous grain exceptionally well.

Curved ones were, I believe used in the shaping of gun stocks. I only have one of those and as I don't make guns, it doesn't get used much, but I have used it to clean up deep narrow curves in linen fold panels - just the job for that.

To my knowledge there is only one firm making new cabinet and plane makers' floats today, Lie-Nielsen, and only a few of their plane makers' floats are available retail in the UK. The cabinet makers' floats are not available.

So, in response to your question about types and shapes, floats are very scarce on the market, new ones are expensive, so I make my own to suit my work in any shape I like.

I'm not familiar with a 'dovetail float', unless by this you mean a tapered triangular shaped float that seems to me to be a plane maker's bed float, used to shape the plane sides to accept a plane iron.

There are illustrations of various floats on LN's American web site.

There are plane makers posting occasionally who can throw more llight on that.




I hope that this helps.

.

 

[MickCheese]

OK

I had to google woodworkers float and found something that looks like a rough file, is that right? :?

Mick

 

[00dannyboy]

thanks for the words there. those are the same thoughts i have. im a great fan of floats as well. i love em'!

The dovetail float is tapered lengthwise and on the edges, fits into dovetails, planes and many other tight spaces.

got any pictures of your floats?

Yes, floats are like large files with the cutting edges further apart.



thanks

dan

 

[Argus]

.

It's a sad affair that Google has to fill in with a description of what a float actually is. If you look at this post by Derek Cohen in Perth, he has described and photographed a float that he fettled from new.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/the- ... ek%20cohen

It may resemble a rough file in appearance and some rasps have a similar tooth layout, but that's where the similarity ends.

A well-tuned float requires detailed fettling and sharpening, which many workers are reluctant or unable to carry to carry out, but once done, you have a tool capable of an exceptionally accurate and fine finish both across and with the direction of the grain. As I said earlier, it comes into its own in restricted spaces and on wild surface grain.




.

 

[Philly]

Dan
Floats are very useful tools for working in tight areas, which is why they were perfect tools for wooden planemakers. Lie-Nielsen are the only company presently making floats - here's a link to their planemaking floats.
They also offer a range of joinery floats for tweaking mortise and tenons, etc.
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=542

Other users that I am aware of are gunsmiths, again as they allow you to work where other tools won't go.

A lot of floats were made by the use for specific tasks - as a wooden planemaker I have many custom floats for different jobs like skewed mortises. If you need any futher info on sharpening, use etc just shout.

Hope this helps,
Philly

 

[MickCheese]

.

It's a sad affair that Google has to fill in with a description of what a float actually is. If you look at this post by Derek Cohen in Perth, he has described and photographed a float that he fettled from new.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/the- ... ek%20cohen

It may resemble a rough file in appearance and some rasps have a similar tooth layout, but that's where the similarity ends.

A well-tuned float requires detailed fettling and sharpening, which many workers are reluctant or unable to carry to carry out, but once done, you have a tool capable of an exceptionally accurate and fine finish both across and with the direction of the grain. As I said earlier, it comes into its own in restricted spaces and on wild surface grain.




.

Thanks for the link. I am now one of the knowledgeable!


Mick

 

[mtt.tr]

Im embarrassed to say i have never heard of a float i have a few sitting in a draw im off out to play

 

[Alf]

The DVD "Classic Plane Making - Hollows and rounds with Tod Herrli" has a bit on making your own floats, I seem to recall. I have dim recollection he described them as essentially really wide-bladed saws, as far as cutting and sharpening the teeth is concerned. Never done it, or used one. Very remiss of me.

Can sometimes be confused with dreadnought files, I believe.

 

[00dannyboy]

Philly,

you said you have many custom made floats. I would love to see a picture of your floats. I'm trying to identify all the different types out there and their purposes. every little bit helps.

Thanks,

dan

 

[xy mosian]

Argus, any chance of a run down on the way you make your own floats? Choice of steel, pitch and angle of cutting edges etc.

xy

 

[kirkpoore1]

Well, son of a .... biscuit. They are used for woodworking. I actually have several, but was told they were used for body work on old cars--used to shape lead poured onto sheet metal to fill in repairs. Could be used for bondo and other body filler, too. Now I have to go digging through one of my rat holes to try to find them.

Kirk

 

[00dannyboy]

I'll be glad to take those floats off your hands. for a fair price of course.



dan

 

[Alf]

Well, son of a .... biscuit. They are used for woodworking. I actually have several, but was told they were used for body work on old cars--used to shape lead poured onto sheet metal to fill in repairs. Could be used for bondo and other body filler, too. Now I have to go digging through one of my rat holes to try to find them.

See my comment above with regard to Dreadnought files. Odds are that's what you've got, but you never know.

 

[kirkpoore1]

Now I have to go digging through one of my rat holes to try to find them.

See my comment above with regard to Dreadnought files. Odds are that's what you've got, but you never know.

It's certainly possible. It's also possible that it's a terminology issue--what you're calling a dreadnought file, folks over here call a float, so we'd both be right. What's the difference between them? In looking on the internet, it seems some floats are straight, and others pointed, and there are half-rounds too. The dreadnought files were all straight, but with apparently finer teeth.

In any case, IIRC, the ones I have are all flat, straight sided, fairly coarse (4-6 tpi), and have either straight or slightly curved teeth. I haven't had a chance to find where I stashed them, but will try to look over the weekend.

Kirk

 

[Racers]

Hi,

You can sharpen a float with a file, they are quite different beasts.


Pete

Float less but dreadnought rich, including a curved one :shock:

 

[AndyT]

So, if I've understood this so far, files are made by punching the surface of a blank with a hard chisel and mallet or else a specially sharp and hard filemaker's hammer. So the teeth are quite small - larger if the maker hits harder.

But floats have much larger teeth, too large to form by hitting. So presumably they are milled in some way, then sharpenable by hand, with a file. A bit like a saw blade, but an inch or more thick.

There was a good discussion of gunstocker's floats a while back in this thread:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/gunsmith-floats-t29265.html - unfortunately no pictures there now.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Chaps


Here is a video of Larry Williams of Clark and Williams sharpening a float. Shows the tooth size and form very well.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LieNielsen# ... 8-QB4pWoW0


Pete

 

[00dannyboy]

thanks,

dan

 

[Henry Disston]

In the States we call these vixen fles:

They look similar to floats and do work on wood. Real floats work much better.