Little Old Plane

[Trevanion]

Here are some more photos all-round.

 

[IWW]

Noodling about to see if I could find anything new on chariot planes, I found a new-to-me personal site from a retired American piano technician, Martin Shepherd, with a deep interest in the old specialist tools of his trade. ...

Thanks Any, I've had a quick look at the sites you linked to & will have a good read later. I think I've stumbled on that site before, but wasn't looking for anything specific at the time & certainly didn't se the pages you've lined to.

If you find anything more on chariot planes, I'd be very interested. They've become a bit of an obsession for me. I made my first one out of curiosity (a "bull-nosed" version), followed later by another with a more 'regular' toe and found it far nicer to use than any block plane I've met. I recently made another, just because. Well, actually, I wanted to see if I could achieve a "perfect" fine mouth - I didn't get it quite as fine as I was aiming for, but close. This one is a delight to use, and has pretty well taken over any & all jobs I might have used a block plane for!

I couldn't see any evidence of a toe piece being fitted to the one under discussion, which made me wonder how on earth the maker got the got the mouth pierced& the bed flattened in one piece. The mouth isn't super-fine from what I can see, but it's not huge, either, as it would need to be to let a file though at a low angle, so how he dunnit beats me!

Cheers,
Ian

 

[AndyT]

If I had a plane like that one, I think I'd be wandering around with it in my hand, looking for anything and everything I could use it on!

 

[toolsntat]

If I had a plane like that one, I think I'd be wandering around with it in my hand, looking for anything and everything I could use it on!

Armed and planerous

 

[IWW]

If I had a plane like that one, I think I'd be wandering around with it in my hand, looking for anything and everything I could use it on!

Good tools are a bit like that, aren't they?

This was the last-but-one metal plane I've made. Been at it for 20 years on & off, & got quite a few under my belt now (20 plus) but still have quite a way to go to challenge the likes of Bill Carter......
Cheers,
Ian

 

[workshopted]

Thanks Any, I've had a quick look at the sites you linked to & will have a good read later. I think I've stumbled on that site before, but wasn't looking for anything specific at the time & certainly didn't se the pages you've lined to.

If you find anything more on chariot planes, I'd be very interested. They've become a bit of an obsession for me. I made my first one out of curiosity (a "bull-nosed" version), followed later by another with a more 'regular' toe and found it far nicer to use than any block plane I've met. I recently made another, just because. Well, actually, I wanted to see if I could achieve a "perfect" fine mouth - I didn't get it quite as fine as I was aiming for, but close. This one is a delight to use, and has pretty well taken over any & all jobs I might have used a block plane for!
View attachment 92717

I couldn't see any evidence of a toe piece being fitted to the one under discussion, which made me wonder how on earth the maker got the got the mouth pierced& the bed flattened in one piece. The mouth isn't super-fine from what I can see, but it's not huge, either, as it would need to be to let a file though at a low angle, so how he dunnit beats me!

Cheers,
Ian

 

[workshopted]

I bought this cast bodied mitre plane a couple of years ago and the mouth was made fine by inserting a dovetailed piece in front of it... hope that makes sense.

 

[toolsntat]

I bought this cast bodied mitre plane a couple of years ago and the mouth was made fine by inserting a dovetailed piece in front of it... hope that makes sense.

That's a very nice Bridge Ted and you don't get to see a STONES Mark very often
Cheers Andy

 

[workshopted]

That's a very nice Bridge Ted and you don't get to see a STONES Mark very often
Cheers Andy

Wow, what sharp eyes you have, Andy... Grin!

 

[IWW]

I bought this cast bodied mitre plane a couple of years ago and the mouth was made fine by inserting a dovetailed piece in front of it... hope that makes sense.

Yes, that makes perfect sense, workshopted. There are several ways to 'fix' the front of the mouth after piercing a solid sole & filing the bed. Norris & others used an extra piece fixed in with screws or rivets (in his book 'Making & modifying tools, Jim Kingshott covers finishing a chariot plane from a casting & demonstrates what needs to be done).

I've not seen a piece dovetailed in front of the mouth like yours before, but it's a practical (though not easily executed!) solution to piercing a cast sole at a very low bed angle.

I've only had dealings with one cast body. It was a coffin-smoother which I think was cast as a one-off (or very limited run) at some local foundry. Someone had attempted to complete it, but the woodwork was very crude and it had no blade or lever-cap when I got it. I don't think the original owner actually got it working, eiher because he decided it was beyond his abilities or some life catastrophe intervened - it looked like it had been sitting at the back of a shed for many a year!

Finishing that plane convinced me it's a lot easier to start from scratch and fabricate plane bodies - fitting the woodwork neatly into castings is a very demanding task! The person who went before me was a bit too enthusiastic with a file and cut away the front of the mouth too much for me to get a fine mouth, even with a very thick blade. However, it turned out ok, and with a well-set cap-iron, it's capable of fine work...

I won't be rushing to do another......
Cheers,
Ian

 

[workshopted]

Yes, that makes perfect sense, workshopted. There are several ways to 'fix' the front of the mouth after piercing a solid sole & filing the bed. Norris & others used an extra piece fixed in with screws or rivets (in his book 'Making & modifying tools, Jim Kingshott covers finishing a chariot plane from a casting & demonstrates what needs to be done).

I've not seen a piece dovetailed in front of the mouth like yours before, but it's a practical (though not easily executed!) solution to piercing a cast sole at a very low bed angle.

I've only had dealings with one cast body. It was a coffin-smoother which I think was cast as a one-off (or very limited run) at some local foundry. Someone had attempted to complete it, but the woodwork was very crude and it had no blade or lever-cap when I got it. I don't think the original owner actually got it working, eiher because he decided it was beyond his abilities or some life catastrophe intervened - it looked like it had been sitting at the back of a shed for many a year!

Finishing that plane convinced me it's a lot easier to start from scratch and fabricate plane bodies - fitting the woodwork neatly into castings is a very demanding task! The person who went before me was a bit too enthusiastic with a file and cut away the front of the mouth too much for me to get a fine mouth, even with a very thick blade. However, it turned out ok, and with a well-set cap-iron, it's capable of fine work...
View attachment 92835

I won't be rushing to do another......

Many thanks for your reply, my friend. Much appreciated. I don't have time to check my information at the moment but I seem to remember Oliver Sparkes using a similar method on one of his builds.

 

[triker64]

I've got some real junk lurking around in the cabinet...

Hardly used Record 071 Router Plane in the box with all the bits
A Record 405 Multiplane with a large number of cutters
Hardly used Record 078 Rebate plane in the box
A Record 073 Shoulder Plane
A bunch of No 04s by various manufacturers such as Marples, Millers Falls, Sargeant VBM, Record, Stanley, Original Bailey...
This paperweight
A hundred or so chisels
A couple of comprehensive sets of auger bits and braces

I might just chuck them all in the skip to be honest, who the **** uses hand tools anymore?

Those of us who work without power socket in garage or where we are working.