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 hell uses hand tools anymore?

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