Oak for a Wooden Plane Body?

[Digit]

I guessed that the Tannin levels might be different Steve but is the Oak the Japanese use as coarse as European Oak do you know?

Roy.

 

[Digit]

We crossed Phil. I used Oak 'cos I'd got it and wasn't certain as to whether or not I'd get on with a wooden plane, since then of course the habit's stuck!
Plane making is a slippery slope mate!

Roy.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Roy, I don't know. I've used JO only once, and that was 25 years ago. I made a coffee table for my then-GF and completely ballsed it up. (I didn't have a workshop then and my only power tools were a Wolf drill and MOF96 router (very state-of-the-art!). I don't recall exactly, but I guess I used dowel joints .

I'm pleased to say my skills have improved since those days. I use Dominoes now.

Back to oak: the fact is that English is the most characterful in the world and all the rest is blander. I'm really not trying to be , what is the word, jingoistic? - it's a fact. If it didn't grow here it would be an exotic.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Digit]

Yep! And there have been many outbreaks of the Sudden Death Disease according to TV tonight.
Apparently the government's fronting 25 million pounds to try and eradicate the disease.

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Steve,

I believe tannic acid produces a dark-blue, or bluish-black precipitate and a concentration of ferric salts. But like you Steve, it's a long time since I did chemistry so I looked it up!

For sure, oak does turn iron black and there's nothing worse than those 'mascarra' runs you sometimes see on an otherwise perfect oaken gate.

 

[Pekka Huhta]

As the only timber thick enough that was available for the job my bench planes are made of Oak. The rust problem isn't a problem as the bodies have been soaked in Linseed oil

I have used the same method. When building my infill molding plane I soaked the parts for half a day (could have been longer as well). When I enlarged the escapement for shavings, I had to remove more than half inch of wood. There was still fresh linseed oil in the wood at that distance.

I have been restoring old wooden boats for about ten years and linseed oil does wonders to oak. Also, if the wood pores are full of oil, there isn't space for water, so there shouldn't be such a problem with the oak/iron reaction.

Pekka

 

[Digit]

Having watched garden furniture fade in colour, last year I tried boiled Linseed oil, and despite the worst winter for some time the Linseed oil seems far superior to Danish oil or Teak oil.
My planes get a regular wipe over as well.
On the subject of rust, all my planes, metal or wood, have laminated irons from old woodies, despite the old 'uns being Beech there was far more rust on the bedded side than the front of the irons.

Roy.