Thank You Alf

[Philly]

Hi All,
Thanks to Alf's heads-up on the sale of HNT Gordon planes I couldn't resist this little gem.....

Yes, its a 3/4 inch shoulder plane in macassar ebony.

Only three parts to it-body, blade and wedge.

Out of the box it takes lovely shavings. This is my forth HNT Gordon plane and I am still impressed by their simple lines and how very effective they are in use.
Cheers Alf!

A shot to compare the 1 1/4 inch and 3/4 inch planes. (not a gloat, honest Guv! :roll: )
regards
Philly

 

[Shady]

Interestingly enough, I got the same one - only as I'm a cheapskate, mine needs a new wedge (£30 pounds for a Macassar Ebony hand made plane with a blade thicker than tank armour??? - I know a deal when I smell one....)

My first observation was actually quite interesting: all these planes are advertised as 'rotate blade through 180 degrees for use as a scraper on cranky grain' planes... Now I wouldn't actually do that with a narrow shoulder plane, but it's mentioned in the instructions that came with it. Out of idle interest, I rotated and re-inserted the blade.

Hmmmm: the blade 'top' hits the plane body 'bottom' where it disappears into the escapment - this defines, by default, the limit to which you can 'retract' the blade. Guess what? At this point, there's still about 1.5 mm projecting from the bottom... So unless the idea is to rip 1 mm or larger divots out of that 'cranky grain' in enraged frustration (does actually sound like an Aussie approach to a problem.. :lol: ), this is a non-starter as supplied. Easily cured with a grind stone or file on the top cheeks of the blade, but I was a little surprised that it was structurally incapable of an advertised 'advantage'.

I also got a block plane kit in Ironwood: I'll photo the building and post a review for anyone interested in a little while...

 

[devonwoody]

Looking at the photographs of those shoulder planes I would ask the question. Is that a brass channel at the base?

 

[Shady]

Dunno exactly what you mean by 'channel', but yes, they're 'brass-clad' along the base. Actually one of the truest plane bases I've ever checked with a straight edge...

 

[Philly]

Ah Shady,
Yes, I bid for that wedge-less one too. Seems you got there first! :roll:
I would be happy to copy the wedge for you-PM me your adress and i'll send it on.
As to the scraper function, I have the block plane and smoother too, and have used the smoother in the scraping configuration. It does work quite nicely on the most evil of grains. Don't use it much though, and am surprised yours didn't fit. Just to confirm- all you do is flip the blade so the bevel is up, yeah? And yours doesn't fit?
Anyway, glad you like yours, be interested to see how you block comes out. Is there much work to be done to assemble it?
regards
Philly

 

[Shady]

Philly - Yeah, the smoother and block will work for that, because the blade and escapement aren't 'shouldered' - the blade is a constant width from top to bottom. Because the shoulder plane blade is 'tanged', and because the 'shoulders' of the blade (where it broadens from tang to blade main body, if that makes sense), are cut 'horizontal' if you were to stand the blade upright on a bench, they fit lower at one end than the other when inserted. No problem in normal mode, but when reversed they are just high enough to stop proper insertion.

As I say, no big deal, and solvable easily, but it intrigued me - see if you get the same effect with yours - it may simply be that I got a fractionally longer blade than normal - in which case it's even better value for money!!

I would actually be grateful if you could photo copy the wedge from the side and pm me: let me know.

The kit looks very simple - I'll come back to you with my thoughts once I've gone beyond just looking at it ... :roll: 2 squared bits for front and back of body, 2 sides to clamp them between, all with indexed dowel holes, and a suitable dowel provided. 2 brass wedges and nuts for them, one blade, and one part finished wedge. (Oh, and the knob/handhold). And a set of instructions. First impressions are that it might just be the perfect intro for anyone who fancies trying a 'self-built' plane...

 

[Anonymous]

First of all, thanks Alf.

I got a 1" rebate plane, which arrived today. It was advertised as having a Gidgee stock although it looks like ebony to me (and the Gidgee label on the box has been overwritten as Ebony). I don't mind though, as it is beautiful.

This was advertused as an ex-display model and there is no paperwork with it, but the Gordon website is very helpful.

I tried the scraper configuration and found the same problem as Shady, ie the blade protrudes from the base even when fully home.

I have what is probably a really dumb question now.

From your photo Philly, my rebate plane looks identical to the shoulder plane that you got. What exactly is the difference? The books I have on the subject don't explain it well at all.

Howard

 

[Alf]

If any grateful tool dealer from the East Anglian region wishes to show his appreciation I'll take tools in lieu of money...

<Righteous mode> I didn't take the opportunity myself; made a contribution to a different box instead. Anyway wooden planes in my w'shop?! Rust and warping.

Looking forward to the all the reviews, chaps... <stumbles over broad hint>

Cheers, Alf

 

[Philly]

Howard
As far as I know the Rebate plane has a wood sole, the shoulder has the brass. I don't think this is an historical way of defining them but is how Terry Gordon does it.......
Supossedly the brass soled ones as better across the grain, the wood sole ones have less friction with the grain. Not been a problem in my opinion, but there you go.
Hope you lot enjoy your planes, they really are beautiful. I wipe mine over with an oily cloth before tucking them into bed at night........
Cheers
Philly

 

[Shady]

Hermes - I don't think it's dumb at all...

My understanding is that the major difference is that a shoulder plane is, in theory, optimised for doing work on tenons (shoulders and flat surfaces) This would imply cross grain work (on the flats), and some end grain work (on the shoulders). It also implies that you want good square sides and base, so that trimming doesn't introduce unwanted 'out of squareness'.

Conversely, a rebate plane, although very similar in appearance, is a more generalist tool, designed in the first instance for planing with the grain down a rebate or housing.

In practice, I see little difference between the 2 when constructed as 'woodies' - HNT Gordon's site has a line about the wooden sole of his rebate planes offering less friction along the grain, but I'm not sure this is an issue. Conversely, metal rebate and shoulder planes are significantly different shapes...

Bottom line? if the tool makes the cut you want, don't worry...

 

[Philly]

Shady
Checked my Gordon's for the scraper thing-all were fine EXCEPT my new 3/4 inch one........
Like you say, probably never gonna use this function on a shoulder plane anyway. My 1 1/4 was fine.
Will email you the outline for the wedge tomorrow.
Cheers
Philly

 

[devonwoody]

Dunno exactly what you mean by 'channel', but yes, they're 'brass-clad' along the base. Actually one of the truest plane bases I've ever checked with a straight edge...

I've got the Stanley bullnose plane and I can see the usage for a shoulder plane.
Brass channel is readily available and I thought I would get round to making a shoulder plane for myself. The blade can perhaps be transferable between the two models mentioned above. Or failing using the bullnose blade I have a set of rebate blades on another tool.

 

[Shady]

Understood - yes, in constructional terms it appears to be an 'infill' in a piece of brass channel.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info on the rebate/shoulder plane differences.

I seems that I may have received a shoulder plane in a rebate plane box, because it has a brass sole.

I am still going to keep it though.

Howard