The equivalent of Mothballs for Woodworm....

[johnnyb]

beech when not kiln dried is a really beautiful wood to work. buttery and crisp. kilning changes it a lot. I've no doubt beech was used for very good reason. I guess its hard and smooth. the makers wouldnt worry about how it was 10years from sale. I do find boxing planes causing big problems. differential movement I guess.

 

[AndyT]

That's interesting to know. Do you have any more information on their understanding of seasoning (which probably differs form ours?)

There's very little to go on. The book in question is "Christopher Gabriel and the tool trade in eighteenth century London" by Jane and Mark Rees.

Stock inventories suggest that beech was bought three years before use. It was kept in lofts over the workshops. Timber for moulding planes is counted separately from that for bench planes, which strongly suggests that it was cut near the required size before seasoning, though probably in lengths suitable for more than one plane.

The 1800 inventory has one entry for a small quantity of steamed beech - implying that the great bulk was not steamed.

Old books often have a diagram showing the preferred pattern of growth rings visible on the end of a plane - I think getting this right may have been one of the characteristics that put a plane into the "best" category.

 

[bjm]

Thanks Andy.

If they were being made today I don't think beech would be the wood of choice? Saying that, I think most of the problems we face with wood today is because of our desire for comfort in our homes so if the wood was properly seasoned it probably was (reasonably) stable in daily use - the conditions in the workshop wouldn't be too different to the conditions in your run-of-the-mill grand house??

 

[toolsntat]

In 300+ years beech has been the industry standard and still made today although on a miniscule scale compared.
Philly planes for example
http://www.phillyplanes.co.uk/Be interesting to hear what timber you would recommend?
Cheers Andy

 

[AndyT]

Well, wooden planes are still being made...

Pinie in the Czech republic must get through quite a lot. Most of their planes have hornbeam on the sole.

https://pinie.cz/en/wooden-planes
EC Emmerich in Germany are probably better known.

https://ecemmerich.de/en/portfolio/planes/

 

[Ttrees]

No, it's the opposite - T/R for beech is over 2 - in a stable wood, the T/R ratio is nearer 1+

Thanks for setting me straight on that one, I had a look around to see if I could find wherever I got that info from, but haven't found anything.

Tom

 

[bjm]

In 300+ years beech has been the industry standard and still made today although on a miniscule scale compared.
Philly planes for example
http://www.phillyplanes.co.uk/Be interesting to hear what timber you would recommend?
Cheers Andy

This is the paradox - everything I've learned....and 300 years of history There's obviously more to learn.

The limited number of planes I've come across have all been in very good shape, for their age, with no sign of distortion which I would almost expect to find. Based on hardness, grain and availability it's hard to suggest an alternative - oak would have been taken by the navy. I'm not sure birch would have satisfied the demand?