the preston blade cleaned

[sunnybob]

I followed the advice about vinegar soaking and wire wool, and the blade of my Edward Preston plane has come up pretty well I think;

and

but I have couple of questions, what distance should the chip breaker be from the blade? and how do I store a 22" long plane? blade down, up, hanging from a nail?

wall mounted would be best for me due to very limited space.

 

[JohnPW]

That looks very clean and in excellent condition!

 

[bugbear]

what distance should the chip breaker be from the blade?

A little more than the thickness of shaving you're aiming for.

BugBear

 

[bridger]

It's a jointer, so that won't be sub-thou shavings. I'd say if you are working straight grained stuff and can chose which direction to push it can be pretty far back- an eighth or so. Just keep it sharp. If you get into difficult grain or must plane uphill close it right down until it behaves.

 

[Trafalgar]

Ooch the breaker down until the plane won't cut. Then start moving it back a little at a time and stop at a shaving that makes sense for the species you're working. Take a hard look at the setting. Start there on every job and adjust slightly as needed. It's more art than it is science. Your breaker will have to be a good fit to the flat face of the cutter and if the cutter is shaped so will the breaker have to be when set close or it will hang over at the edges and might cause problems.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

That looks a lot smarter!

Cap-iron (or back-iron, or chip-breaker - three names for the same thing!) settings depend on the work you want the plane to do. For heavy stock removal, not worrying too much about finish, and with a heavy cut, about 1/16" should do. For trying-up stock, using a shallower cut and aiming for a better finish, much closer - less than 1/32". For final smoothing, with a depth of cut that gives very fine shavings, set the cap-iron a hair's breadth from the edge. However, as CStanford said, it's often more art than science, and a bit of 'cut-and-try' is sometimes almost inevitable. For example, if the cap-iron is set very close, but the shavings come out crinkly, ease it back a touch.

On storing planes, I'm not sure there is a 'right' way! Some people lay them sole-down on a shelf, bottom of a toolchest or whatever, some say never lay a plane on it's sole unless one end is propped up! One point with a wooden plane is to ease the wedge pressure off if the plane is going to stand for some days without use; beyond that, almost anything goes!

 

[G S Haydon]

Proper job, clean and tidy. Gotta love those plane iron logos.

 

[sunnybob]

Catastrophe has struck! those worm holes have turned out to be far more serious than they looked. I actually used the plane a little yesterday, left it across the router sled base with the plane above the work bench. came back this morning and there was a pile of dust under the back of the plane. As soon as I poked the holes, the wood crumbled away.

I started digging to see how far it went, and its quite bad. I have had to saw off about 6" of the rear of the plane, from the bottom to half way up to remove all the debris and get back to solid wood.

Luckily, its a long plane, and the other 18" of the sole is good. I have an old scrap beech door sill, so I have squared the cut on the plane back to good solid wood, and glued a new piece of beech in.

Good job the thing wasnt super valuable, but I only bought it to use it i the first place, so no change to me on its worth.

 

[bridger]

Best do something to kill off those worms, lest they spread to other things in your shop.

 

[sunnybob]

Best do something to kill off those worms, lest they spread to other things in your shop.

The affected wood has been cut away back to clean, and the scrap binned instantly and the workshop floor vacuumed. But it looks like very old damage. there was no sign of any life among the bits

I've skimmed both sides on the router table and flattened the sole (which had a slight hollow along its entire length) as theres no point worrying about patina or anything else now. But I have a working plane again.

 

[Bod]

If you got dust over night from the holes, then there are live wood-worm(or were till they flew away) in the plane.
Treat the plane with wood worm killer, or burn it! Either way act fast.

Bod

 

[sunnybob]

I did. As soon as I saw the broken wood, I cut the whole lump out on the bandsaw and threw it in the bin. the rear 6" of the plane, from the sole up over half way up the body. The bench it was on is chipboard, and is being watched daily.
Shame, but there.