I have no great experience with or knowledge of wooden plans. I have one that I like and one that I dislike. I have just bought another, from a flea market. I have not used it yet but it looks like it has been a user until recently and is in good condition. The body is 500mm long and 70mm wide but it is the iron that puzzles me. It is only 50mm wide, which seems quite narrow to me. What might be the intended use for this plane?
Use of a new-to-me wooden plane
- Thread starter Just4Fun
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Jameshow
Established Member
Probably a simple smoothing plane simalar in size and use of a later no5 plane.
A sharpen up of the blade and your good to go.
The only plane that I know of that takes blades substantially narrower than the body is a plouggh plane & I very much doubt your plane is intended for that purpose! So applying Occum's razor, my first guess is that someone has simply used a blade intended for a narrower plane?
Assuming it's an old solid-body plane with abutments for the wedge & a typical wedge with side projections & 'scooped out' centre, the narrow blade is likely to be a very poor fit. The two narrow 'spurs' that go under the abutments to apply pressure low down on the blade or chipbreaker will be sitting over empty space and your blade assembly won't be locked very solidly where it counts most. If it's a replacement wedge that isn't scooped out at the thin end, it will probably hold ok, but the cost may be a certain amount of obstruction of the throat & less than optimum shavings exit.
A body 500mm long & 75mm wide sounds like a short jointer or longish foreplane to me, which typically use blades 2 3/8" - 2 1/2" wide. Sounds like you might need to go to some boot sales & hunt for a more suitable blade....
Cheers,
Ian
Assuming it's an old solid-body plane with abutments for the wedge & a typical wedge with side projections & 'scooped out' centre, the narrow blade is likely to be a very poor fit. The two narrow 'spurs' that go under the abutments to apply pressure low down on the blade or chipbreaker will be sitting over empty space and your blade assembly won't be locked very solidly where it counts most. If it's a replacement wedge that isn't scooped out at the thin end, it will probably hold ok, but the cost may be a certain amount of obstruction of the throat & less than optimum shavings exit.
A body 500mm long & 75mm wide sounds like a short jointer or longish foreplane to me, which typically use blades 2 3/8" - 2 1/2" wide. Sounds like you might need to go to some boot sales & hunt for a more suitable blade....
Cheers,
Ian
Quite a variety of responses! Interesting.
I don't think it is user made. It has a varnish/finish on it that is none too professional, and probably the sole has been replaced at some point, but it doesn't have the feel of something knocked up in a garden shed. It feels like a pretty run-of-the-mill cheaply made mass produced item, not particularly old, but I could be wrong.
There are a couple of "maker's marks" on the top of the plane but they are difficult to make out.
The iron has some numbers(?) on it but it is not possible to read them. The cap iron has a mark like this one:
(This image is from the internet. Mine is the same but not so readable.)
Having looked at it a bit more, I think it is deceptive. The iron is 50mm wide but feels narrow. The iron in the other wooden plane I like is only 55mm wide but feels a lot more substantial.
The plane has obviously been used until quite recently. As I received it the iron was still sharp enough to cut paper.
OK. Here is a general picture.
I don't think it is user made. It has a varnish/finish on it that is none too professional, and probably the sole has been replaced at some point, but it doesn't have the feel of something knocked up in a garden shed. It feels like a pretty run-of-the-mill cheaply made mass produced item, not particularly old, but I could be wrong.
There are a couple of "maker's marks" on the top of the plane but they are difficult to make out.
The iron has some numbers(?) on it but it is not possible to read them. The cap iron has a mark like this one:
(This image is from the internet. Mine is the same but not so readable.)
My Stanley No 5 is only 355mm long so the woodie is considerably longer. Indeed, my Anchor No 6 is only 455 mm so this is a fairly long plane.
The iron and the wedge don't seem to be such a bad fit to the body as you describe. Here are some photos:
Having looked at it a bit more, I think it is deceptive. The iron is 50mm wide but feels narrow. The iron in the other wooden plane I like is only 55mm wide but feels a lot more substantial.
The plane has obviously been used until quite recently. As I received it the iron was still sharp enough to cut paper.
It's a modern continental trying plane. Use it like a middle flattened or a long fore plane. I don't know why they made the iron narrow, but maybe that's why some of the Dutch-ish trying and jointer planes that I've had that had narrow irons had those narrow irons. Well, goldenberg is french.
Adam W.
A Major Clanger
Goldenberg Acier Fondu, it's a quality plane with an applied base and it looks hardly used. You won't be hard done by to use it although it doesn't chime with what we are used to in England or other English influenced places.
I have versions from ECE and La Chappelle and prefer them to the metal Stanley/Bailey or Record versions.
Others may have different mileage, but so what!
I have versions from ECE and La Chappelle and prefer them to the metal Stanley/Bailey or Record versions.
Others may have different mileage, but so what!
The only difference between them and English planes is the position of the mouth - well, and the crude handle design, but making them really cheaply allowed them to stay in business longer. The rest of the plane is designed the same way as an English plan - the further back the iron is, the more the plane is oriented to use two hands to push while planing.
Adam W.
A Major Clanger
Apologies, just4fun, I completely misunderstood your description - I thought you were saying the blade was much narrower than the bed of the plane. It's obviously the "right" size, so forget my ramblings about the wedge over-hanging the edges of the blade!
From my (very) limited experience of continental planes, I have the impression they tended to use blades that were narrower than what a British plane of similar length/size would sport. That may be biased by very small sample size & the fact that when I was hunting for some heavier narrow blades a ferw years back, the only places I could find what I was after were in European catalogues.
I tend to prefer narrower planes myself, they are easier to push - that becomes more important when you work with hard hardwoods & advancing years take their toll on strength & endurance....
Another up-side is that narrow blades are easier to sharpen...
Cheers,
From my (very) limited experience of continental planes, I have the impression they tended to use blades that were narrower than what a British plane of similar length/size would sport. That may be biased by very small sample size & the fact that when I was hunting for some heavier narrow blades a ferw years back, the only places I could find what I was after were in European catalogues.
I tend to prefer narrower planes myself, they are easier to push - that becomes more important when you work with hard hardwoods & advancing years take their toll on strength & endurance....
Another up-side is that narrow blades are easier to sharpen...
Cheers,
I used this plane for real for the first time yesterday. The iron was already sharp and I just honed it on a strop and it was ready to go.
The plane works great. It cuts fine, and dealt with reversing grain pretty well. The way it burnishes the work piece leaves a really nice finish, as good as or better than any of my other planes.
BUT - you could tell there was a BUT coming - the relative positioning of the tote and the iron is really stupid. The tote is so close behind the iron it gets in the way of tapping the iron to adjust the depth. The only way to tap the iron is on one of the top corners which means the iron advances at an angle so I have to tap the other top corner as well, to straighten it up, and it is probably then advanced too far. Adjusting this plane is so difficult that I can't help thinking I am missing something. Is there some better way to adjust such a plane?
The plane works great. It cuts fine, and dealt with reversing grain pretty well. The way it burnishes the work piece leaves a really nice finish, as good as or better than any of my other planes.
BUT - you could tell there was a BUT coming - the relative positioning of the tote and the iron is really stupid. The tote is so close behind the iron it gets in the way of tapping the iron to adjust the depth. The only way to tap the iron is on one of the top corners which means the iron advances at an angle so I have to tap the other top corner as well, to straighten it up, and it is probably then advanced too far. Adjusting this plane is so difficult that I can't help thinking I am missing something. Is there some better way to adjust such a plane?
You need to make yourself a special "southern lady" (as in USA) hammer.
one with two faces.
just kidding. You'll get used to advancing the iron with alternating back and forth taps. There's always a temptation to put a handle as close in under the iron as possible, even on long planes, because it leads to better balance. Once that objective is attempted with a big bulky handle like the scandinavian and continental planes have, there's nothing more for it to do but stick up.
I've found those bulky handles more comfortable than they look like they'd be, too.
one with two faces.
just kidding. You'll get used to advancing the iron with alternating back and forth taps. There's always a temptation to put a handle as close in under the iron as possible, even on long planes, because it leads to better balance. Once that objective is attempted with a big bulky handle like the scandinavian and continental planes have, there's nothing more for it to do but stick up.
I've found those bulky handles more comfortable than they look like they'd be, too.
Jameshow
Established Member
How about using a wedge of wood between the blade and tote?
by the way, I think you can tap the center of the iron from straight above - it's substantial enough that it shouldn't just spring around and a diagonal force should still advance it.
I figured I'd look again after mentioning two strikes earlier, and I think that iron shows that a prior owner was doing that, anyway.
Use a steel hammer to do this. All of the urethane faced this or that or wooden hammers to adjust planes do nobody any favors. a lightweight steel hammer tapping the iron will be far more accurate and if you should ever round over the top corner of the iron so much that you have to grind it flat again, it would be reason to celebrate.
I figured I'd look again after mentioning two strikes earlier, and I think that iron shows that a prior owner was doing that, anyway.
Use a steel hammer to do this. All of the urethane faced this or that or wooden hammers to adjust planes do nobody any favors. a lightweight steel hammer tapping the iron will be far more accurate and if you should ever round over the top corner of the iron so much that you have to grind it flat again, it would be reason to celebrate.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Seems to be a common make goldenburg wood plane - Google Search and just a fairly normal plane. See what you mean about the blade/handle being too close. Maybe the wrong handle fitted - a late Friday job!
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
I'm no expert by any means.
You can make the adjustments with light taps with a hammer/soft faced/brass/wood mallet. Soft face is a good place to start so you don't do any damage. The small steel conical tack forward of the mouth or the back of the body will retract the blade when tapped. Tapping the front or the blade advances the iron for a deeper cut. If there is another tack on the front use it. If you look carefully to may see marks in the wood where it has been tapped. If it was beaten the marks will be deep and ugly. Shouldn't be like that. There are lots of "hits" when you search for adjusting a wood body plane.
Now the experts have permission to tell you why you shouldn't do it or how to do it better.
Pete
You can make the adjustments with light taps with a hammer/soft faced/brass/wood mallet. Soft face is a good place to start so you don't do any damage. The small steel conical tack forward of the mouth or the back of the body will retract the blade when tapped. Tapping the front or the blade advances the iron for a deeper cut. If there is another tack on the front use it. If you look carefully to may see marks in the wood where it has been tapped. If it was beaten the marks will be deep and ugly. Shouldn't be like that. There are lots of "hits" when you search for adjusting a wood body plane.
Now the experts have permission to tell you why you shouldn't do it or how to do it better.
Pete
