Which combination plane?

[Alf]

Yeah, same deal as a flea market I believe. Everything from clothes, ancient and modern, to toys, to plants to tools. Dealers with whole vans of boxes laid out to the bloke clearing out his garage and piling it all on a shaky wallpapering table. Lot of the latter today. We came to the conclusion that either a) a lot of people getting out their Christmas decs had found boxes of junk in the way and decided to get rid of them. Or b) SWMBO said "clear the garage! I've got to put all the stuff from the spare room in there if your sister's going to stay over Christmas" :lol: In consequence a fairly eclectic selection to choose from, but got a few gems including a rather lovely boxwood spokeshave I'm rather pleased with and a fascinating take on the multi-tip screwdriver.

Cheers, Alf

 

[MikeW]

Interesting thread. I finally had a chance to read through it.

I hate to say it, but I've never owned a plow plane which didn't work as it ought. Stanley 45/55, Woodies, Sargent 45-a-like, and now lastly an 043 and an 050. I still have a wood plow, but it had a single iron when I bought it, but it works well.

Looking at the link to the Anant 45-a-like, the casting actually looks nicer than the higher priced Clifton. I have used a Clifton a friend owned. A bit coarse all round and just left the impression that for what they charge they could do nicer.

One of these days, I'll probably make a run of wooden skewed dado planes. Fashioned like the ones I have owned which were over 150 years old. But for grooving and beads, I've found the Record 050 to be a better size for me than my 55 was.

Take care, Mike

 

[bugbear]

Been mutterings at LN about something for a while, but you never know when a rumour will become a reality - or just never materialise at all. I don't doubt that LV have seen the same gap in the hand tool arsenal too. Time, as they say, will tell. Only trouble I can see is price, so maybe if we start saving now...

Cheers, Alf

I think LV is confirmed by this

Hi Chris -

All in the works... Blade holder thing - still searching for a MFG source....we put our time/budget into lapping and laser marking instead. Look like our flatness tolerance will be +- .0002" over the working back surface, with a surface finish of 5 microns...

98/99 will come, as will the 289 style, at least one plow. 289/plow are sharing a fence design, so that design has to be decided for all fenced planes (take a tad longer)...

The high end line conceptual work is done - again, we had to design the entire line to make sure the design elements carried well across the line...

Now we work on production descisions and costs... some new processes etc for us to deal with too...

It's all good....

As Alf has guessed (hah!) price might be an issue unless someone can work miracles in production engineering:

http://nika.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswi ... 25#message

BugBear

 

[JesseM]

As Alf has guessed (hah!) price might be an issue unless someone can work miracles in production engineering:
http://nika.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswi ... 25#message
BugBear

My gut tells me thats a bit high. I would guess around $250-$300 cause I don't think it sell well for that much. But my prediction is much less precise :wink:

 

[MikeW]

My feeling is that a LV one will be better positioned price wise than a LN one.

But...think of what the Clifton combo costs. I would think that seeing how they keep making them, they at least turn a small profit.

It will be interesting to see where these planes get positioned as regards pricing.

Take care, Mike

 

[bugbear]

But...think of what the Clifton combo costs. I would think that seeing how they keep making them, they at least turn a small profit.

It always strikes me as nothing short of astonishing that those (presumably, as you say) sell, given the wide availability of (very) good condition originals by Record and Stanley for much less money.

The Clifton blades appear good (and a little thicker than Record/Stanley), but the fit 'n' finish on the other parts is not as excellent as one might hope at the price.

BugBear

 

[pidgeonpost]

I have a model 50 which I bought from a market stall. It was virtually unused, and after a few abortive attempts it went back in the box until I could find some clues on how to use it.
It seems that the cutter height adjustment is very critical. For example, you start off by removing no stock at all, lower the cutter by 0.000005" and digs in like a good un!
Never really figured out why it should be quite so finicky - probably just me. I have used it occasionally for the odd moulding, and when it works it's quite satisfying. Am I right in thinking that when you create the cut you should start at the remote end of the timber? Seem to remember reading that somewhere...

Speak, Oh Alf...

 

[bugbear]

I have a model 50 which I bought from a market stall. It was virtually unused, and after a few abortive attempts it went back in the box until I could find some clues on how to use it.
It seems that the cutter height adjustment is very critical. For example, you start off by removing no stock at all, lower the cutter by 0.000005" and digs in like a good un!
Never really figured out why it should be quite so finicky - probably just me.

That sounds like either a concave sole (skate), or a blade that's not clamped down on it's bedding firmly.

In either case, as soon as the blade juuust touches, there's a flex, and the blade bites deeply.

BugBear

 

[Paul Chapman]

Am I right in thinking that when you create the cut you should start at the remote end of the timber? Seem to remember reading that somewhere...

The perceived wisdom is that, as you say, you start the cut at the end furthest away from you and work backwards. However, you can do it the other way if you work carefully.

When adjusting the cutters, always ensure that the sides of the skates are level with the outside edges of the cutter or just inside - NEVER outside as this will stop it cutting.

There are various manuals on Alf's site here which will help you http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/combinationplanes.html

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, same deal as a flea market I believe. Everything from clothes, ancient and modern, to toys, to plants to tools. Dealers with whole vans of boxes laid out to the bloke clearing out his garage and piling it all on a shaky wallpapering table. Lot of the latter today. We came to the conclusion that either a) a lot of people getting out their Christmas decs had found boxes of junk in the way and decided to get rid of them. Or b) SWMBO said "clear the garage! I've got to put all the stuff from the spare room in there if your sister's going to stay over Christmas" :lol: In consequence a fairly eclectic selection to choose from, but got a few gems including a rather lovely boxwood spokeshave I'm rather pleased with and a fascinating take on the multi-tip screwdriver.

Cheers, Alf

Sounds like fun Alf.

The local markets I go to can be like that. Strange, how you can turn up for months and find nothing but overpriced junk.....then all of a sudden something rare turns up priced cheap . Thats when you often don't have enough to buy it. :roll:

But I've found it important to be an early bird though..... Our car load of kids doesn't really get there until later in the day unfortunetly. Usually with one kid on my back in one of those carry backback things....another in my right arm covered in icecream, leaving my left hand fumbling with all the old tools. (I dropped one once ....still feel quilty about it...didn't break, but the guy didn't notice but still....)

But its getting harder to find affordable old tools I've noticed. As though everybodies getting into it....the sellers seem to be upping their prices every week.

 

[Vormulac]

I got my new (ok, pretty old actually) Lewin in the post yesterday - yaay! It's purrrdy Ok, needs a bit of tlc as the steel bits are showing their age as are the cutters.
I guess a liberal application of WD40 to loosen everything up followed by the gentle application of some fine wire wool to remove the sort of pre-rust patina that's appearing on the steel bits?

Thanks for your suggestion Alf, even if I don't get on with it as a tool, it's an interesting piece of kit

V.

 

[bugbear]

I guess a liberal application of WD40 to loosen everything up followed by the gentle application of some fine wire wool to remove the sort of pre-rust patina that's appearing on the steel bits?

Yep, that should be fine; I'd recommend only 0000 wire wool, and if that doesn't work, add some solvol autosol chrome polish.

Despite being called polish, it provides SUBSTANTIAL extra bite, it's really more of a gentle abrasive.

After this you're into (800 or finer) SiC, but avoid if possible.

BugBear

 

[Vormulac]

Thanks BugBear, I'll certainly go easy on it. I need to get some new wire wool actually, can you recommend somewhere that has the 0000 stuff?

Cheers!

V.

 

[bugbear]

Thanks BugBear, I'll certainly go easy on it. I need to get some new wire wool actually, can you recommend somewhere that has the 0000 stuff?

Err. Certainly. Thorns in Norwich, but I'm not sure that'll help you ... ?!!

BugBear

 

[Vormulac]

LOL I was thinking more of any chains you were aware of such as Halfords or Homebase or something - but thanks anyway :lol:

V.

 

[George_N]

Thanks BugBear, I'll certainly go easy on it. I need to get some new wire wool actually, can you recommend somewhere that has the 0000 stuff?

Cheers!

V.

I got 0000 steel wool in my local Homebase. It's funny, they are almost completely useless for tools (in fact almost everything) but they stock better finishes and associated sundries than most DIY sheds around here.