Wishbone for Plane

[mbartlett99]

Hi All

Bought a couple of planes on ebay - good apart from the irons. Two new irons today; Clifton and an Axminster Rider. Unfortunately the new blades are a touch thicker and the depth adjustment tab does not engage properly. Does anyone know a good place to get a replacement that will be long enough?

 

[D_W]

The normal fix for this is to build up the underside of the cap iron inside the iron slot. You'll see people mention "soldering tabs", but you can take any bit of sheet material and file it to shape to fit inside the iron slot and build up a 16th of an inch or whatever difference you need. Just make sure it fits between the slot (slot being the slot in the iron).

You can pein and file whatever you make to attach it, or you can just sand it and use something like jbweld to affix it.

These irons are all made thicker because they cover up plane setup issues, but the planes work better stock with a stock thickness iron when you learn to set them up. Or perhaps I should say equally well. You can feel more of what's going on with the plane with a thinner stock iron, too - it's like driving a car. You can get to A to B in a car that insulates you from the road, but sometimes a bit of tactile feedback is nice.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.workshopheaven.com/brass-y-lever.html

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Workshop Heaven supply this;

https://www.workshopheaven.com/gunmetal ... lever.html

Thomas Flinn supply a Clifton replacement, but as Cliftons use a thicker taper pin in the frog casting for the yoke to pivot on, you'd need to bush it for a Stanley or Record, which is a metalwork lathe job, really. I think there's also a pressed and folded steel one available, too, but a cast gunmetal one would be nicer.

Edit to add - nice one Phil - beat me to it!

Another edit to add - Ooo - two different options from WH!

 

[ED65]

You can extend the tabs on the yokes you have. The most straightforward way for the non-metalworker is using a suitable epoxy compound, one of the steel-filled epoxies as sold for car repairs or plumbing use are usually suggested but something like Milliput is probably strong enough if you have any already.

Two other options are: building up the tabs by brazing, fixing in an extension filed from brass or mild steel. Or cast iron if you happen to have any scraps of that!

I know you've already gotten your two new irons but what was the condition of the originals?

 

[mbartlett99]

Thanks guys for all the replies; I'm just going to buy one £6 is cheaper than faffing around on something. Spent enough time on old tools, life is too short.

 

[D_W]

You'll do about the same amount of "faffing" either way. Driving the pin out and fitting the new yoke, or peining two small pieces of metal onto the cap iron.

 

[David C]

I am not happy with the idea that Clifton use a tapered pin.

This seems most unlikely, (though I have not checked recently).

David

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Not sure about Cliftons, but on Records you're right - they're parallel.

If you want a pin to stay put, taper pins or roll pins (spring pins) are actually good options, however I suppose a plane for woodwork isn't really a demanding engineering situation.

If anybody ever has a problem with yoke pins persistently coming loose, there's an old fitter's dodge that may help. Take a small centre punch, and tap it into the periphery of the pin near one end - three or four centre pops around the circumference should be plenty. That will raise some tiny burrs, which will hold the pin in place in it's hole when it's tapped home. Not really best fitting practice, but for 'near enough' jobs it's good enough. Saves making new components or finding an engineering adhesive, anyways.

 

[David C]

That's a great tip which has other applications. It can be used to firm up undersized moving sole plates.

It can also be used to firm up the joint in a stay set cap iron.

David





in oldish block plane moving sole

 

[ED65]

Not sure about Cliftons, but on Records you're right - they're parallel.

If you want a pin to stay put, taper pins or roll pins (spring pins) are actually good options, however I suppose a plane for woodwork isn't really a demanding engineering situation.

I have found tapered pins on some (old?) planes; definitely ever-so-slightly wider towards one end than the other. In one case, once I got the blasted thing out and it was laying on the bench surface, I recall the pin was visibly fatter at one end whatever that means in terms of taper angle.

Saves making new components or finding an engineering adhesive, anyways.

You mean like epoxy or superglue? :mrgreen:

Ghetto thread locker could probably do the necessary here too. That's nail polish for those who don't hang out on machinists' forums Apparently colour doesn't matter :lol:

 

[JonnyW]

I bought the Lie Nielsen blade for my old 604 and had to replace the lever as the blade is thicker (a little mouth adjustment also).

So I bought the brass Y-lever off Workshop Heaven and it worked a treat.

Jonny