Wood for moulding planes

[steve355]

Hi

Quick question… I want to make some traditional moulding planes. I keep reading that they are made from beech but the old Victorian planes I have look like mahogany to me or some dark wood. Can someone please enlighten me?

Thanks
Steve

 

[Adam W.]

They are beech mainly, but I have boxwood and rosewood ones too. Although, they are specialist radius and compass planes.

 

[peter-harrison]

Out of 90 moulding planes in my workshop, 89 are beech and 1 is mahogany. It doesn't have a makers mark and is unfinished which makes me think it's a shop-made plane. The beech planes are often stained dark brown.

 

[thetyreman]

beech is most likely and quartersawn as well, there should be ray fleck on the sides.

 

[steve355]

Ok, so here are 3 of mine.

The one on the left - beech. The other two - stained beech, right? What sort of stain was used?

 

[Adam W.]

Dirt and linseed oil.

 

[steve355]

Dirt and linseed oil.

In what proportions?

 

[johnnyb]

also the one at the back is 18th century so would be 200 years or so old. the clean one would be later 20th century at a guess. they were habitually soaked in linseed I reckon. later much less so.

 

[peter-harrison]

also the one at the back is 18th century so would be 200 years or so old. the clean one would be later 20th century at a guess. they were habitually soaked in linseed I reckon. later much less so.

Hi Johnny, how do you date a plane like that? I can see there is a difference in the wedge- is that it?
Pete

 

[D_W]

Interestingly, some of the planes at williamsburg that have only been used a few decades are already dark brown like that.

They stamp the year on the bed now because the toolmaker has run into people trying to sell him back planes that he made (that were probably stolen or taken by employees) as vintage.

Beech and birch were common in the US for planes (birch first). If you are going to buy quartered beech that's only been kiln dried and not had a few seasons to dry and then spring back (it'll always spring back less than the shrink), you'll be grinding some width off of the iron in a couple of years - just be ready for it (or progressively if you're using them)

It does take some luck to find well sawn unused beech a few years old, though, that doesn't have cracking or bug damage or spalt.

Old dense heart mahogany would've made a nice plane, though it would also dent easily. Not sure how it wears compared to beech, but unless you're making a living with them, that won't matter.

 

[johnnyb]

the wedges have a circular profile and the chamfers tend to be wider with a gouged stop. the name will be the final detail. maybe john green of york( total guess but easily the most prolific maker of that era . very early planes are usually a bit longer as well but they have usually been altered to fit in the tool chest.

 

[Adam W.]

@steve355 You could be historically correct and try air dried riven beech if you want the full experience, but that's an argument which I can't be arrised to have on this forum right now to stop it dragging on for aeons.

You can PM me if you want to know.

 

[johnnyb]

air dried beech has a lovely buttery texture that incredibly attractive to woodworm. beech is so universal I'm not sure what else I would recomend in Europe. sapele ? neither are very stable but weighty and hard. walnut seems a good choice to me or cherry but beech has always been pretty cheap and available in big chunks.