Moulding plane restoration
john lucas
Just started restoring this moulding plane. Got a surprise. The blade was pretty rusty but didn't appear pitted so I thought I could save it. for a couple of moulding planes I have simply made a new blade. After I got the rust off I found out it was a file that they had ground to shape. They didn't remove any of the teeth. It had a fairly good bevel. The back was pretty flat but still had the teeth. They had given it a very slight negative rake on the back to get a good edge. I sharpened it and tried it but I'm going to have to work on the bedding. It chattered and you can see where it's worn near the bottom. the blade did take a good edge. When I use a file I usually anneal it, grind the teeth off, then harden and temper it. Most of the time I simply use good quality High carbon tool steel.