Postwar Norris talk *PICS*
WoodburnBob
>I'm going to show you a surprise I've had a few times before when putting big ticket antique planes to work.
This ordinary A5 really looks quite good. Correct? I've had it sitting around a year or two since it came mail order...probably from Murland, but can't say it wasn't off ebay.
I had to work the blade over quite a bit to remove some pitting but who cares. I then put the plane to wood: setting the blade depth I got either elbow jarring chatter or nothing, no matter how softly and sweetly I tickled the adjuster. I checked a couple things and then got out the 12 inch Starrett straight-edge I keep as unding'd as possible.
Visually the sole concavity is pretty impressive as things go, but in truth by feeler gauges this is only 0.003 inch behind the mouth and 0.002 or so in front of the mouth. This of course pretty much explains the original symptom and makes the Norris completely useless for it's intended purpose. Until fixed, that is.
Just another shot from a little different angle. By the way this is an arch and not a trick of balancing the straightedge on a toe ding and a heel ding.
I've found my share of domed soles on infills and concluded they were given cosmetic surgery via belt sander. That is not the case here. My guess is that the sole hasn't been worked on.
This concave sole finding isn't unusual for old cast iron American planes like Baileys, but it may be the first I've noticed in an infill. Perhaps I'm paying attention because of Joel's recent remarks about postwar Norris's being welded.
Anyway, none of this is new to most of you but I had the camera handy and thought some of the newer members might be interested.
