Help selecting a plow plane.

Re: Help selecting a plow plane.

David Miller from Iowa

>I'd suggest you pay the extra to get a Stanley #46 (as opposed to a #45). Make sure it is complete with the slitters. Then use good, straight grained wood.

Good luck, David

Agree on the 46

Neal (San Jose)

>Better-than-Stanley blades can be had from Jim Reed, who posts around here pretty regularly. They are also less pricey than original blades, and you won't feel guilty sharpening them! He also makes blades and other parts for various other planes.

Re: Help selecting a plow plane.

paul womack

>If you're only doing ploughing (as opposed to dadoing) I'd recommend either a Record #044 or a woodie. The woodies are really sweet to use, and go for cheap on the 'bay. If you're looking to extend your overall joinery capability I'd get a #50, probably Stanley in the US, but the Record version is better.

The #46 oughta' be really nice for cross grain work, but at the penalty of trickier blade sharpening, and higher cost. In the UK they're super-rare and expensive.

BugBear

Re: Help selecting a plow plane.

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>Marples also made an #044. I have one and I like it.

Re: Help selecting a plow plane.

Alan Hamilton

>Glen,

Are you dead set on getting a "vintage" plow plane? If not, ECE makes a wooden plow, with various width irons, that looks real spiffy; i.e. they've done their usual magic with wood and steel. If you're interested you could try Joel, The Best Things or maybe Highland Hardware.

Alan

Re: Help selecting a plow plane.

Jack Guzman from Maine

>When I was in your position I followed a recommendation I got indirectly from Pam of these forums.I bought a record 044 and it is just the thing I needed. Inexpensive and simple and it does it's job well.----Jack

irons are metric :(

Adam Cherubini, NJ

>

I am expecting delivery of...

Steve Kubien

>a plough plane from Steve Knight. I haven't used any others so I am afraid I cannot offer any good advice on that. Once the Knight arrives, I'll be sure to post my observations. The good thing is that I have a current project ongoing which will require a plough plane. Even though I am anxious for the Knight's arrival, I am glad I won't have to plug in the 23000rpm finger eating screaming machine.

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

low-cost solution *LINK*

John Truxell-Svenson (jvs)

>If it is just for panel grooves and the 3/8" max depth is adequate, the below will work fine until you decide you need something more. I bought one as a stopgap, but it does about everything I need it to for now. One sixth the cost of an ECE, and most of the function for light duty.




/jvs


JW Plow

Re: I am expecting delivery of...

Glenn

>I cannot find a plow plane on his website. Can you give me the link?

Thanks,

Glenn

Me too...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>I've been eyeballing woodies lately myself. I was hoping to hear more on them in this thread.

The 46 is a great and very versatile plane. The Record 044 is a fine plane for just plowing. The Record 050 does everything the 044 does and adds beading capability too (both of these don't do cross grain work). I prefer the Record planes over Stanley�s here (the 044&050) better blade adjusters IMHO. Record never made a 46 BTW.

So sound off people, who made a good old wooden plow plane?

Re: Help selecting a plow plane.

Roy from Cincy

>I got the cheap Chinese plow plane and what was listed as a 1/4" blade. It must be metric, 'cause it's sure not 1/4". It is also a very light duty blade compared to a traditional western woodie.

I also got a woodie off E-Bay sans blades for cheap and got a set of blades from the same source. The blades fit fine. The plane was in basically usable shape except that the skate was worn low on the nose and resulted in a nasty diving action. I'm in the process of grinding the skate level now. Hopefully it will work o.k. then. Mine has two threaded posts and adjusting it is slow, though sure once you get it there. I think I would rather have a woodie that was unadjustable and fixed in width for simple case work. Also, mine has a squared off end with no tote. This works, but isn't the best ergonomically.

Has anyone tried one of these?

mike recchione

>You can't beat that price, not if you throw in the irons.

Re: Has anyone tried one of these?

Roy from Cincy

>As I mentioned in another post, I bit on one of these cheap Chinese woodies. I don't like it. The blade, advertised as 1/4", really isn't. It must be metric. It is also very thin and light weight, and a very crudely wrought thing.

The clamping mechanism on the fence adjustment is just a couple of wing nuts. Not very secure. It's hard to describe how the wing nuts clamp on the adjusting bars, but if you were to take off the fence and look at it closely, you would just cringe.

It does not have an adjustable depth stop. The skate is about 3/8" deep, so you just plow untill you bottom out on the plane body. That's not so bad if all you want to plow is a 3/8" deep groove, which will in fact work for most case and panel construction. However, as the skate wears, there is no way to adjust the depth.

The plane will plow a groove, but I'm sure it won't last long.

TANSTAFL, I guess. Thanks.

mike recchione

>

Re: I am expecting delivery of...

Steve Kubien

>Nope. 'Fraid not. Steve played with plough design a while back and didn't like what he came up with. A few months ago, he looked for comments regarding a striped set of planes he was building for his anniversary. The thread turned to "what do people want to see from Steve Knight?" I (and perhaps others) suggested a plough plane and he went back to drawing board. I sent him some $$$ to cover R&D and if I undertand correctly (Steve back me up on this because the waiting is KILLING me!) it should be in transit right about.....now.

Mr Knight has/had a few pictures at home and can probably send them to you. I'll try to post some when mine arrives.

Cheers,

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

Re: I am expecting delivery of...

steve knight

>sorry I had been so slow. I have been sick off and on and it had made me get behind. but if I stay well it whould go out this week.

If you really want a wooden plow plane... *LINK*

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>There were lots of makers. They span the range of simple to off the scale in Gizmocity.

The dealer in the link below is an Australian dealer. I've personally bought tools from Hans and everything I've bought met the description. He has some interesting wooden plow planes. He also has a set of Mathieson Plow irons on sale on that page also.

No affiliation etc, but I think you will be happy.


http://www.hansbrunnertools.gil.com.au/woodplan.htm

Re: dado's with a #050

paul womack

>(both [Record #044, #050] of these don't do cross grain work).

My Record #050 has a nice little pair of nickers on the body, same as the Stanley #50. Why do you say it won't do cross grain work? Do you mean it performs badly, despite the nickers?

There's no debate on the #44 - it's a "pure" plough.

BugBear

expectations

John Truxell-Svenson (jvs)

>TANSTAFL, but for the two purposes I bought it for (drawer and panel grooves), it does just fine. Having the irons exactly match a mortise chisel would save ~2 minutes of fitting per tenon on doors (or an extra "fitting" pass with the plow). Solid drawer bottoms are trimmed to fit anyway, and if you use plywood bottoms, it would be easy to reduce an iron for an exact fit. The irons are a little thin, but they clean up fine and sharpen well, and I've never had a problem with the fence slipping. It's a neat little tool for what it does.

For a $45 solution that lets me do these operations without power, I'm happy, at least until I find a need for a "real" plow with matched irons, greater depth range and control, etc. The matched Mathieson irons Mark points out below have me thinking, though; usually an expensive thing, and almost always a time-consuming one....




/jvs

Nope, A total brain dead

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>moment Paul. Coffee didn't kick in yet I guess. Sorry for leading you all down the wrong path:(

Thanks Mark...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>I've delt with the Him before. A great guy to do business with. The big problem is shipping costs half way around the world.

Re: I am expecting delivery of...

Steve Kubien

>Sounds good. Get healthy.

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario