Rehabbing a wooden smoother

Re: Rehabbing a wooden smoother

Bob Hackett

>Bob Smallser posted on how to resole transitional and wood bodied planes.A trip to the archives or the articles would probably answer your questions and save you much trouble.

Then again you could always resole with bronze and not have to worry about wear again,ever.;^)

Mainely,Bob

Re: Rehabbing a wooden smoother

Skip in Falls Church

>Thanks for the suggestion Bob. I've already made the opening for the mouth patch and almost have it to depth. (Okay - so I wasn't paying attention to the plane, only the mouth.) I'd hate to do an entire resoling of the plane - mostly from an aesthetic point of view.

Just sitting here I realized that the wear on the sole of the plane has changed the effective cutting angle of the blade. (Raised it?) So I think I'll just work the sole back level to the top and set the patch.

Skip

High Angle?

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>But Skip, that means you've got a high(er) angle plane, which lots of people here argue is the cat's pajamas for a smoother. Plus, it's a cool wedge shape, very fashionable these days. You may have discovered a whole new paradigm in woodies.

Re: High Angle?

Skip in Falls Church

>Actually, after a little thought I'm thinking about leaving the back end a little "high". I don't have a 47.5 degree smoother. :)

Skip

A whole new vista opens up

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Buy old woodie smoothers (inexpensive in most parts of the country, I think - though not so much out here where the country was settled a lot later), plane the soles to varying degrees...you could have 47.9, 49.99, 61 degree smoothers for right cheap. Hmmmm.

The correct answer

Skip in Falls Church

>Well, I answered one of my questions. Level the bottom of the plane before you even start thinking about the patch. The bottom of the plane was off level (compared to the top) both front to back and side to side. When I got done leveling the plane the patch I made wouldn't work any longer. It would have left the mouth far too open. So I used that patch as a template for a longer patch. I'll be working getting the new patch in today.

Skip

I can't wait....

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>for the next excuse for us to gather the galoots from the Washington DC area. Skip, you alone are going to have so much new (and new-to-you) cool stuff to see, that it's going to be a great time at "show and tell." I can tell. I'd love the play-by-play on your efforts on this woody as I need to flatten and square a relatively newly acquired wooden rebate plane. I've read Bob Smalser's pictorial essay and it is very helpful, but I always like reading about different folk's experiences.

Regards -

Dave

Re: The correct answer

Paul in NJ

>Skip,

I made the same mistake on my first 'patch' job. Now I extend the patch further into the throat. After I level the bottom I open the mouth a little at a time with a sharp paring chisel.

Paul Dzioba

Re: I can't wait....

Skip in Falls Church

>Hmmm, well, for a step by step, *first* square the sole - *then* design and cut the mouth patch - not the other way around! :( (mumble, mumble!) Actually the first thing I did was flatten the throat because the iron was only making contact with the far sides of the throat. Then I flattened the back of the wedge. *Then* I made my mistake.

As for getting together for a show and tell, that would be fun. I"m usually (depending on overtime) off two weekends a month. Maybe we could come up with some excuse for getting together in September? Or is there some event in the area coming up any time soon. After all we don't have to wait for an opportunity - we can make one. :)

I'd be glad to bring the plane I'm working on now and going over what I did (am doing) to rehab it. Right now the glue on the new (second) mouth patch is drying and it's about ready to come out of the clamps.

Skip

Re: The correct answer

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Paul,

(I did one reply - and it somehow disappeared. So I'll try it again. I hope this doesn't show up as a duplicate.)

I don't have that excuse - this is my second patch job. I just started doing without thinking until I was part way through the process. Fortunately I did start thinking before I glued the first mouth patch in - otherwise I would have had to chisel it out. Like I did with the first pactch, I designed this one to just meet the blade at the level of the (newly squared) sole. I'll pare it to size after I take the patch down to the level of the sole.

Skip

The patch is in

Skip in Falls Church

>I finished up the patch and sanded the bottom of the plane flat just before I had to go to work last night. (I've been up all night.) All that's left is applying a coat or two of BLO/turp and a little more work on the blade. I took a few passes just to make sure it worked okay - and it does.

Skip