New Rust

Re: New Rust

Ron in Kokomo

>I have a 605 1/2 c that i have a Hock iron in. One of my very favorite tools.

Could be heresy but...

Steve Kubien

>...I would caution you to slow down. Before long you're going to have too many planes to fettle and you won't be able to get down to using them. Sharpen those irons and make some shavings!

Of course, others will vehemently deny this logic and issue marching orders to keep acquiring more tools. In fact, there are so many people with that sort of advice, they can't all be wrong.

Regards,

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

BTW, it sounds like you are picking up some nice stuff.

Re: Bedrock No 4

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>A bedrock plane marked No 4 with the bedrock frog would be a pretty rare animal. A Bailey pattern #4 with a bedrock lever cap on it would be a frankenplane. I am curious as to which it is that you are getting. I'd pay $10 for a bedrock marked No 4. It would fit one of the thousands of holes in my collection.

They are all wrong.

john jesseph

>I agree, fettle what you have and get to know it, then move on. Make some projects, then only get what you need for the next project. I think you'll appreciate it more if you really use it. Unless of course you are a packrat accumulator, then by all means just go beat the bushes and pile up all the tools you can...some people like doing that too...

Re: Bedrock No 4

Todd Hughes

>I have a no.4 type 2 and a no.8 type 1 Bed Rock. The no.4 is in only Good condition but the no.8 is in amazingly about mint condition looking like it was used only once or so and put away. I don't think it was ever shapened. These pre 60 prefex planes are kind of interesting to me as they actually predate when the Bedrock was a catalog item,[first shown in 1900] and I believe there were some thought of the bedrock being just an improved Baily and sharing thier numbers.Is kind of neat to that they milled off the Sept 3 1895 patent on the body, both of mine had this done after they were jappaned.....Forget what i paid for the no.4 but the no. 8 I got for around $30 or so.....Yup I was pretty happy.....Todd

Re: Bedrock No 4 & HiJack

Dale Stansbery

>What I find interesting is the Vaughn and Bushnell Planes seem to have followed the same sequence as the Bedrocks. I just picked up my first V&B #4 size. It has the similar to bedrock frog, round sides and no markings other than V&B on the blade and 54 on the lever and somewhere under the frog as I recall when I had it off the other day. I understand later ones had flat sides and emboessed lever caps like the bedrocks.

Re: Could be heresy but...

James Watriss

>It's not heresy. I've been thinking similar things myself.

I bid on the #4 and the 605 1/2 C because I use a number 4 regularly enough, and my old 5 1/2 C with a 2 1/4" blade is one of my favorites... it's just a great all around size, and if this one has the same sized blade, I may just swap the blades out. Out of the pile, I bounce around between a #3, a #4, a 4 1/2, and that old 5 1/2. All are corrugated. Figured I'd give these old bedrocks a try to see if it would possibly be an improvement. If not, I can always sell em off. One of these days I'm gonna have to thin the herd anyway, so I figure I'll let in a few more just to see if bedrocks live up to the hype, or if my old sweethearts are really as nice as I think they are.

You're not alone, Steve

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Back when I was involved in photography, the term for someone who just had to buy it all when it came out was "chrome collector."

I like to think bottom-feeding rust collectors - those who pay $1-5 for things found at garage (or as we say in my family, "garbage") sales - are different, but that could be because it's my preferred-by-necessity approach. I think the trap is there regardless of whether you buy new or seriously used: it's possible to spend more time on the tools than on using the tools. If that's what you want, great; there's a lot of pleasure in the aesthetics of the tools themselves. But people should start simple, test the limits of the simple, and only then proceed.

I am reminded that most of the "how to use tools" books I read when I started getting interested in this stuff recommended buying ONE bench plane and ONE block plane.

Re: You're not alone, Steve

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>One bench plane? It doesn't make sense to me. I would have to have a jointer and a smoother. A #3 and a #7 would do, or maybe a #4 1/2 and a #8, depending on the typical scale of the projects I was building.

As I get older and slower, I'm beginning to realize that the limiting factor is more the size of the furniture I can build and deliver than the actual size of the planes I might use to build it.

Of course, nowadays, I guess I could manage with no bench planes, and probably a lot more efficiently, with a modern bevel up, adjustable mouth smoother and a modern bevel up, adjustable mouth jointer. Those aren't bench planes either, are they? Neither are Steve Knight's bevel down, adjustable mouth woodies, right?

Re: You're not alone, Steve

James Watriss

>Yeah, I'm fast getting used to the reality that a smoother, a jack, and a jointer are pretty much the workhorses. But I don't think I need as many smoothers as I have. I can justify a few, as some work better for certain types of work, but like I said before, I think I need to thin the herd a little bit.