#3 transformed into rabbet

It works

David Charlesworth

>Me too, second everything Neal says.

Fiddly to set up but works sort of perfectly.

Why on earth they used such thin blades is beyond me.

Davud Charlesworth

That no 4 conversion is fantastic, a real work of art.

Is that really Andaman Padauk, or African?

Flexing soles

David Charlesworth

>I find there is a significant issue with the sole flexing on the 140 skew block planes.

When planing a rebate the cut starts fine, then the blade dives and a much thicker shaving results.

This could easily be designed out by bridging the open sidewalls together and modifying the lever cap and blade shape.

The single sided bench rebate conversion seems an excellent idea.

David Charlesworth

Makes me wonder

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>why we do not see more broken #140s in the wild. You can see the deflection just by holding in your hand. Seems like they made a dangerous design compromise just to keep from making a weird shaped blade.

Re: Makes me wonder

David Charlesworth

>Agreed.

I have been keen to redesign this one for some time.

David

Re: Makes me wonder

Joel

>You probably don't see too many broken 140's in the wild because if the plane broke in half there isn't much you can do about it and I bet the pieces would get tossed.

In real life it's a plane that wasn't used much in professional practice. You never see it referred to in old books and at least in my case the ones I have seen (and mine) so very little signs of actual blade wear. It's certainly possible that the weakness of the design prevented it's hard use and so it fell out of favor or never became popular.

If you have an actual rabbet plane they aren't much use. I think in 20 years I used mine once - to make a raised panel - but now I would just use a regular rabbet plane.

I think it's like a lot of the more unusual stanley designs. Fun in principle but not nearly as useful or as popular as their mainstream patterns - and certainly not a popular hardworking choice of the early 20th century professional.

Re: It works

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>David, George Langford is a truly nice guy. I'm sure he would answer any questions you have about the conversion. Back up from the link page to "Georges Basment" for the E-Mail addy.JR(BTW the rest of his site is neat)

Re: Makes me wonder

David Charlesworth

>Joel,

Good points.

David

Perhaps...

Rob Brophy

>...these planes were purchased for the skewed blade and not the rabbeting feature? Did Stanley or any of the other North American plane manufacturers supply a bench or block plane with a skewed blade?

All of them

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>I rarely use my bench planes straight on--they are almost always skewed about 10-15 degrees. They work so much better that way. Since most edge work is done on 4/4 or narrower stock, it is pretty easy to skew any of the bench planes, esp the large jointers. The only plane that cannot be skewed in use is the rabbet--thus the demand for a skew rabbet. I think skew planes are the bees knees--all blades work better when skewed.

True, but...

Rob Brophy

>Doesn't it defeat the purpose of having a long bodied jointer if you skew it and have portions of the sole off the wood?

But enough nit-pickin' :-)...I tend to skew my bench planes as well, and am probably too old to stop it if I was to get a skewed smoother, but I -really- like a skewed block plane for daily use.

Take care,

Rob

Re: #3 transformed into rabbet

paul womack

>Do you have thoughts on a minimum sized side opening that would allow for maximise strength?

That is the design compromise; a large opening allows a longer blade and easier shaving escape, at the cost of weakness.

Set your priorities and hack away...

BugBear