Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
# 289 steel . . .
steve mackay
>Have a chunk of the 289 broken off the nose. Am going to try grinding whats left down just enough to round things off for a better look then re-japan the whole plane. Question is : how soft or hard is the casting ? I tend to get over-enthusiastic with things and don't want to blink and half the plane is, just, gone ! Guidance Oh Wise Ones ?
Re: # 289 steel . . .
MikeW
>Hi Steve,
Cast steel on a plane is a relatively soft metal. Personally I would use files as the work is easy enough--and perhaps a bit more controlled.
Take care, Mike
As Mike states it's kinda soft...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA
>Grinding stones in a Dremel tool (or equliv) and going slow is a good way to go. Then finish with files. This is how I made my No. 78 chisel plane.
Iron rather than steel, isn't it?
Bill Houghton, like MN today, Sebastopol, CA
>Perhaps a minor difference, but I think most Stanley plane bodies are cast iron (lower carbon content), not steel. I concur that it's pretty soft.
This seems like an opportunity to install a knob...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . ! . . .
steve mackay
>Just for laughs & giggles . . . how would one mount the bolt ? ? ? Would one just weld on an appropriate size bolt ?
Monster creation
Bill Houghton, like MN today, Sebastopol, CA
>I will leave it to you, Steve, to decide whether my post topic refers to what I'm creating with this casual, intended-to-be-a-joke suggestion, or what you'd be creating.
My son tells me welding cast iron is pretty hard without either warping it or welding it badly, so I guess I'd think about drilling, tapping, and countersinking the sole, and installing a stud from below.
Right...and wrong
Todd Hughes
>It is correct that the plane is of course cast iron and not steel....but Cast Iron has much more carbon in it then steel does not less. Cast iron carbon content normaly runs from 2 to 4% while High Carbon steel's is only about .5 to 1 %.....some alloy steel might get as high as 2% .....Todd
I sit corrected
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>So, Todd, is it the lower carbon content that makes steel stronger and less prone to breakage, or is something else added to make it steel (I am thinking here of basic steel, not one of the fancy alloys)?