Is there a difference between a forkstaff and ...

Re: Is there a difference between a forkstaff and

Joe shelton

Oops. Hollow...

Re: Is there a difference between a forkstaff and

Jack Dover

If you're talking about Mujingfang hollow planes then I would suggest fettling it a bit more. I have a complete set of their "hollow and rounds" (for the lack of a better word) and every single one works really well, something I can't say about traditional H&R or molding planes.

In any case a forkstaff plane is not guaranteed to work. Most of those planes have issues with a sole and you will still have to figure how to sharpen a concave blade, most probably correct its profile. If these are the problems you're having with the Mujingfang planes they still have to be solved for a forkstaff plane.

What are the problems, specifically? Doesn't cut? Digs too deep? Chatter? Uneven profile?

You were right, Jack

Joe shelton

Thanks.

These are Mujingfang planes, although I don't have the full set.

I went back to the shop and, after some puzzling, determined that my first problem was poor bedding of a blade to the plane's body. After a while, I had that one taking shavings.

Still have more to do, but I'm moving the right way.

Now I wish I'd gotten more of them...

Appreciate your counsel.

Re: Is there a difference between a forkstaff and

William Duffield

Your standard hollow planes an arc of 60°, while the examples of forkstaffs I have found via a quick Google search cuts close to 180°. Therefore, there are lots of typical mouldings you could not create with a forkstaff. Also, due to the variance in skew angle across the 180° arc, you will have difficulty getting a finely finished surface from the forkstaff.

Re: You were right, Jack

Jack Dover

I've bought mine 4 or 5 years ago, a full set was under 70$ delivered from China I think. Lee Valley was selling the exact set for 250$. It was worth the wait, planes came nicely packed in a manufacturer box. Quality wise they seemed to be mass produced, but finished mostly by people, there were some irregularities that a machine wouldn't leave. All of them didn't have any issues, they were sharpened enough to work, so I spend maybe a couple of minutes honing each plane and they have produced translucent shavings.

I've heard the prices went up and that quality isn't as consistent as it used to be. I too regret not buying some other planes, their plough plane looks quite useful, maybe a smoother.

The issue with regular molding planes is that many of them are just two halves connected by a thin sliver of wood and they don't stay co-planar. Often they curve along the end or develop this quite pronounced bulge right behind a throat. I couldn't find an easy way of fixing this, even for hollows. A profiled sole takes about a day to restore, and a profile gets invariably altered and I never managed to re-grind an iron to match it 100%. There's a forkstaff plane in my collection somewhere, I just can't resist buying this stuff for a just few bucks. It looks unused, maybe because its iron wasn't properly bedded and registered against a plane's side, so it's fiddly to set up and it stays set for maybe 15 mins. I start to believe that properly restoring an old molding plane is about as hard as making a new one, it's just restoring seems to be somewhat better guaranteed outcome for me. Maybe one day I'll just do it, but for now I'm slowly working through my restoration list.