Wooden Wedge Species

Had to look for a bit.....confused as to what kind of windows you were dealing with.....until it dawned on me you must be talking about wedges for "planes"?

Yes, wedges for wooden planes.
  Ron

Ron, Wedges were made from the same species as the plane body. American beech, European beach, yellow birch, apple. I think I am remembering Matt Bickford making his first hollow and round set out of cherry, he is using Beech now. If you can identify the wood species that your plane is made of then any similar wood species should make a good utility wedge. Do you have pieces of the wedge to be replaced to use as a template?
Jack

Jack,  
Thanks for your reply.  As I said on the woodworking forum I have some birch, but no beech, so that is what I will use.  I have the lower half of the broken wedge with all the important angles to use as a template.  I will fashion the upper half like some other Ohio Tool wedges.  I will let you know how it goes.

I have made wedges out of a lot of materials.  Super hard materials feel like one is inserting a piece of glass and don't have any spring to them.  I had this one plane that had such a wedge and solved the problem by making a piece of birch plywood (1/32") to fit in between the wedge and the blade.  Solved the problem.  I assume that I intended to do something nicer for the long term, but it works so well I never got around to it.  It had a side escapement, so it didn't mater whether there was wedge without a clean point in it.

Here are some common wood species used for making wedges in traditional wooden molding planes:

• Beech - A traditional and popular choice due to its dense, smooth grain that resists splintering. Hard enough to hold shape and angle well.

• Maple - Another traditional option with similar properties to beech in terms of hardness and smooth grain.

• Lignum Vitae - A very dense, oily tropical wood that can be polished to a glassy smooth finish. Excellent durability but more difficult to shape.

• Oak - Oak wedges are found but may not be as smooth or stable as denser woods. Avoid open-grain species like ash or elm.

• Fruitwoods - Woods from fruit trees like apple, pear, cherry can work well too due to their density and tend to stain to a reddish hue.

• Exotics - Rosewood and other dense tropical species are options but can be brittle. Not traditionally used.

For vintage replacement wedges, I'd recommend using beech, maple, or another close-grained hardwood in the same thickness as the original. Shape using sharp tools and polish smooth. The wedge angle should match the original for best performance.

Thanks to everyone for the valuable information and insights into making wedges for wooden molding planes.  Ass stated above, i made a wedge out of some dense birch I had.  It worked out well.  I copied the lower half of the wedge from the broken one I had and copied a typical Sandusky Tool Company tracing from a reference book for the upper half.  Sanded glass smooth and working well.
  Ron

Added later 52 s:

Thanks to everyone for the valuable information and insights into making wedges for wooden molding planes.  Ass stated above, i made a wedge out of some dense birch I had.  It worked out well.  I copied the lower half of the wedge from the broken one I had and copied a typical Sandusky Tool Company tracing from a reference book for the upper half.  Sanded glass smooth and working well.
  Ron

Claude wrote:

Here are some common wood species used for making wedges in traditional wooden molding planes:

• Beech - A traditional and popular choice due to its dense, smooth grain that resists splintering. Hard enough to hold shape and angle well.

• Maple - Another traditional option with similar properties to beech in terms of hardness and smooth grain.

• Lignum Vitae - A very dense, oily tropical wood that can be polished to a glassy smooth finish. Excellent durability but more difficult to shape.

• Oak - Oak wedges are found but may not be as smooth or stable as denser woods. Avoid open-grain species like ash or elm.

• Fruitwoods - Woods from fruit trees like apple, pear, cherry can work well too due to their density and tend to stain to a reddish hue.

• Exotics - Rosewood and other dense tropical species are options but can be brittle. Not traditionally used.

For vintage replacement wedges, I'd recommend using beech, maple, or another close-grained hardwood in the same thickness as the original. Shape using sharp tools and polish smooth. The wedge angle should match the original for best performance.

ABOUT AS HELPFUL AS DIARRHEA