Pimping out an imported plane #1: New blades/old planes - first impressions

I love my Wixey, and I use it for a lot of settings. Today I learn one more way to use it. Thanks.

-- Zipsss

The more posts I see here the more inclined I am to work on my #5 and 8 planes. I inherited these from my father and they have sat in my shop for years hidden in the back of a cabinet. Your post certainly gave me some ideas on refurbishing the planes.

By the way I like the Wixey too but I still am uncomfortable about using it to set up my fences. I still rely on my engineering and combination squares. Too much old school in my I guess.

But thanks for the post. I really appreciate the effort you put into your planes.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I have that #6 and like it quite a lot. I see it’s worthwhile throwing the LV blade in it, eh?

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Hey Mot, we talked about trying this a while back.
When I read more about plane irons on the hock site on remark kept diggin at me. In his ramblings on hand planes he mentioned that the “body of the plane” was only a holder for a decent blade.

Now that I’ve had a chance to test that theory I am in agreement with him.

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Hi Bryan and welcome to the LJ.
I can appreciate your concern with switching from the tried and true to the wonderful world of digita lbut don’t be too apprehensive.
Best test you can use at you shop is to set with a Wixey or equivalent and measure with your traditional gauges.
i thin you will be pleased. My set up times have gone done ( thank goodness) ) with these little marvels.
I encourage you to take a closer look.

regards

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Great use for the angle meter!

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Nice swap Bob – and the series title, well…lots of “p” sounds – gotta love that! Fun.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

great idea, Hmmmm.

-- Hope Never fails

Great to hear that the Awards are doing you justice, Bob. They look like Avant/Kamal planes, big Indian plane manufacturers that purchased the tooling from Record when they stopped offering planes.
Had to admit that I got a rise from the title as well. The image of you in “urban wear” with huge pants hanging down and a boom box riding your shoulder while pimping your planes was fun. Too bad there’s no soundtrack.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I agree whole heartedly. The blade makes the plane. I use old, beat up antique planes exclusively, mostly because I’m another impoverished woodworker. The A2 is the cat’s A**

I buy raw A2, rough shape it, and harden it with the BBQ. It takes 9-12 hours to heat treat, but I can make a blade for $4

-- The only easy wood project is a fire

Hey Doug !
I got m’plane upon the platter and I see its should be flatter, but it really dose’nt matter, cuz my lifie is in a tatter. It just plane!, Plane!, I need to try again!

Matter, I have done a few pieces using a furnace I commandered and got some decent lathe tools for my efforts. – Kind of fun too.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Ah – the talk of heat treating reminds me…I was talking with a friend of mine who makes knives and thought I’d ask him a few questions about where to buy steel stock (for plane irons and what have you) and questions about heat treatment/hardening, etc. We got to talking…we’re gonna set up some time for him to teach me a bit about the knife making and metal working crafts…something I’ll probably try to blog…

Bob – keep up craftng them lyrics…you got mad skilz

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

You can also improve a plane by using a thicker cap iron. It will stiffen a thinner blade, which is easier to sharpen when you have to rework the bevel. I bought a Hock cap iron to stiffen up an old #5 that I converted to scrub plane use. Made a world of difference using a stock blade. Worth it if you have a few of the thinner blades around that are still usable. If making your own blades, Old 10 or 12” full kerf saw blades are also a source of raw material. Most have pretty good steel in them (altho it won’t hold up like A2!!) Good for making block plane or special profile blades tho. Save all those ashes from that Bar-b-q. Wood ash makes a good medium for cooling down a hard steel when annealing it to form it.

Go

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730

HI Go:
I haven’t tried a cap iron although it certianly makes sense now that you have explaned it.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I am looking at the Work Sharp system myself and am very interested in the tool rest shown in your picture with the Wixey. It doesn’t look like the one supplied with the WS system. Is it from another system or did you make it yourself?

D.

HI D.?

Here’s a link to the toolrest.

bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob,

Thanks for the link. Looks like a great adaptation. As you probably guessed, I’m a newbie to LJ. I started in woodworking by building canoes. Now I’m going to try my hand at furniture, but find I need a lot more tools. So, am looking for ways to get good function at low cost until my skill level outgrows my tools. Am very impressed by the creativity in solving problems and the willingness to share experiences, good and bad. What a great resource! And I just stumbled on to it by dumb luck. Thanks again.

Darryl

Darryl:
Glad to help. the nice thing about the net is we can help smooth out the bumps for each other.

There are lots of great craftsmen here and they are filled iwth ideas to make your woodworking rewardable.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I can recommend the cap irons. I’m using hock cap irons and blades.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov