orepass

It’s cold today with fresh snow on the ground making it brighter and more cheerful outside. I’m struggling with a cold of my own so instead of heading out to the garage I have been sharpening and cleaning tools. I have been using a Stanley #6 for rough work. It is hefty and feels good in my hands and it quickly brings a delinquent board under control. The blade is cambered to an 8″ radius and it does not get sharpened very often, but today the blade sparkles with a new edge.

I cleaned and sharpened one of the planes that my Father in Law dropped off, a Stanley #40. It is in great shape and I particularly like the beech handles, the color stands out boldly against the black Japanning.

I was surprised when he handed me the plane because it is quite small and quite the opposite of the hefty #6. The blade has a camber that must be closer to 3″ and is in excellent condition. I sharpened both it and my fore plane because I wanted to understand where each tool would fit into my work and the best way I know to do that is to put them to work.

Digging through my scrap box I came a cross a piece of poplar that would serve my purpose and dogged it down on the bench. The scrub plane took bold cuts diagonally across the board leaving gouges that are typical of the heavily cambered blade. I worked about 1/3 of the way across the board and into an area that I new was cupped. The plane kept moving material across the board with no hesitation. Next picking up the fore plane I finished taking cuts across the board. It wasn’t long until I noticed that the cup in the middle of the board was deep enough for the longer plane to bridge across and only shave the two edges of the board.

If you look in the picture below you can see the change in color of the wood where I stopped using the scrub plane and switched to the fore plane. So I sat down on the old 5 gallon bucket to think. If you have read my blog you’ll notice that I use the bucket quite a bit, one day when I find the right plans I will be sitting down on a stool, but for now the 5 gallon bucket will have to do. The planes have done exactly what you would expect. The longer bed of the fore plane allows it to bridge across the undulations of the wood and work to flatten the entire board. The shorter scrub plane only bridges a very short distance,so in the case of this board it has done a fabulous job of shaving the thickness of the board but as for flattening, i’m not so sure. Adjusting the blade depth would certainly make a difference, as would changing the camber of the blade.

The heavier fore plane is a beast when it comes to “hogging’ waste and once moving it is difficult to stop, exactly what I want when trying to level and thickness a board, but I think for narrower boards and smaller work the scrub plane has a place. I’ll keep trying it in different situations and refining its place in my tool box. In the mean time enjoy the photo of the different shavings and certainly the color of the tote gives it a striking appearance. If you have thoughts on these planes please comment there’s a lot to learn.