Made a plow plane

A while back I got an early plow plane.  It exhibits some characteristics of 18th century English plows, but it was unusable.  I wanted to be able to use that style of plow.  So I made one to fit my full set of Ohio Tool plow irons.

I started with some air-dried walnut that I got from a local farmer. He sells through one of the antique malls.  Split out the body (easier than sawing) and planed it flat and square.  I copied the layout from the example plow and drew it on the body.  A few minutes with a 1/2" center bit, a 3/8" shell bit and some chisels got me here:

After finishing off the body, I worked on the fence. I don't have any
pics in progress, but here is a shot of the arms and the still-square
fence in place on the body.

 I then molded the fence, copying the model.  The ovolo was carved with a paring gouge and then smoothed with a round plane.  The rabbets were cut with my Huntsman Late Moon fillister plane and smoothed with my LN shoulder plane.

I then started on the skate.  I didn't have any steel of the proper width, but I did have some nice copper plate.  One of my favorite things about woodworking is using non-traditional materials in traditional projects.  So I used it to make the skate and the washers for the arm rivets.  The skate was riveted in place using standard
rivets into the countersunk copper plate.  The heads were then filed flush and smooth with the plate. I left the rivet heads on the non-skate side, again copying the way the original was done.  Here is a shot after the finish was applied.

 The wedge was fit after the skate was in place, copying the finial from the existing plow.

My finish was 8 coats of linseed oil followed by 6 coats of blonde shellac.  This was rubbed out with amber paste wax, but I didn't use steel wool as I wanted the shine to stay high.  Here is a shot of the plane in use.  It works great!

I started this plane on Feb. 18th and rubbed out the final finish this afternoon.  So, 8 days start to finish.  Total time is about 25 hours. I've never been much of a toolmaker, but this will definitely not be my last plow.  I picked up a copy of Rosebrook's Wooden Plow book at an antique store today, and I'm thinking about working my way through it.  Now I just need to find enough irons to make it worth my while!

The (not-so) True Story of The Nib.

Everyone knows that woodworkers are slow to complete projects. This is a huge problem when you are working for a living, especially when you are working for someone else, and even more so when you have a date with a lusty serving wench at the local tavern. So, a mid-17th century Dutch-German carpenter, I.M Van Der Fulypunktual, decided that he needed a better way to tell how long he had been at work.

Now, back then, clocks were extremely expensive. All the gears were hand-filed from extremely pricey materials. I.M didn't have enough cash to buy a real clock AND pay for his bier, so he solved the problem in an ingenious manner. He built a portable sundial and riveted in right on the end of his favorite saw. This was perfect for him. He could saw his heart out and know exactly what time it was. But far more importantly, he knew exactly when quitting time was, and when bier-o'clock came around on that sundial, he could quit right away.

Now, the other carpenters in the area were frustrated that I.M. got the best table, the freshest pour and the freshest serving girls at the tavern, so they soon replicated his successful design on their own saws. Soon the entire guild of carpenters were seen as do-nothing drunkards, all thanks to that sundial, which lives on today in the form of the saw nib. Need proof? Just offer a carpenter a cold one...

My Review of Dan?s Whetstone Block-Mounted Hard Select Arkansas Sharpening Stone - 6"

This stone is $7.95.  While a little small for plane irons (it will work, just takes some effort), its great for knives and chisels.  Enjoy!

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/dan%e2%80%99s-whetstone-block-mounted-hard-select-arkansas-sharpening-stone-6-~p~4334p/?filterString=search~sharpening-stone%2F&colorFamily=99

High quality stone at a great price.

By The Eaton County Woodworker from Charlotte, MI on 2/6/2012

5out of 5

Pros: Premounted to save time, Wipes clean easily, Cuts fast
Cons: No cover for stone, Too small for plane irons
Best Uses: Small woodworking tools, Chisels, Knives

I use this stone to sharpen my woodworking tools. Plane irons can be sharpened, but its a challenge, given the small size. Chisels are fine. I wish this stone had a full wooden box, not just a premounted base.

(legalese)

Tools for the knitter

Making tools is always a fun diversion from other shop projects, like things for your wife.  Making a tool you've never made before always teaches you a new skill.  But making a tool you've never made before for your wife... now you're on to something!

My wife is a talented knitter.  She collects yarn like I collect wood; you can never have enough of either! Sometimes she buys yarn that has been locally spun and dyed, then wound into skeins (around another cool tool called a niddy-noddy).  A loose skein is of little use to her, so she needed a way to easily make loose skeins into a yarn ball. Enter the woodworker...


This is called an umbrella swift.  The bows are made of 1/4" thick walnut; the central pike and hubs are birch.  The attaching jaw is hard maple, with an oak screw. The bottom hub slides up and down to adjust the diameter of the swift, to accomodate skeins of different lengths, as well as to allow the skein to close down for storage.

All the joints are tied with hemp cord, except where the bows attach to the hubs.  This was done with fine gauge wire for durability and ease of attachment.  The bottom hub rides on a fence, which tightens with a thumbscrew to lock in the setting.

In action, the swift bows and hubs rotate around that central pike, providing a convenient way to control a loose skein while it is wound into a ball.  To use the swift, you also need a nostiprinne.

This is essentially a stick around which a ball of yarn is created.  There are crank machines available that do this, but they are almost all made of cheap Chinese plastic, so no thank you.  This takes a little longer to create a ball of yarn but it was made by me, on my spring pole lathe, from locally harvested wood.

Zach

Rules for Sucessful Woodworker Interactions

I'm not one for philosophy.  I can't sit for hours and contemplate the meaning of life, nor do I weep at the sight of a bud in spring.  I do, however, get a little frustrated when people repeat, ad nauseum, old arguments as to why one way of working wood is better than another.  While I may have a bias (my Mathieson can beat up your Delta!), I'm not against any woodworker, Normite or Galoot. 

It is unfortunate that it has come to this, but here are my rules for dealing with other woodworkers, especially all you power tool guys:

1) Know Thyself! There is no merit badge for woodworking dogma. If you like hand tools use them. If you don't, don't. If you don't know what you like, try them out (the whole goal of everything I've ever written)

2) Just Do Something! The only "bad" woodworking is the woodworking that doesn't get done, or that which is done without enjoyment, regardless of methodology.

3) Think for Yourself! The echo chamber of the Internet makes it harder for guys to try things for themselves and make their own decisions about what tools they need or would like to try.

4) Stop trying to beat the 18th Century! Woodworking knowledge and technology peaked sometime in the 18th century (Slightly kidding!).

Michigan's Monticello?

Given that it is far too cold to paint my chest on drawers at the moment, I'm sort of stuck with that particular project (should have been done several months ago, admittedly, but the tennis court has been calling me back).  In the time since my last post, I put together a large knitter's swift for my very talented wife, as well as a quick turned yarn ball winding stick (is there a better name for this tool?).  Pics to come soon.

As a New Years Resolution, I've decided to maximize my personal shop time by focusing on a series of projects with the same theme.  Given that my wife and I will be moving to a much larger country farmhouse sometime in June, one that will feature a grand library, I need to create some appropriate furniture for that setting.  I've decided to reproduce as many things associated with Thomas Jefferson and Monticello as I can.  Right now the list (in no particular order) is:

- 5 sided book stand (nearly complete)
- Jefferson's lap desk (have the plans)
- Tall clock (working from the pics in the Monticello guidebook)
- Campechey chair (mine will be in locally harvested cherry, not mahogany, but I have the plans)
- Bookcases, as featured in the June 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking

Two more things that I want to make, but not associated with Jefferson are;
- Pennsylvania spice box (to hold small artifacts in the library)
- Joint stool (getting the Peter Follansbee book buzz already)

After I complete the book stand, the Campechey chair will be next up.  I purchased the plans from Tim Killen, via his website.  I've been wanting to build the Campechey chair for a while, but the curves confounded my efforts to scale up from pictures.  Tim's plans feature a full size template page, that you can print at Kinkos and then glue down to make a pattern for each piece.

I'm really looking forward to building this, as I've been wanting to make one ever since I saw the original in the parlor at Monticello.  My goal is to have it completed before April 28th, as this is the date of the next SAPFM Great Lakes Chapter meeting, where I will be demonstrating how to make sash for period furniture and homes.  What a show and tell piece that would be to have the Campeche chair done!

This is a very ambitious schedule, one that I'm not sure I can keep, but I'm going to give it my best shot.  My resolution, along with focus, is to finish more personal projects in a more reasonable time frame. No more half-done projects waiting for me to find a roundtoit... that is, at least, when it isn't too cold to paint!

Zach

Woodnet Secret Santa and Galootaclaus

Every year I take part in the Woodnet Secret Santa, as well as the Galootaclaus on the Old Tools List. It appears that my normal image host for pics like these isn't working at the moment, so I'm posting them here. Enjoy looking!

Nice name stamp from Woodnet Secret Santa

Stamp on my favorite jack plane

EA Berg chisels

Combo square, push drill, heavy mortise chisel and corner chisel

Nice carving gouges and a Stanley block

Keen Kutter plane

Overall

Haul of the year

On Saturday, I attended one of the best tool auctions I've ever been lucky enough to attend. Met up with a few good friends and made a few new ones. On to the tools that followed me home:

W. Haw side rabbet, homemade 1/4" stick and rabbet, homemade 1 1/2" skew rabbet, homemade astragal moulder, Shepley #8 Round, Auburn #10 Round, Auburn #8 Hollow, Homemade quirk plane, L & IJ White 1/8" bead, unmarked 1/4" dado (poor shape),
22" Scioto try plane, perfect condition (literally never seen a nicer wood plane),
30" Dutch jointer plane, 9" Marples steel sole smoother bedded at 50 deg., 18" Jackson tenon saw (thanks to Dave Jeffers), 26" 6ppi Butcher handsaw, large unmarked wood vise screw.

The following are all missing parts. I will try to repair some of them; others will be used for parts or donor wood:
Howland 1/8" bead, Ohio Tool large round, unmarked large bead, L & IJ White 6 round, Sandusky 5/8" dado, unmarked small sash ovolo, Sandusky horned smoother, unmarked 1 1/4" steel shoulder plane, D Malloch Perth glass check plane.

Now, the find of the auction, probably the find of my tool hunting career: 18 Gabriel molding planes, all bedded at 55 degrees. All have two successive owners stamps and appear to have always been together. Gabriel, for those of you who don't know, is a very well known maker in London. He made or provided most of the tools for the famous Benjamin Seaton tool chest. The planes:
#4 Hollow, #5 Hollow and Round, #6 Hollow and Round, #7 Round, #8 Hollow and Round,
#10 Round, #13 Hollow, #14 Hollow and Round, #16 Hollow and Round, Small ovolo moulder, Small ogee moulder, Pair of snipes bills.

Incredibly, I paid $9 per plane for the Gabriels. What a bargain! I have literally never been more excited to make a purchase. For the whole spread, with tax and buyers premium, I spent $270. More than I usually would spend on tools in one day, but I had to own those Gabriel planes. Like my friend Jim Crammond said, I can always get more money, but matching sets of 18th century planes don't come along every day.

18th Century Plow?

I won this plow on eBay a week ago. It arrived today. Check out the pics and tell me what you think.

This plane has several characteristics that I would expect to find on 18th century Pennsylvania planes. The wedge finial matches a Pennsylvania molder that I have. The zig-zag border with the initials is also a common feature of Pennsylvania planes. Yet another point is that the D. Fish is branded into the side. According to Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth Century America, this was a common practice for Southeastern Pennsylvania woodworkers.

So, does anyone have any information about the ZW mark? Do any of you have a D Fish plane?

More pictures of the mystery smoother

Some of you guys requested a few more pics of my new single iron smoother.  I'm still trying to track down information about the iron maker, but with very little information I have little chance of narrowing it down. 

Side shot, 7 1/4" long

Rear 3/4 view

Side view

Tapered wear on the sole

Sole, not traditionally "coffin" shaped

Iron and wedge

Throat

 

 

 

If only this plane had a maker stamp or an owner's mark.

Recent purchases

I've been having a great run of old-tool luck lately.  I bought a number of great things at an auction last weekend, including the miter jack you see below, and the sweet solid boxwood plow plane. I won a great little Greenslade smoothing plane on eBay, and today I bought the Varvill badger plane, as well as the two Casey large ogee molders. Rather than prattle on, I'll just show you the pictures.

Solid boxwood plow, 18th Century smooth, small smooth, badger plane, two ogee molders

User made miter jack.  A real beauty!

J & L Denison solid boxwood plow

Casey Grecian ogee, Casey ogee

Badger plane

Badger plane mouth

Greenslade 6" coffin smooth.  I love this small size.

English Made!

The true treasure of this group is what I believe to be an 18th Century smoothing plane.  The round top iron made by I Smith, and the broad chamfers along the toe and the top of the body are all classic 18th century plane characteristics.  The body appears to be user made, as there is no user stamp, and the grain is oriented incorrectly, not something I would suspect a professional plane maker to do.

A special plane

I Smith iron

The iron is laminated and appears to be wrought iron.  This one is special.  Does anyone have any information on I. Smith? I don't see him listed in Goodman's book.


Best,

Zach