I’ve recently been given a couple 19th century wooden smoothers as well as a few sets of hollows and rounds. Before I start playing with them I have a few questions.
One the wooden smoothers and jointers I used in the past, I set the irons with a 30 year old small rawhide mallet by tapping the front, back, and tops. The flat face has a diameter similar to a quarter if that makes a difference.
Unfortunatley, this almost always left small but noticeable dents or marks in the wood and I don’t want to do the same to these unmarked planes. Even just gentle taps tend can leave impressions in the wood. Is this inevitable no matter what I use?
I can’t believe that even that Veritas brass/wood hammer that I’ve seen recommended in Knots would be any kinder or softer than rawhide.
Any suggestions?
Replies
tap away. The plane was ment to be used, and the dimples are part of the tools life. We all end up with a few dings over the years.
So use it, and don't worry about the dings.
Very good, but how is it that after a hundred or so years, I don't see similar dents from previous owners. I know these were used quite a bit as the previous owner (who didn't use them that much if ever) said the guy he bought them from 30 years ago used them almost exclusively for his cabinet and trim work. I'd rather figure out how he used them without denting them...
Where did all these dents come from? I know what you mean. When I made my first planing surface it was a planing beam. I got the idea from Toshio Odate. I was mortising using a large raw hide mallet that is quite hard (as if it were soaked in shellac or some thing). Well after a few mortises I saw all these dents in the surface of my planing beam. And later even more. Turned out every time I put down the mallet the rough edge of the hammer was putting a new ding in the beam surface.
Sears has a nice hammer that has a cast iron body and two thick plastic faces; one soft ( the red one) and one harder ( the yellow one). I keep two of these. One is all cut up from rough what ever use and the other I keep smooth for the plane tapping nondinging sort of work etc. Also I made a mallet that is just for my shop made maple wooden planes. It is smallish and the head is lignum vitae and the handle is hickory. The natural oil in the head seems to give it some give and I have good luck with that on the rock maple.
Some where I saw a mallet where the person had laced on thick leather faces. It looked like a tiny American Indian drum with a handle sticking out the side.
Edited 10/8/2008 11:08 pm by roc
It's worth avoiding adding dents to your wooden planes. The simple reason is that too many of them decrease the value on both the collector's and user's market. They're one of the few tools that you can buy that will potentially increase in value.
So... what you want to use is a rubber dead-blow mallet. It's effective at loosening wedges or setting the iron deeper, depending on where you hit the plane. The only exception is tapping the top of the iron to set it slightly deeper or to adjust the side-to-side alignment. For that you need a small brass hammer - the dead blow is too coarse a tool for the job. There are several places you can get a plane-setting hammer with one soft brass face and one wooden face. http://www.thebsetthings.com is one of them - I bought mine there and it's a nicely made light hammer with a bubinga handle. If you want to use only one hammer for the job, this one is effective and won't damage the plane with the wooden face, provided you're using light taps instead of a hard smack.
One tip here is to loosen the wedge and iron after you finish using the plane. Doing so will prevent the iron/wedge from sticking inside the body due to shrinkage/expansion from humidity changes in the shop.
If your mallet is leaving dents, then it has a harder surface than the plane body. Your rawhide mallet must be Hard indeed!
I have always considered the wooden mallets I use for chisels to be expendable items. I would rather save the chisel handle and make a new mallet.
For wooden planes this has been the case in the past, but recently I decided to buy a dedicated plane hammer (from Dave Anderson at Chester Toolworks). This has one brass face for the blade and a hardwood (LV) face for the body. It is a beautiful tool, nicely balanced, and pretty to boot. It inspired me to make one as well, something a little lighter for comparison. Mine is not nearly as nice as Dave's. It differs in having one brass and one leather face.
Dave's in front and mine at the rear.
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Bottom line - you need a mallet with a head that is softer than the plane body.
Regards from Perth
Derek
I'm not suggesting that you modify your planes suchly, but some wooden plane have hardwood or metal "bumps" (for lack of a better term) where the plane is struck to protect the plane body. I think that you need a softer faced plane hammer or a lighter touch if feasible.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Those are called "strike buttons" - metal "bumps" was pretty close!
Yes, that certainly sounds better.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Wood,
Is that raw hide coiled up in the head of the hammer? If so then this type can be quite hard, but you could consider softening it with neatsfoot oil.
You could also consider fitting strike buttons to those planes with suitable surfaces.
You could also make your own mallet and use that teflon material sold in round bar lengths of various diameters- like I used some here to make this hammer in which a pin punch is used for the handle.(No pesky wooden handles to shrink and come loose).
Hi Philip
I've long admired that mallet of yours, and was at one time considering copying it. It is very pretty and (it looks) very functional.
But my question is, why do you have it? Are you a closet woodie user? :)
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek,
I have no wooden planes-if I did they would remain in a closet, I think.
I use that hammer very much now that I have it. I used to be always searching for a bit of brass or heavy wood to "tap" things like machine parts , make small changes to alignments e.g items such as plane bodies set in a machine vice when accuracy requiring movement of a few thou is required. Great for working with a dial indicator.Since the head is relatively bulky one can also give something a healthy clap as well.Ordinary hammers will do damage to mild steel due to their hardness and shape, and those mechanics hammers etc are too bulky with their long handles.
Philip Marcou
Philip'
"I have no wooden planes-if I did they would remain in a closet, I think."
Keep thinking - them good thoughts. :-)
Best wishes,
Metod
Just don't use a hammer directly on the plane. Use a small block of soft wood on whatever part you want to tap on.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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