Hi Guys and Gals
Happy 4th to everyone. I made a good find today in my own shop. I had an old craftsman smoothing plane which I had tried to tune without much success so a few years ago I put it up on a shelf out of sight so I wouldn’t get frustrated everytime I saw it. And there it sat for a few years. I was tenkering around the shop today and spied the old plane so I pulled it down and had a thought (OH OH) there I go thinking. But anyway I took the blade out of it and ground a pretty good radius on it and opened the throat of the plane quite a bit, this was easy because it had a too largeof a throat for a smoother anyway. Put a good edge on the blade and away you go. And it works pretty good. Always wanted a scrubber. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it dosen’t, this time it did.
ZABO
Replies
Congrats! I found an old corrugated craftsman plane this week and was thinking of doing the same thing. What number plane did you use, did you worry about how flat the bottom was, and how big did you make the throat? It working out well for you?
It's not really a scrub plane. Use an ECE, Lie Nielsen, or Lee Valley scrubber and there will be a huge difference in performance - especially so for the wooden ECE scrub plane.
Scrubber
I used a #4 and the throat was large already didn't have to open it very much. It was really to big for a smoother. I know it's not a real scrub plane but who cares if it works and it does. The main thing was grinding a good radius on the cutter, don't ask me how much I didn't measure I just did it by eye. Some of us can't afford to plop down two or three hundred for a lee neilson or a lee valley we have to do with what we have. Maybe some day if I hit the lottery I'll buy one of those fancy planes but until then I'll just have use make shift tools. However, if you don't like useing something yoiu made yourself you shouldn't be woodworking.
ZABO
Charles, I seen to recall you
Charles, I seem to recall you had the LN scrub plane ... ?
My first scrub plane was a re-treaded Stanley #3 with a 3" radius blade. It worked OK - not up to a LV, but it did a decent job as long as you did not take very thick shavings.
Over recent years, however, I've used a scrub plane less and a long fore/jack plane more. It is interesting that you like the light and short ECE. I'd love to hear your appraisal of what you consider important and helpful in a scrub plane.
For myself I prefer something that is on the longer side (15") and moderately heavy for momentum through hardwood. The blade is a hefty (!) 5/16" thick D2 which, with a 8" radius, is effortless to use.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Ditto your sentiment, Derek. For hardwoods (well, hard for here), I still like the LV scrub - because it's the heaviest.
Anything cherry or softer, an old ohio tool beech jack with a 9" radius works well.
Not a huge fan of using a light wood plane to scrub hardwoods, it makes the task teeth-chattering. Maybe a rosewood scrub would be different - good luck finding dry rosewood to make one!
Still, if time is an issue, the best thing to do is machine or resaw the thickness off a piece of wood if you have the option, I only scrub small stuff now, where it would take longer to roll the bandsaw out and tension the blade, especially in hardwoods. No matter how good the plane, taking a quarter or half inch off any piece of hardwood of any size is a lot of work.
I guess there's always use for someone with no bandsaw on pieces that are too short for the planer, though.
I did have the LN scrub and I hope the fine 'gennaman who stole it is enjoying it. He actually did me a favor. I replaced it with the slightly less expensive but much more comfortable to use ECE. I never liked the front knob that much on the LN and I like very much how my power hand is positioned on the ECE.
I have bad arthritis in my right hand. Can't make a fist most days. The ECE feels better.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled