scrub planes

[tablesawtom]

In regards to my post Sargent 409 my intention is not to puff up my chest by saying look what I did.

 I do not have any idea as to how many garage sales, flea markets, or auctions, I have been to where I walked past a cheap Handyman plane. One might even consider me a snob because the first thing I look for is a frog adjusting screw, which means I know that it has machined seats for the frog. Yes I know that a lot of planes have machined seats but no adjusting screw. In fact I am not sure that the Handyman series even had machined seats but the frog may even set on the unfinished casting.

The fact is that I just sold a LN scrub for I believe $135 and I had 5 people interested in it within 20 minutes. That means to me that there is an interest in scrub planes. And yes I still work 15 hours a week in a machine shop tool room and yes I have excess to a milling machine and yes I milled out the seat but I could have filled it out with a sharp file in about 10 minutes. The hardest part which took a lot of thought was how to grind the radius and to keep it as prefect as possible so I could or can  put a micro bevel on the cutting edge.

Anyway I remembered seeing  Paul Sellers YouTube video about using a #4 for a scrub plane. When I was at the auction I remembered it and bought the plane for $2 I figured even  If I mess it up beyond use I was only out $2.

 So my question is:  if there is a market of LN and LV for a scrub why not buy a throw away and try it for your self. A sharp double cut file does the opening and I showed the method I used to do the radius but even that could be made out of wood. If you are at all interested, what do you have to lose?

Tom

[clovishound]

In regards to my post Sargent 409 my intention is not to puff up my chest by saying look what I did.

Tom

I certainly didn't take it that way. I took it as you wanted to share in case someone else hadn't thought of this, or was unsure whether to try and modify a plane.

I think there are a lot of repurposed planes used as scrubs, or something close to it. Your post led me to go and look at the #4 I repurposed for this. The only thing I permanently modified was to radius the $4 Buck iron I had laying around. And I can reverse that, losing only a little of the life of a low value tool. Not sure what radius it's at, but the 5" sanding disc I put up against it was quite a bit tighter in curve than the iron. If I want something more aggressive, I can easily decrease the radius on this one. BTW, I just used something round and handy in the shop as a template to draw a curve on the end of the iron with a Sharpie and used that as a guide to free hand the cutting. It's a scrub plane, precision isn't on the table for the curve in the iron.

The upside to the shallower radius I'm using is that I am not left with such deep flutes in the wood. I seldom need to scrub very large amounts of wood off anyway. If I were flattening badly warped/twisted wood, I might want something more aggressive.

[stav]

Just speaking for myself.  I did want a scrub and I bought a Euro wooden one here (on Woodnet).  

Going to flea markets in my area does not net the variety of cheap old hand planes that I often see in various rust hunting posts.  IF you find a hand plane, it generally goes for about market price or more.

[clovishound]

Things must have changed. Have you tried the large flea market in Deland on Wednesdays? My brother and I would go whenever I visited and found a lot of old tools, often at good prices. Of course, this has been a few years back, maybe 10.

[Timberwolf]

Things must have changed. Have you tried the large flea market in Deland on Wednesdays? My brother and I would go whenever I visited and found a lot of old tools, often at good prices. Of course, this has been a few years back, maybe 10.

...........................
Webster Westside is huge but there's a smaller flea market just a couple miles north of Webster on the same road, that almost always has lots of tool vendors..I have snagged some nice ones there. Been about two years since I was there tho. Prices are much better than Webster too..Big open field...couple sheds also....Mondays only...IIRC

[Stwood_]

I've got a noname 5-1/4 I turned into a scrub plane. I'd think you would want a narrow body, instead of a #4 body width.
On the blade, I marked out a radius with a black marker and took the blade to a grinder and ground a radius.

[tablesawtom]

I believe I saw a Chris Swartz video where he used a #6 wood transitional. I did it with a #4 like Peter Sellers. But  I have to agree that a 5 1/4 would probably be even better choice based on the size of the LN I just sold. I think I figured out how grind a radius and to  keep the arc central and repeatable but there is no reason one cant do it free hand.

So, as you are rummaging around, just don't over look a gem because one that is not as desirable, it can be made into a scrub quite easily.

Tom

[stav]

I'm stuck with the fleas that run on weekends as a M-F 8-7 guy.  Been to Webster once when I was a teen and didn't know about the one in Deland.

I did get one of those #4 sized smoother planes from HF with the two screw adjustment. There was a video on StumpyNubs where he converted that plane to a scrub. I considered it but I don't really care for the plane that much.

[bandit571]

There is a plane, sold at Harbor Freight (~$15) that isn't much account as a #3 sized smoother...but.....grind a 3" radius camber on it's thick iron...and you will have a whale of a scrub plane.....

Windsor No. 33 hand plane.

[CStan]

What makes a scrub, a scrub, is its 'narrowness.' Scrubs in the Germanic and Swedish traditions, as well as Stanley's models -- narrow. They're really made for doing "touch and go's" -- like an airplane hitting the runway and taking right back off. You're hitting obvious high spots and moving on, not planing from end to end. Something narrow and very light is what's needed.

A smoother conversion is sump'n like, but not quite.