Afraid we be stuck here for a while....unless something drastic happens.....Spent some time rehabbing one of the trophies from the shop clean up...
This is what was found...the Stanley #4 is for scale.....made about 1863 or so. Just an old plough plane. Was trying to use it a few years ago, got ticked off with it not hold a setting..tossed it into a corner....and decided to get a Stanley 45 instead...
Well..since this big clean-up..decided to try to fix it up, and see IF I can get it to work, again..
fence was broken, wedges were too small...handle was snapped off.....found a decent chunk of Maple for the handle, had a slab of Ash for the fence replacement...new wedges were made out of walnut....iron was sharpened up, and a groove cut in it to guide onto the skate...
Replacement fence needed a rebate planned, new bolts ( old, 1860 ones were shot) one of the arms needed fixed ( pedestal was cracked by one of the screws, re-glue) New wedges needed tuned all three of them. One for the cutter needed thinned to match the cutter. Two for the fence's arms needed to match the tapered holes. Whew..
A new handle was cut out of the maple block, then ripped for thickness. Shaped to match my hands better, and LOOK like a plane's rear handle. Base of the handle fitted into a mortise. At one time, it was dovetailed in....since worn out. Rather than just relying on glue, I added a screw to better hold the handle in place...
Once everything had been cleaned up, rebuilt, sharpened, and tuned up....and a coat of Golden Oak and a coat of Amber Shellac was brushed on....then the test drive. Set the fence to 1/4" in from the edge. and ploughed a 1/4" wide groove. There wasn't a depth stop on this plane, when it bottomed out, you were done.
Shavings tend to spiral out the right side of the plane..making some nice curlies. Not too bad, for an old Plough plane?