RVA

Welcome! It is often done with an oscillating spindle sander after the neck is shaped. The jig used here is just one example of how to hold the neck in the desired position.

Before and after on the Samson

Before

After

I am getting closer to a final shape. This is after sanding with 180 grit. The middle is wet to show the grain. I am starting to think that a neck does not have enough surface area to provide a true sense of a quilt grain pattern.

24 minutes ago, henrim said:

How do you flatten the stones? 

 

I have been going back and forth between an inexpensive 400 grit diamond sharpening plate, which is flat but thin, so I cannot apply much pressure for fear it will bend, and a flat piece of wood I ran through my jointer with sandpaper, which works, but the sandpaper loads quickly.  I will likely buy a Trend 300/1000 grit plate, which is what Rob Cosman uses (the 300 grit side)

Trend Diamond Sharpening Stone Kit, 8 x 3 Inch Double Sided (300/1000 Grit) Bench Stone with Pouch, Cleaning Block & Non-Slip Mat, DWS/CP8/FC https://a.co/d/4E8lSsX

So when you all use a straight beam, are there any concerns for the loss of a fret wire radius that matches the fretboard? I have not used a straight beam in a long time, but it seems that the curvature will become somewhat randomized depending on the varying degree of work needed in each string path. Does this even matter? Maybe it matters less with height adjustable individual saddles as opposed to a wraparound bridge? 

On 3/5/2024 at 5:13 PM, henrim said:

One of the two blades I posted above belongs to this plane. I have had it more than ten years. It is a flea market find I never bothered to do anything with. But now that we have this plane discussion going, I thought about giving it a go. First I freed it from most of the rust. The blade was a bit on the dull side so, I ground it flat and square and sharpened it. I need to plane the sole straight, clean the body a bit and then see if I can use the plane somewhere sometime.

Nice job on the blade! Slick secondary bevel

Sharpening is my next frontier.  I am in the process of flattering my water stones

4 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Yes, the tray idea was just in case there's not plenty of EvapoRust or any other rust remover.

For such a situation flooding a shop towel with the stuff and wrapping it around the object might also work. Maybe using a spray bottle with water to keep the solvent moist for long enough? Just speculating.

I saw a side by side comparison of EvapoRust and white vinegar. The white vinegar did almost as well. $ 4.00 USD per gallon for the vinegar!

Just now, Bizman62 said:

So obvious now that you told it!

So for the next time, instead of dipping a plane nose first following with the rear, how about using a shallow tray and do the bottom first followed by the sides? Would that order leave marks to the bottom only, sanded away when leveling?

I think your would get marks horizontally on the sides. Marks would he hard to avoid unless fully submerged. 

An easy way to fully submerge things is a PVC tube with a cap on one side. Stand it up, cap down, and dump things in. All you need is a diameter just wide enough for your largest object, and then it fills up quickly, 

4 minutes ago, henrim said:

Just don’t put any galvanized or aluminum parts in the solution! 

Can you please explain this a bit more? Don't put galvanized steel or aluminum in phosphoric acid?

Thank you

On 2/25/2024 at 3:22 AM, Bizman62 said:

The almost vertical two streaks on the sides look strange, I had to take another look to assure myself that it's not about a photo being reversed. Do you have any idea what has caused them?

I figured out what those 2 vertical streaks were...partial submersion in Evapo-Rust, and then a flip to do the other half, so 2 marks.  I decided to research it when it happened a second time with the Samson plane. They are not easy to get out, but it is possible. LKesson learned: do not partially submerge things in Evapo-Rust!

I completed the rough shaping on this neck. This time I paid more attention to the desired final thickness before the carve.

2 hours ago, Professor Woozle said:

Hijacking this thread for a moment, ages ago I picked up an old block plane smoothing plane blade in a job lot of woodworking tools, found it again the other day and gave it a clean today, will resharpen it then fit it in the 12" block plane. As you can see from the make, it's too good to be left to rust...

Very nice!! Hijack away! Please post your progress.

52 minutes ago, henrim said:

Maybe we should have a hand plane thread  

I don’t know much about British steel (apart from that Judas Priest album).

How’s these? I have two of these try (jointer) plane blades from old wooden planes. I think I have used the other one long ago but can’t recall anything about it. I guess I should just sharpen them and find out but, if you guys know Sheffield steel, please tell.

" ‘J Jowett, Royal Albion, Sheffield’. It is 2 1/8 wide. Jowett were recorded as manufacturers in Albion Street Sheffield in 1911 in Whites guide. So plane will be approx 100 years old."

https://barrys-woodwork.blogspot.com/2012/12/

Sheffield Edge Tool makers.pdf

This was in the Etsy ad you posted. Nice find! 

The Samson Smoothing Plane #8 was manufactured by the Samson Tool Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin¹. The company was founded in 1902 and produced hand tools until 1949.

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

This might be of interest: https://www.lumberjocks.com/threads/hand-plane-with-no-name-any-idea-what-it-is.62377/

And further: https://timetestedtools.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/quickly-identify-your-hand-plane/ which has further links to brand specific identification.

The links for other TimeTestedTools articles don't seem to work as such but using the title in their search engine may reveal interesting results. Plus there's lots more on their site.

For the obscurities to potentially help identifying, the frog being held by just one screw seems to be rare. Also the depth adjuster screws being just knurled without grooves is something to look at.

This Samson looks surprisingly similar for the details that are visible: https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/listing/1478851183/vintage-samson-8-inch-hand-plane-tool-do. Unfortunately I couldn't find any information about the Samson brand but the light grey paint, the Made In Usa behind the tote and an unbranded blade and no cast brand on the lever cap... What do you think? That said, if it really is a 'Samson', who is the actual maker?

 

You are an amazing detective! I agree about the Samson similarities and will research the brand.

My dad parted with another vintage tool. I guess he was happy with my work on the others.

The cap iron was repaired with a brass weld. This one is unlabeled except for Made in USA. I do believe it is a Stanley. The investigation begins!

3 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Nice job, looks like you concentrated more into getting a workhorse than a shiny decorative item on the shelf.

The almost vertical two streaks on the sides look strange, I had to take another look to assure myself that it's not about a photo being reversed. Do you have any idea what has caused them?

Thank you.

Yes, those marks appeared after I took it out of the rust remover. They did not dissappear after the subsequent sanding with 320 grit. There was a similar line on the sole that did dissappear during the lapping process, so I assume they are faint scratches that I could sand out with a bit more effort,  but as you said, I was not going for show piece. 

BTW, the metal on this Sargent is considerably softer than the Stanley. The sole gave up the metal much easier. 

The Sargent is ready for duty

So given the fact that the fret ends are not touched with a straight beam, and assuming that it may be necessary to take off more in one string path than another, the radius of the frets will vary from the radius of the fretboard and the bridge on fixed radius bridges. My assumption is that most think this is not an issue, or much less of an issue than the dangers of a radius beam. 

1 hour ago, Asdrael said:

Straight. If you even slightly rotate a radiused beam, you will mess it up.

Thanks for the reply. 

Do you mean rotate it to an angle with respect to the fretboard edges? Presumably, since the radius is ultimately a circle, if you move the entire length left or right equally, but still parallel to the fretboard edges, it will be the same as if the middle is centered, since the radius is ultimately a circle. 

Mates,

Do you level your frets with a straight leveling beam in the string path or a radius beam? Assume the same length for each beam.

I have been using beams with a radius to match the board, but I was surprised to find this method rejected by many as either unnecessary, removing too much edge material or too difficult to do accurately.  Before reading this in numerous places, I had considered a radius beam to be the gold standard.

Thanks for any input on this issue. 

Well, after an ugly attempt to patch some tear-out in the lower curve of the headstock, and then an attempt to graft on a scrap piece, I decided to freehand a new shape. It is good as any other for this neck, which is more about learning than building. The new shape gives the grain continuity, where the scrap graft would have never been good enough for me.

The Stanley is done. Please do not judge this as a restoration. I already got carried away by lapping the bottom flat except for a .001" gap behind the mouth, and being dissatisfied this it did not look machine clean. I coated the wood with 3 coats of Tru-Oil and buffed it out with Maguire's fine cut cleaner and then swirl remover using a Milwaukee M12 polisher/buffer. The only thing left to do is sharpen the blade

On 2/12/2024 at 4:14 PM, henrim said:

As I was going to plane the top smooth I finally decided to tackle an issue with my smoothing plane. At some point I have managed to sharpen the blade out of square. I haven’t bothered to fix it because I can adjust the angle in the plane. But  it has gradually gotten worse and today it was finally time to grind the blade square again. Although I didn’t grind it because it is so cold in the basement. Instead I did it in the upstairs workshop and squared the blade with 180 grit water stone by hand and then the rest with the Tormek. Took some time but now it’s pretty close to perfect again. And yes, I got the top smoothed too. 

Nice plane and nice work!  Do you ever put a camber on your smoothing plane blades?

4 hours ago, henrim said:

Fascinating stuff.

That twisted adjuster is a brilliant design, in terms of cost-effectiveness. Simple to make and uses only one piece of material. Not the most elegant solution but does the job just fine. Could it be that they reverted to a simple and cost efficient design during the war time? Don't know, but there is a whole page about lateral adjusters here:
https://www.timetestedtools.net/2016/01/26/quickly-identify-your-hand-plane/

Excellent find.

I don't think mine is a wartime build. I think they lacked  a brass adjustment knob and rosewood totes. I am almost certain my totes are rosewood and it has a brass knob and  tote caps. I think they went to steel for many of the brass parts during the war and used a different wood