Looking for a plow (plough?) plane

[Kermit]

Highland catalog shows and Anant (I'm skeptical) and an ECE (a tad spendy). Any advice?

I thought so...

[Bob Smalser]

Not sure why you want one, but you won't easily find an old Stanley with all those cutters, fence parts, nickers and depth stops intact for less than the price of this Anant.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/ProductImages/handplanes/199214.jpg

If it doesn't come with a manual then spring for a repro of the Stanley #55 manual....more than you need but explains the "why's" as well as the "what's" better than the others.

Unlike routers, and even woodies to a lesser extent, these open-mouthed planes are real fussy about their wood.

[Dave Fleming]

D'ja try that big tool emporium over by the Univ of WA campus....

Hardwicks?

[Lew Barrett]

D'ja try that big tool emporium over by the Univ of WA campus....

Hardwicks?

I was there Saturday and they had a made in England version for what seemed reasonable; I'm thinking $60, but it could have been a touch more. I was oogling elsewhere and just happened to glance across to the cabinet it was sitting in.
I don't think I'm imagining this.....

[Kermit]

Well, I s'pose I can give Hardwick's a call. They're still a century or so behind vis a vis webstuff.

Bob, I'm looking to plough grooves/dadoes sans grid. Just thinkin'.

There have been some interesting handtool projects if FWW from time to time, and with retirement now 7 days off, I've got time to f@rt around with stuff like this. I've got enough handtools to baffle my shop partners, but no plough plane.

That wooden ECE is just wierd enough to appeal to my contrary nature.

Thanks, folks.

[Kermit]

ECE looks like this:

http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_4_333&products_id=170

[Bob Smalser]

That wooden ECE is just wierd enough to appeal to my contrary nature.



Except we're no longer talking about a hundred dollar tool. You can buy a decent Stanley #55 with all the cutters for that much, and do a lot more than just plow grooves.

You want paired slitters anyway. For long grain work, too. I read the HHW description of using straightedge and utility knife ILO slitters, and marvel how much better they must be than me at holding down 48" of straightedge on a narrow, 3/8-3/4"-wide surface while trying to slit a line alongside it with a knife. ;)

[Paul Girouard]

and with retirement now 7 days off, I've got time to f@rt around with stuff like this.

Congratulations :cool: How did Dave take it??

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Just an aside from a non-expert, but for many years I used a Record plough plane (not a 405) and kept a wooden one that I had bought by accident on the top shelf.

One day I figured out how to set up the wooden one; that weekend I was off to buy the missing blades for it! Revelation! Much, much, easier to manage than the modern one!

[Kermit]

Hi, Paul--David's fine. I think he's a little disappointed. He's having me write down how I do stuff and show others how I manage some of the tricky bits. He calls me a "process guy"--I think I'm just a contrary old geezer who knows when to use a hand tool. He's a machine guy, but lets me build away my own way. It's product to him, more than process.

Thanks, Bob. I think I'll start looking for a used option. That ECE still calls to me. I suspect Andrew's right about the old wooden guy though.

[Bob Smalser]

There's hot-dog metal planes, and then there's hot-dog metal planes. Plus you don't find many woodies with slitters.

http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/images/535-0030%20lg.jpg

I don't know the ECE, so jump on me if I'm getting this wrong.... but that one adjustable skate for all those irons looks like the plane cuts with the same lack of cutter support at the mouth that all combination planes do. Lack of support at the mouth is what makes them fussy about their wood, kinda like trying to carve a large roast of beef using a knife without a fork to hold it down. Plus I don't see any evidence of the paired slitters I'd want for clean, fast cutting. If OTOH that steel skate is merely a depth stop that rides in the center fo the cut, then it will provide support at the mouth but slitting first for a chip-free initial cut will have to be accomplished seperately. (And slowly.)

http://www.handplane.com/Images/StatSheets/Stanley/55/StanleyNo.55Plane4-Big.jpg

One of the advantages of the Stanley #55 is it's easily-adjusted skates or rails that define the cut...the #55 being unique in that it has three of them instead of the usual two on other plow and combo planes.

http://www.handplane.com/Images/StatSheets/Stanley/55/StanleyNo.55Plane6-Big.jpg

The third rail and skate descends vertically from the tower shown on the front of this left-hand rail. It descends on the opposite side fo the rail (you can'r see it here) directly in front of the cutter, and is easily set up to provide the support provided by most plane mouths. The two outer rails contain slitters that score the grain while this third vertical rail and skate holds the wood down for efficient cutting.

The #55 looks complicated and easily intimidates, but for those already skilled in the dynamics of steel on wood, it's surprisingly easy to learn....and for the same money will probably do a better job plowing grooves than the ECE. Plus a lot more later.

[Dave Fleming]

Nice job on rehabbing that 55, O&O PacNoWest.:D

[Paul Girouard]

Kermit I might come down your way tomorrow , 20th , if you see this PM or post the shop address.

[Dan Miller]

Wooden plow planes are only for cutting grooves with the grain, so really no need for slitters. Their irons are substantially thicker than the Stanley 45/55s, so chatter is less an issue as well. I prefer the ones with totes for user comfort. For cross grain work with woodies, you'll need dado planes, which are equipped with slitters, and for end grain rabbets, a moving fillister is most useful; these are also provided with a slitter.

If you want to stick to the metal plane world, the Stanley No. 46 with skewed cutters is the cat's pajamas for plowing and dadoing. For plowing, dadoing and beading, the Stanley No. 50 is a good alternative to the 45/55 and (usually) considerably cheaper.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I've gotten as far as dado planes, which do work rather nicely, I must say. I'm still slightly surprised that they do work!

I am starting to see the merits of not having to find what does soon become a lot of storage space for wooden planes, but at my low level of woodbutchering I can do most of what I want to do with relatively few planes - at the moment the tally stands at six pairs of hollows and rounds, three dado planes, a plough with all 8 blades
and three pairs of match planes (those really are a delight!)

Thus far I've stuck to my rule of ten dollars a plane, twenty a pair. That's at today's exchange rate.

[Lew Barrett]

Congratulations Kermit. I'll be right behind you as soon as I can manage it. Time for some riding on those airheads and the Guzzi.

[Kermit]

Paul--see PM.

[ishmael]

I've seen complete Stanley 45s for around a hundred. They are persnikity, but interesting. I'd look for an old 45. The 55's are really a fuss, but the 45's work pretty well. Proviso:the only real plowing it did with it was a variety of beads in white pine.