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View Full Version : Large crown and box moulding planes I made



george wilson
04-13-2009, 9:56 PM
These two planes were for the completely hand made kitchen which the housewrights made on the original location behind one of the historic houses in Col.Wmsbg. it is a fairly large building,ABOUT 30' X 20',two stories.

One is 6" wide,for the crown moulding,the other is for the box moulding below the crown.Both these planes have typical 18th.C. features:round top irons,and large bevels on their edges. Later plane irons had 45 degree corners on their irons.These iron bevels got longer as they got later,finally ending up with the longer bevels seen on typical modern planes,like Stanleys.

I must admit to having a senior moment right now,as I cannot recall the name of the kitchen.I made the blades for these planes also,by hammering out the steel to a taper with a blacksmith's flatter,and grinding in the profile. The irons are 01. Reportedly,they managed to plane 100' of mouldings each without resharpening the irons. The building was made of yellow pine. I did not have time to wait for the blacksmiths to forge out bitted irons.

These planes have soles made by hand with hollow and round planes as per the drawings furnished by the architects.

Since these planes are so wide,as was typical of 18th.C. planes this size,pegs are furnished for the planes to be pulled by ropes as well as pushed.

I had to make all of the special planes for his project,such as the beading planes. My journeyman was severely laid up with a leg broken in 9 places at the time.

These are,of course,beechwood. I had no beechwood this wide with the grain oriented in the proper direction,and this was a rush job,as were many. Except for cooper's jointers,these were the largest planes I had to make.(At least the widest.)

Allan Froehlich
04-14-2009, 1:36 AM
Those are beautiful!

I'm hoping that you can provide us with a photo or a description of how you made them.

Jim Koepke
04-14-2009, 2:13 AM
Fantastic planes.

John Keeton
04-14-2009, 6:26 AM
Since these planes are so wide,as was typical of 18th.C. planes this size,pegs are furnished for the planes to be pulled by ropes as well as pushed.George, was the plane pulled by hand, or was there a crank system set up to smooth the process and add leverage?

Those are some really nice planes, and the workmanship, as always, is beyond just functional. I guess that is what continues to amaze me on your creations. Even the tools are works of art - all finely finished.

George Beck
04-14-2009, 6:41 AM
Wonderful planes and amazing craftsmanship as always.

George

Greg Stanford
04-14-2009, 9:33 AM
How did being pulled by ropes work exactly? Oh, & these are beautiful planes by the way. I'm really awed by the work you've been posting, & torn - part of me cant wait to get out to the shop & part of me wants to sit despondently in the dark (because I'm not likely to ever be so skilled!)

g

David Keller NC
04-14-2009, 9:40 AM
George - Question - Were these planes made to fit the profile of a scrap of existing 18th century crown molding on-site, or were they made to fit a drawing of molding found in one of the period texts? (And if so, do you recall what text it was?)

One comment about the orientation of the grain in the plane - while many of the really early 18th century American molding planes were made from huge trees (and quartersawn grain), I have a few cornice planes that were made ca. 1790 - 1810 were the wood was rift-sawn: the rays pretty clearly go across the front of the plane 45 degrees to the sole.

One wonders if the grain orientation was something that was a "nice to have" for an 18th century planemaker, or viewed as a necessity.

george wilson
04-14-2009, 9:59 AM
Many questions! First,the planes were held down by one person in the usual way,and a rope was attached to the pegs,and simply pulled by one,or possibly 2 others. No crank.

Greg,there is really nothing outstanding about these planes,except maybe getting the 18th.C. features accurate,and forging the irons.That would normally be out of the usual woodworker's tool setup. I had to use 01,because W1 isn't available in wide sizes anymore.I just got the upper 3/4ths. of the iron orange hot,and had someone hold it flat on the anvil,while I hammered the metal down to a taper with a sledge hammer carefully. Then,a "flatter" was used to flatten out the sledge hammer's marks.The iron's surface was left as forged,as was authentic. This was done down to within 2" of the cutting edge to keep the 01 from hardening. Then,the sides of the iron were ground parallel,a little tapered in width towards the round top,and inserted into the plane. The iron was scribed where it came through,and bandsawed to contour.The bevel was filed and ground. Then,the bottom of the iron was heated orange in the gas forge,and quenched in transmission fluid.The bottom area of the iron was sanded clean with wet or dry,and the iron was heated up to a medium brown color,and finally sharpened with slip stones. I find that irons that can barely be filed with a new smooth file,stay sharper longer when using the common steels like W1,or 01.

Tung oil was used as a protectant,since the tools are kept in an unheated shed.Tung oil does not mildew. Linseed does.

The moulding form was made from a drawing from the architect's office.The original was from a source I am not aware of. Could have been from a dug up fragment.

David,it is true that some old planes were rift sawed. Our 4"X6"'s were fairly quartered,though,and the only beech I had in that size. Since these planes were for 1 job only,the wear of the wood wasn't a factor. Now,they only show them to the public when discussing the building process.

I am glad you have enjoyed seeing them.


P.S.:Many of you would be as shocked as I was if you went into some of the original buildings and saw the original interior woodwork. In the Roscoe Cole house,which isn't open to the public,but was obviously the home of very wealthy people,the woodwork is very crude. The chair rail mouldings are ripped out in many places in long splinters from being planed the wrong way in yellow pine. The stair cases turnings look similar to each other,but just barely similar. They look like whoever made them was drunk. An English traveler in the 18th.C. remarked that the "Architecture was but indifferent". When you see original work,you can see why. One tavern owner was so stingy,he hired children to paint the outside of the 2 story building. The Architects had the paint shop emulate this probably very sloppy paint job.

My planes were for exterior work.