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Thread: What should I use?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Eastern PA
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    180

    What should I use?

    Was at the sawmill today and came away with some prizes. Some ash, elm and chestnut. I want to resole my transitionals and its a toss up between the ash and elm, the chestnut is just big enough for one plane anyway. Which would be better

  2. #2
    Whichever one is hardest.

    Not knowing the species, the USDA book just tells me that both ash and elm vary greatly in hardness by species....swag it by denting them with something.
    “Perhaps then, you will say, ‘But where can one have a boat like that built today?’ And I will tell you that there are still some honest men who can sharpen a saw, plane, or adze...men (who) live and work in out of the way places, but that is lucky, for they can acquire materials for one third of city prices. Best, some of these gentlemen’s boatshops are in places where nothing but the occasional honk of a wild goose will distract them from their work.” -- L Francis Herreshoff

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Sunny California
    Posts
    422
    Quote Originally Posted by Aaron Kline
    Was at the sawmill today and came away with some prizes. Some ash, elm and chestnut. I want to resole my transitionals and its a toss up between the ash and elm, the chestnut is just big enough for one plane anyway. Which would be better
    I think I would be be looking for some ipe if I were going to resole. it's relatively easy to find, inexpensive and wears like iron. In fact, it's also called ironwood, Jatoba would be another wood in the same catagory.

    Gene

  4. #4

    I agree with Glenn

    Ipe is tough, stable, and when waxed is nice and slippery for a sole. Steve Knight of Knight Toolworks uses it for the soles on almost all of his wooden hand planes. Chestnut is way too soft, I think the ash would be too open grained, and elm can twist and move all over the place. Beech was the most common material used in American made wooden planes though birch, lignum vitae, and ebony were often used by plane makers with access to woods from afar.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  5. #5
    But don't be afeared of using what you have....just let the elm sit a while after planing to make sure it's not gonna move on you....

    ...I've resoled on Holly, Madrone, Beech and Bigleaf Maple...or in other words, whatever I had out in the stacks that was hard. I don't buy wood special for it. If you use Ipe or other tropical hardwood, be sure to wipe it down with acetone of trichloroethylene before gluing.

    The beauty of resoling wooden planes with the method I use is that it's so easy you can always do it again if you don't like it or the glueline fails:

    http://media5.hypernet.com/ubb/ultim...c;f=1;t=009194

    “Perhaps then, you will say, ‘But where can one have a boat like that built today?’ And I will tell you that there are still some honest men who can sharpen a saw, plane, or adze...men (who) live and work in out of the way places, but that is lucky, for they can acquire materials for one third of city prices. Best, some of these gentlemen’s boatshops are in places where nothing but the occasional honk of a wild goose will distract them from their work.” -- L Francis Herreshoff

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