Mouldings made with Clark & Williams planes

[Keith Mathewson]

I made some mouldings today with planes when they we called Clark & Williams. I have a 1/2 set from them and rounded out the selection with planes made by MS Bickford. For reference the bench is 12' long.

[Stew Denton]

Very nicely done Keith.

Stew

[Tony Shea]

That is awesome. I would give my left arm for that half set from C & W. Very nice.

[Tom M King]

Using molding planes is one of he most enjoyable types of working wood-not only the end product, but the sound and feel.

[Mike Allen1010]

Keith, your moldings look great!

Out of curiosity how long did that take? The reason I ask is I'm trying to learn to make molding w/ a mixed collection of fairly rough vintage hollows and rounds and It still takes much longer than I would like, but final results are getting better. I'm still torn between going back to relying on the e-router or keep try with the hand stuck moldings. I'm especially interested in the difference in ease of use, speed and accurate final results with new contemporary molding planes, like yours from C&W and Bickford, and 1900's era entry level planes, like mine.

I absolutely don't discount the importance of the users skill. From your set-up (long joiners bench, sticking board, cool H&R' I would give up body parts for, and most importantly you're fantastic moldings), I'm guessing you have plenty of that. I would really appreciate any insight you (or any other Creekers) have about the difference between contemporary and vintage molders.


The cost and wait time for H&R's from the few makers today makes them aspirational tools for me, but it would be helpful to hear thoughts from someone with first hand experience about whether their worth it?

I know Some see this as a controversial question and that is not at all my intent. I like to support todays very talented tool makers and I literally don't regret 1 nickel I've spent with them, in fact quite the opposite. However unlike a lot of the hand tools I buy, I've never had a chance to use a contemporary molding plane and that's why I would very much appreciate the opinion and perspective of those with experience before I add them the wish list.

THanks, Mike

[Keith Mathewson]

Hi Mike,

How fast depends on when you want to start counting. On the last moulding the planing part took about 15 minutes, the first on took about 30 minutes. But that doesn't take into account the time spent on stock selection at the supply house or the layout, stock prep and tablesaw time so that the rabbets were correct and as much material as possible had been removed. But you don't do this based on how long it takes. I have a professional shop and if this were done for a customer where time was money I would have had the material delivered, run through the tablesaw then the moulding machine and after that go out for morning coffee.

I have a couple of sets of pretty decent vintage H&R's which I've spent quite a bit of time fiddling with. I could make them work, to a degree, and then I had to sand out the track marks where things didn't quite matchup. When I got the set from C&W things got a lot better and although that was a big step forward so was the insights Matt Bickford presented in his book. Having the right sized rabbets in the correct locations makes a tremendous difference in how long it takes to make something.

Something else which makes a big difference is seasonal tuning. I've had my set for 5 years now and have been afraid to do seasonal tuning, mostly because if you ruin it you can't get another one. Some of the planes weren't cutting very well. About 2 weeks ago Matt Bickford came by for the day after teaching a class nearby and we spent the day making a #7 round. When the time came to put on the finishing touches my #4 was found wanting. After tuning it cut well. All but one of the planes needed tuning and the difference in use is remarkable. Of the mouldings shown none needed sandpaper, that was not the case previously.

On different note- having spent the day pretty much watching Matt make a plane, seeing what it took to make it both in terms of time, attention to detail and a lot of little things required any thoughts I might of had about making my own quickly evaporated. By the time he left I had ordered a 1/2 set in odds.

[Paul Saffold]

Keith, what do you mean by seasonal tuning? I assume you are talking about more than blade adjustment.

[Keith Mathewson]

With changes in season the sole of the plane goes slightly out of straight. Many times a slight hump develops just behind the mouth making it hard to take light shavings. By lowering the blade and wrapping 150 sandpaper around the mating plane a SMALL amount of sanding brings it back into line. The difference in performance is quite noticeable.

[Frederick Skelly]

Keith,
This information is helpful to me, as I'm still learning to use a few "antique store" H&Rs. Thanks for the insights.

Those HNT Gordons, or a few Bickfords, are looking more and more tempting...
Fred

[Randy Karst]

Keith,
Lovely work and thanks for the above responses to questions; informative and inspiring!

[Jim Koepke]

Keith, Great moldings you've made. Thanks for sharing. My journey with H&Rs is just starting to get under way. There are still a few gaps in my accumulation of planes.

The more my H&Rs are used the better my understanding of how to use and tune them becomes.

Some of my "antique store" H&Rs have been less than stellar performers. Most of the time it is due to a bad wedge or a blade that doesn't completely match the profile. Most notably on a hollow plane with the edge of the blade not getting honed as much as the center of the blade. These tend to dig in at the edges of the cut. It takes some careful work to get them back to cutting evenly across the profile.

jtk

[Patrick McCarthy]

"Many times a slight hump develops just behind the mouth making it hard to take light shavings. By lowering the blade and wrapping 150 sandpaper around the mating plane a SMALL amount of sanding brings it back into line. "

Keith, did you mean retracting the blade, so the sole gets sanded?

thank you, patrick

[Keith Mathewson]

yes, retract the blade slightly and reset the wedge so the plane is tensioned and sand the sole straight. Like when using a plane, identify the spots which need attention and only hit those areas. The last 1 or 2 strokes will be full length.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Thank you, I would not have thought to reset the wedge, but it makes perfect sense. Another " duh!" moment for me.

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks Keith, your feedback is really helpful -I appreciate you sharing your experience.

Sounds like a little tuning is unavoidable, just a matter of degree. A little maintenance on a high quality blade that matchs the body, sounds a lot better to me thannthe wholesale restoration ofvgrinding vintage steel blades and matching soles, that at least for me, is a big part of making my old H&R's work.