Wooden Try Plane Refurbishment.

[Stewie Simpson]

Started work on refurbishing an early made wooden Try Plane. The makers mark; Edward Preston & Sons, Trade EP Mark, Warranted, Birmingham, England. Length 22" x Width 3 3/8", 2 1/2" original 2 piece iron, slight camber to the cutting edge.

The original diamond impact pad is missing, the top surface is badly bruised from long term impact with a wooden mallet, the wooden tote has some slight damage to its top horn, as well as hairline crack forward of the finger hole, and the wooden sole a slight concave curve and some deep grooving.

Removing the wooden tote proved quite challenging, but after a combination of strategies it eventually freed itself, albeit with some moderate force.

show the severe bruising to the forward top surface of the plane body.


wooden sole showing deep groove marks.


top surface of the plane body after dressing back.


original makers mark on the underside of the planes tote.


I am not overly keen to waste my time documenting the full refurbishment process, but will post the odd update as time permits.

Stewie;

[Tony Wilkins]

Interested to see how this goes along. Have a similar jointer in a little better shape but may eventually need sound TLC.

[Graham Haydon]

Please do post, I hope it would encourage others to pick one up and put it to use.

[Terry Beadle]

I also request politely for you to post as I love my woodies.
Thanks!

[Stewie Simpson]

The sole of the plane after being dressed back and checked for misalignment using the winding sticks and a steel straight edge.



The sole of the plane was then scribe'd with pencil highlight, prior to being flat sanded on 220 grit. After flat sanding, the double iron and wedge were installed to check the mouth clearance in front of the cutting edge. The measurement taken was 3/32", more than adequate for a double iron plane. The grain direction on the sole was running from toe to heel as it should be. The slight shadow seen in the next photo was from the laser light roofing.



Stewie;

[steven c newman]

Looking good so far! Seems to have had almost as much abuse as an Ohio Tool Co. No. 81 that I had to tune up....

For some reason, mine had a banana sole, high spot was the area around the mouth opening. How was yours?

[Stewie Simpson]

Steven; there was a slight convex to the sole.

I must say, I am a little surprised at the interest shown within this wooden plane refurbishment. Its much too primitive in shape, the body of the plane its not made of a cast metal, and it doesn't have a threaded depth adjuster.

Stewie;

[steven c newman]

crooked mouth.jpg
Mine also needed a bit of work around the mouth, as it was no longer square to the sides..
IMAG0102.jpg
Seems to do ok once cleaned up....

[Bill White]

Keep it coming Stewie.
It is amazing how similar my 17" W. Butcher ironed jack looks.
Bill

[Kees Heiden]

I am curious were you are going with the finish on this one. Personally I love old patina. The sides of this plane look marvelous to me.

[Stewie Simpson]

Kees; then you are likely to be disappointed to hear that the old patina on this ole plane will be completely removed. The makers stamp on the front end of the plane will be preserved.

Stewie;

[Pat Barry]

I don't think the plane ever had a strike block

If that is the case it's a nice addition!

[Kees Heiden]

I have heard about those English planes with a leather patch nailed to the top in the position of the strikeblock. I don't know if that was ever an original factory option, or if it was a popular users modification. I think the latter.

But nothing wrong with a nice solid strike block of course.

The plane looks good Stewie, but I still prefer the original patina

[Bill Houghton]

Stewie - you're removing a field-applied corrugated sole???

Good looking plane; I bet it'll be lovely when it's done.

[Jeff Heath]

Very nice write up on this. The plane looks great to me, and if it works as well as it looks, you've got a fantastic tool. Thank you for posting.

Original or not, and I believe you've done your due diligence, the strike block is great. I install one on all my plane builds, jack to jointer. I've been using up bits of a large timber of blackwood, endgrain up (and down).