You can always order irons later. You probably will, I did.
You can always order irons later. You probably will, I did.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Mine came with 24 irons, and I bought 4 others....
plough plane.jpg
Was fairly easy to set up for a cut like this..
lip.jpg
Of course, mine was made way back in the 1920s....SW era.
My most used plow plane is an old Stanley 141. I found it all dirty and grungy on e-Bay for less than $100. It didn't have the fillister bed with it or any cutters. I made some cutters from some spare Stanley 45 cutters, cleaned the plane up and it works amazingly. Yes it took some effort, but it is as close as you might get to the LN prototype and would certainly cost less to get grooving. Mine came with the usually missing bullnose front and I made my own regular nose from some steel plate in about an hour. Works like a dream and throws the shavings the right direction unlike a 45 LOL. Anyway, it is worth considering.
141dirty.jpgFrom this to this. 141.jpg
YMMV,
Brent Parkin
Regina, SK
Canada eh!
Derek, I gotta say making clean, cross grained dadoes like that referencing off a simple fence is super attractive and practical for me.
I have a 1970s era Record plow plane and it's really finicky to set up so the knickers are aligned with iron edges. Additionally the fence doesn't secure parallel to the blade/skates without tedious measuring the front and back edge of the fence and adjusting etc. FWIW, if you're interested in shooting your own moldings, plowing accurate, consistent grooves that your hollow/round molding planes can reference off of makes life a lot easier.
A new plow plane is definitely on my wish list, I just don't know if whether the LV small or large plane would fit my needs best. Unlike the LV small plow, doesn't the large plow allow for the use of bead and cove irons? If yes, that's functionality I would definitely be willing to pay for.
I have immense respect for those who are able to use the Stanley 45/55 planes to do similar work. As much as I enjoy vintage hand tools, I'm not nearly smart enough to figure out how to make that happen.
Great thread – look forward to comments and feedback from my fellow Creekers who have first-hand experience.
All the best, Mike,
My easy solution for this is wooden gauge blocks in various sizes. Mine are made in 3/8 X 3/4", 7/16 X 7/8" & 1/2 X 1". I also have some wooden 'feeler' gauges that can be used to set the fence, skate and depth stops.Additionally the fence doesn't secure parallel to the blade/skates without tedious measuring the front and back edge of the fence and adjusting etc.
These make set up a lot easier.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
I bought a set of brass gauge blocks through 1/2" but, they were missing 1/8" and 5/16".
I made wooden ones for those sizes. The point is, they are easy to make.You can make a
complete set and also make other sizes if you need them.
Both the 45 and the 55 came with instruction booklets, showing how to set up and use them.
Took me about a week of just playing around with my #45....the only thing I haven't tried is the slitter. The other six "planes" took very little work to get used to them..
As for dados....either the 45 with a batten OR one of the Stanley #39s will do the same dado.....