My Toothed Plane

[islandpiper]

/several fellows have wondered about the toothed plane.  Here are some pics.   This was an old flea market plane, in good condition, I think it cost me $7.00.  For planing difficult wood like rose wood, ebony, curly or birds eye maple it is pretty handy.   It planes with or against or across the grain without major tear outs because every little portion of the iron is a separate blade, thus reducing the size of tear-outs possible.  Like any cutting tool it must be SHARP.......not just sort of sharp.  Dampening the wood with a spray bottle or wet cloth helps a lot too.  Don't worry about adding moisture to the wood, as the damp part is planed off right away.  Try it. 

Here is a side view of the plane:



And a rear view.   Notice that little cast lug?  Tapping on this pulls the blade back in by tiny increments.   always strive for thin shavings.  Make more passes and stay in control of the wood. 




And a view of the flat side of the iron.   Notice the little V-cuts that make it a series of cutters. If you want, you might be able to cut these in with a Dremel tool and a small diamond wheel.  Then, SHARPEN the iron. 
 


I think this could work well on a spokeshave too.   I can't make myself modify the ones I use all the time, so I may have to go antique shopping one of these days.   

Nothing is as frustrating as digging in and leaving holes when you really just want to make a pile of uniform shavings.  This plane makes piles of the stuff we used to see as packing years ago (before styro) and it was called EXCELSIOR .  Nothing quite as satisfying as "stealing" a tool from another trade. 

I'm happy to answer any questions  or field comments. 

piper

[JackCrafty]

Interesting.....I didn't realize this tool was used to level surfaces of difficult wood.  I though it was used on wood laminations prior to glue-up.

[islandpiper]

jackcrafty, actually, in the Violin business the planes used to score the backs of fingerboards a hundred years ago left a series of parallel scored lines.   (We don't do this any more.).   This plane leaves a series of parallel raised ridges.  That is a whole different surface profile and would actually be detrimental to a good glue joint. 

We could probably go through a pound of coffee talking about the best surface profile and surface prep for different glue types and compounds and various species of wood.  Hmm.....maybe two pounds of coffee. 

piper

[JackCrafty]

  coffee?

I'm all ears.

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[islandpiper]

Here is the plane at work, not on the dining table at home.   These shavings came off a new ash bow.   We'll see how that one turns out. 



And a  close up of the shavings it makes:



Piper

[shamus]

it has more aggressive teeth than a toothing plane. Yours has far fewer teeth than a toothing plane blade.

Your "toothed plane" is different form the toothing planes I've seen. very interesting.

jackcrafty, I recently wrote a small article about toothing planes in PA. They do have more uses than just scoring a bow's back. They work great for working across the grain, like a rasp or sureform.

[JackCrafty]

Thanks Shamus, I'll look up your article.