The Millers Falls Two-part Lever Cap

The Millers Falls Two-part Lever Cap

Millers Falls were one of several companies that launched a range of bench planes after Stanley’s  patents on the immensely successful Bailey plane design expired in the late 1920s.  Many makers attempted to improve the design to differentiate themselves from Stanley who were well established in the market. One of these improvements was the...
Millers Falls were one of several companies that launched a range of bench planes after Stanley’s  patents on the...
The Record Stay-Set Cap-Iron

The Record Stay-Set Cap-Iron

Leonard Bailey’s eponymous plane design was so good that bar a few minor tweaks by J A Traut in the early 1900s[1] it has remained pretty much unaltered since he invented it over 140 years ago.    Needless to say this did not prevent various plane manufacturers, all of whom were producing basically identical...
Leonard Bailey’s eponymous plane design was so good that bar a few minor tweaks by J A Traut in...
Laminated plane irons - Stanley and Record

Laminated plane irons - Stanley and Record

Following the previous articles about iron, steel and plane cutters it may be tempting to view laminated cutters [https://smallworkshop.co.uk/2018/01/10/laminated-plane-irons-revisited/] as an historical curiosity from a forgotten era of wooden planes, wrought iron and crucible steel.   However companies like Record and Stanley chose to use laminated irons in their...
Following the previous articles about iron, steel and plane cutters it may be tempting to view laminated cutters [https://smallworkshop....
laminated plane irons revisited

laminated plane irons revisited

1⏎ at least in the 2nd half of the 19th century, see footnote below for some information about laminated irons made in the 20th 2⏎ pre decimalisation in the UK (1971), there were 12 pence in a shilling and  20 shillings in a pound 3⏎ this is a simplification, in practice, as suggested by the...
1⏎ at least in the 2nd half of the 19th century, see footnote below for some information about laminated irons...
bench planes - laminated vs steel blades

bench planes - laminated vs steel blades

If you pick up a wooden bench plane from the the last century (there are lots of them about still!) the chances are it will have a ‘laminated’ cutting iron (we are going to touch on some basic metallurgy with many mentions of iron in this post, so I will refer to them as ‘blades’...
If you pick up a wooden bench plane from the the last century (there are lots of them about still!...
Bench planes - blade steel choices

Bench planes - blade steel choices

Makers of edge tools, including plane blades, need to be concerned about several different properties of steel. Steel Properties Toughness: This is the ability of the steel to deform without breaking, cracking or chipping.   Materials that lack toughness are said to be brittle.  Note that sharpening angles have an effect here – the narrower the angle...
Makers of edge tools, including plane blades, need to be concerned about several different properties of steel. Steel Properties Toughness:...
bench planes - thick or thin irons?

bench planes - thick or thin irons?

From the time  Leonard Bailey introduced metal plane in the 1860s until quite recently they were supplied with thin irons.   On paper this is a good thing: thin irons are an improvement on thick ones in as far as they are cheaper to make – since they use less material – and are easier to sharpen because...
From the time  Leonard Bailey introduced metal plane in the 1860s until quite recently they were supplied with thin irons....
bench planes - tapered or parallel blades?

bench planes - tapered or parallel blades?

Although this article is about blades used in wooden planes there is an interesting parallel between the blade choices available to wooden plane users at the start of the 20th century and the choices facing metal plane users at the start of the 21st who must choose between thick vs thin irons. Old wooden planes...
Although this article is about blades used in wooden planes there is an interesting parallel between the blade choices available...
bench planes - blade camber

bench planes - blade camber

We already read about the importance of sharpening angles, camber is the other consideration when sharpening a plane cutter. It is common to add a slight curve or “camber” when preparing a cutter to take off a lot of material – the curve means only a small section of the blade enters the wood initially and...
We already read about the importance of sharpening angles, camber is the other consideration when sharpening a plane cutter. It...
bench planes - honing

bench planes - honing

Once you’ve ground the blade to to about the right angle then you need to hone it in order to create a keen edge.   The experience of generations of craftsman has shown that grinding the blade at 25° and honing a few degrees steeper – around 30° – is a good practical approach for many woodworking...
Once you’ve ground the blade to to about the right angle then you need to hone it in order...