Scrub
The scrub planes are terrifically valuable to a hand woodworker. Power woodworker too if you know it.
Believe it or not nothing can bite as deep as the skinny little #40. The wider blades can bite alright, but never quite as deep. I keep and use jack planes with varying degrees of arc to the blade, and a wooden jack with a heavy arc and wide open throat, and a couple of scrubs.
One is a standard Stanley #40 that I customized for better performance. Thicker blade, handles set with epoxy and much heavier lever cap.
To set plane handles so they never slip, especially for scrubs and transitionals,
clean and carefully grease the plane bed. <edit> AND the SCREW! <edit>
Axle or chassis grease is fine. Then mix epoxy putty and put it in the handle counterbore at the bottom. When you draw up the screw and let it set, the epox will fill every micro gap for a perfect fit. It will stick to the handle but won't stick to the plane body so you can take it back off when you want. It will not slip or wiggle in the roughest service. Custom gunmakers use this technique a lot.
The other Scrub is my Worm. A plane that a buddy gave me, that nobody anywhere would want when I got it. A dog --with fleas-- this plane used to be! But I made it over into a plane anyone would love to use. With its super thick tapered traditional blade ground round, it hogs a little less deep than the 40, but still hogs a lot of wood and it is totally, freakishly, effortless to pile up a bushell of shavings in very short order.
I put up this article for Wik up about it, if you get curious for the whole story of this one.
http://www.wkfinetools.com/trestore/planes/foreScrub/forescrub-1.asp Then my next line of defense in the progression of working wood are my jack planes.
Jack #1
I've got an old Millers Falls or Sargent jack, marked Craftsman so second quality whoever made it, that is my war horse for the last 30 years and thensome. A dear friend of mine gave it to me. She "inherited" it from the previous owner.
He was a guy that became famous because he was featured in a famous book. Dear Madam. The story of a retired single woman who wanted to move to the woods, and bought a piece of property from the planes owner because he was hard up for money.
Well Fred Crooks lived neighbor to the woman the rest of her life.
Then, after she died, he did the same thing all over again. This time 3 retired spinster schoolteachers. These three were my dear friends. Joan, Viv n Marie. Fred had died just before I met them. But we had a lot of fun together and I helped them over many hurdles life coughed up too.
One one day Joan gave me Freds old plane, neglected in the shed.
I was young and I needed a jack plane so I took it, and put it to work.
Its not real pretty. Its got one of the first totes I ever carved on it because I needed one at the time. I had no idea of "design nuance" when I carved it. I did make it fit my hand, but as far as elegant? That was some ways off. heh
Over 35 years ago, probably closer to 40. This plane is set rank and it will pile up the shavings past your knees in an hours work.
Nearly every day, year in and year out, down through the decades, this plane sees use.
You better believe this girl works for a living.
Then I use a "smoothing jack" (my word). Kind of like a mini jointer plane. I use it as a mini jointer on small work. Buit for big work its my "fore smooth" surface plane.
Super solid, extra fine.
I picked Sargent's VBM line because they are thicker castings than Stanley and can take more pressure. I fitted a tapered Ohio woodie blade to it, almost 1/4" thick at the business end. I carved a tote for it from a scrap of madrone, straight from my firewood pile.
This is my working arsenal for roughout work. The front line game day players.
These girls can dance.
These get me to ready to use smooth planes.
yours Scott
