Thanks guys! The messages are much appreciated. I'm looking forward to talking hand planes with you again and seeing any additions you've made to your collections during the past year or so. Okay, let's get going. I had to check the index to see where I left off. Just to re-cap, I never really had a plan or specific road map regarding the direction of this thread. Nothing much more than all hand planes all the time. Where ever the conversation takes us is where we're going. Anyway, between going on a SERIOUS Craftsman =V= tool buying binge, and churning out a couple more projects in the shop, I managed to add a few more planes to my collection. There's still a lot more planes to talk about. One of the planes I found myself using very recently was actually a scraper. If you go back and take a look, we talked a little about scrapers earlier in the thread. Stanley being Stanley, they made several versions over the years, some of which were very common and simple in design, and a few that are more complex (but still useful) and among some of the most rare and difficult tools to find as a collector and/or user. Scrapers are great tools for smoothing irregular grain that swirls, changes direction and often leads to tear out and headaches. Some projects look great with straight grain and clean lines, while others with unique characteristics in the wood are very desirable. If you're having trouble with smoothing ornery grain, try a scraper. The iron on a scraper requires a that a burr be created on its edge for it to cut properly. The technique to make that burr involves a few simple steps and a couple basic hand tools to include a small flat file, hand saw jointer, a sharpening stone and a burnisher. I'd love to say that I have some easy method for rolling out a burr on a scraper, but I don't. It takes a little time and practice. The first time I tried it, I referred exclusively to Garrett Hack's description, illustrations and photographs, all found in Chapter 9 of his GREAT book entitled, "The Hand Plane Book." Mr. Hack's instructions are clear and easy to follow. If you're interested, check out his book, that's where I learned how to make a nice burr on a scraper.
Stanley #112:
I know I said we were going to talk about scrapers in this post, but the tool depicted below still somewhat resembles a traditional bench plane. Well, that's true, but it is a scraper. Actually, it may be the single best scraper ever made by any manufacturer. Notice how the iron is mounted in the plane's frog, well forward of ninety degrees. In order for that burr to work, the angle of the iron is important. Since a good burr sort of curls back toward the iron itself, the iron must be tilted forward past ninety degrees, and MUCH further forward than the forty five to fifty five degrees most irons are bedded at on standard bench planes. If you take a look at the photo below, you'll see that the frog is captive on a pin that extends across the plane's main body. That's the pivot point that allows for fine adjustments forward and back so that burr is exactly at the perfect angle for producing lace like shavings on ANY crazy/difficult grain, as well as straight grain. The engineers at Stanley created a very simple but effective iron adjustment mechanism that's easy to operate, allowing the user to lock the iron in place at the perfect position by means of two knurled nuts mounted on a threaded rod. No matter what the burr angle is, the plane can be adjusted to get the precise cut desired. The other huge advantage in using a scraper plane versus a simple scraper card is the elimination of hand fatigue and the burning of one's thumbs. On small workpieces, a scraper card is probably still the way to go, but on a medium to large flat workpiece, some sort of mechanical "holder" like the #112 makes all the difference between suffering and absolute pleasure. Shop time should be fun.
After acquiring a few basic bench planes and block planes, I'd very seriously consider something more than a simple card scraper. Even the common Stanley #80 scraper, discussed in a prior post, is a step up and highly recommended. Still, if you're thinking about working on table tops and large slabs for instance, the #112 is the way to go. Stanley produced the #112 between 1885 and 1943. The plane depicted below was probably manufactured at some point right around 1922 - 1925. Back in the day, a craftsperson could also outfit the #112 with toothed irons that were very handy for veneer work. The toothed irons came with 22, 28 and 32 teeth per inch (tpi). Original Stanley tpi irons are VERY rare. I've seen several #112 irons with and without Stanley trademarks. Obviously, an iron with a trademark is more desirable to collectors. The #112 isn't unusually rare, but I also don't see them at garage/estate sales or flea markets. They were used by cabinet makers and those who were engaged in fine woodworking. The average "do it yourselfer" probably wouldn't have a need for a #112, or more likely would have settled for a scraper card and possibly a #80 model at most. My grandfather was a handy guy, and I do recall him using a card scraper occasionally on various large (remembering a basement bar top) and small (remembering doll furniture) projects. He was extremely frugal too. It wasn't in his DNA to buy "luxury tools." In his mind, a #80 would have been a luxury, and a #112, well, simply out of the question. That bar top would have been a perfect project for the #112. Anyway, in terms of user tools, the the #112 is still relatively affordable and generally available. In my opinion, the #112 should be on most woodworkers top twelve list of planes to own and use. In future posts, I'll show you a few Stanley scrapers that are better left to the collectors.
Finally, thanks again for your kind comments.
Jim C.
