Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to have access to a nearly unlimited supply of Michigan grown hardwoods, to include maple, oak, cherry, poplar and walnut. An older gentleman I know has a mobile sawmill, and has thus made a pretty good living sawing logs, and stickering lumber from trees that were purposely cut down, or fell during storms, etc. For next to nothing when compared to commercial operators, he’ll cut the log to order and store it on his farm indefinitely. It’s beautiful, and in many instances, old growth wood, perfect for making heirloom projects. Working with wood like that is very rewarding. Starting with a material in its most raw state, and transforming it into a unique one of a kind object, is a very satisfying, and sometimes challenging journey. I say challenging because those planks are never flat and ready to start cutting into. After it dries, it’s cupped, twisted, warped and rough. Simply running it through a powered electric surface planer will produce nothing more than a thinner plank that’s still cupped, twisted and warped. It may be smoother but it’s not flat. In order to get a rough plank ready to go through a powered planer, one face must be pretty darn close to flat. The high spots, and twist must be manually removed from one face, allowing it to stay flat on the planer bed as it is fed through the machine. In the end, you’ll have two parallel faces that are flat and ready for cutting into various project parts. The most efficient and fastest way to get that first face flat and ready for the surface planer is by utilizing a specialized hand plane.
Stanley #40:
The scrub plane is nothing novel or unique in woodworking. Some version of manufactured, or craftsman made scrub plane has been around for decades. Generally speaking, the scrub plane is almost as common as any plane I can think of, to include a simple block plane or a #4 smoother. It’s a plane that I’d put on my “must have” list. If one is doing any sort of moderate to serious woodworking, and starting with rough cut stock as I described above, then the first or possibly the second tool to come into contact with the plank will be a scrub plane. There’s no way around it. By setting the #40 for a moderate cut and running it across the work piece at 45 degrees to the direction of the grain, the high spots can be knocked off rather fast. On a twisted board that rocks when placed on a flat surface, simply taking down the “offending” opposite corners usually does the trick. By planing at 45 degrees in one direction, and then in the other, the plank starts to lay flat. Making passes at 45 degrees prevents any significant tear out. With a little further clean up using a #5 jack plane, you’ll have one flat face that’s ready to lay on the bed of a surface planer.
It’s easy to see that the scrub plane is not a finishing tool. Its throat is wide enabling thick shavings to pass through without clogging. The iron is purposely ground with a slight arc, leaving a scalloped finish on the work piece. (Notice the arc as compared to the straight edge of the machinist square.) The arc keeps the iron from digging in at its corners thus making it capable of removing a lot of stock very quickly. The plane itself is very simply constructed for heavy duty work. It has a thick iron and its main casting is such that the frog is cast as part of the body itself. It’s one of the few bench style planes japanned both inside its main casting and outside. I assume that was an effort made to protect the plane from rusting as a result of its intended rough life. Stanley produced the #40 scrub plane from 1896 into the early 1960s. The plane depicted below was most likely manufactured in the early 1960s near the end of its run in the Stanley product line. Stanley also made a slightly larger scrub plane, the #40 1/2, from 1902 to 1947.
Occasionally, I’ll receive a plane or two from neighbors, co-workers, relatives, friends, etc. Very often, the story goes something like this: “I have this old plane that belonged to my (dad, grandfather, uncle, father-in-law) and I have no use for it. Do you want it?” I say “Yes” every time! This is one of those planes. I actually received it from my neighbor across the street. My neighbor’s father had passed away and the family was in the process of disposing of/dividing his estate. My neighbor ended up with his father’s tools including this plane. He didn’t want it and walked it over to my house. I’ll admit that it was in rough condition when I received it, with some rust and decades worth of accumulated crud from sitting neglected in an unheated garage. Upon initial inspection however, I was encouraged to see that its original knob and tote were solid. Although the japanning is chipped, most of it was intact and consequently protected the plane, inside and outside, from major rust and pitting. The exposed bare sole and cutting iron were a different story. Still, with a little elbow grease and a couple quality hours out in the shop, it cleaned up nicely. When I start a new woodworking project, it's usually the first plane I pick up and use.
Jim C.
