Reply To: Record 044, fence wont stay parallel

It’s been interesting reading, so far and Larry Gelb has tried valiantly to define the problem….

First, I think that it’s fair to say that plough planes have never been a ‘precision’ tool. The old wooden ones work beautifully after 150-odd years, but the fence and arms of these are very often a loose fit – much like a carrot in a shirt-sleeve – which is compensated in use by fixing the setting, adjusting the fence so that it is exactly parallel with the main stock and then tightening the wedges. They remain set in that position, working well and generations of cabinet-makers can’t be wrong.

Likewise, the Record 044 and its iterations by Marples and others isn’t by any definition an exact tool. The 044 was in production for almost 40 years with a brief interruption during the War; it came back minus the Nickel plating for a while in the 50s and continued in production until the late 70s. During that time production quality inevitably varied.

Now, if as you said, you have a snug fit of your rods in the main body stock and (with the fence removed), the rods are parallel and straight along their length, I’d venture confidently that there’s nothing wrong so far.

If you now add the fence and if it tightens adequately along the full travel of the rods without moving, but has a noticeable bias so that it is not parallel with the main stock, then the problem lies in the fence. Loose fitting holes is not a good idea, either.

Please DON’T file bits off the rods! It’s probably not their fault.

You have a number of options.

1 Sell the whole thing on and get another……

2 Ditch the dodgy fence and get a good-fitting replacement (they come up on a well-known auction site). However, there’s no guarantee that another will exactly fit yours…..

3 Compensate for the any misalignment in the existing fence by adding a wooden liner to it. Record have already provided holes for this, so it is a traditional fix. You may then adjust the running face of the wooden fence by planning it to shape, so that it is sitting at right angles to the vertical axis of the main stock and then plane it straight along so that the length is parallel. This will take up any discrepancies.

Among other plough planesI have a No: 044 and although my problems are not as severe as yours (all the rods and holes fit exactly) a wooden fence adjusted as I mentioned improved the performance greatly.

Good luck……