Old Coffin Plane to Scrub Plane?
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- This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 7 months ago by David Perrott.
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Hi,
I have an old wooden coffin plane that was my great grandfather’s.
It’s pretty beat up, out of square, and with a big gouge in the top.
I was going to square it up and restore it, but I’m wondering if this would make a good scrub plane?
What do you think? I think I’d get more use out of it as a scrub plane, but I’m hesitant as there’s no way back from that.
Thanks
Darren.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.11 October 2016 at 3:24 pm #141308The gouge in the top is from hitting it with a hammer to adjust it. What is out of square? You mean the sole isn’t flat? Just plane it with another plane. Sharpen the iron and see what happens. You have to see what it will do first before you figure out how you can use it. That’s probably your best bet.
12 October 2016 at 12:10 am #141317I have completely moved to wooden planes so I have some experience but I’m a nobody but..
I wouldn’t worry about the sole not being at a right angle to the side. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes the sole gets a bit angled towards the user. More pressure is put on to that side and it wears down more. It won’t affect the performance. Only time it matters is if you are using a shooting board or something like that.
I just converted a 100-year old smoothing plane to a scrub plane. It works like a charm…. extremely lightweight and easy for scrubbing diagonal to the grain with short strokes, or along the grain with longer strokes. I am glad I saved myself the $ and didn’t buy a metal scrub plane.
Marc[attachment file=”141319″]
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- This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Marc D.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Marc D.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.12 October 2016 at 5:00 am #141322I think a scrub plane is the worst thing to spend money on. I think Veritas makes them and others. You only use it for course work. I have a german style with that horn on the front. I prefer my $5 wooden jack plane. I think the longer length works better. This jack plane is ugly, beat up but it works great. I never thought I would use wooden planes now its all I use
12 October 2016 at 11:04 pm #141371I don’t agree at all with dperrot! Scrub planes are extremely useful, and it is their purpose to do the rough job. Once done, you grab the next plane, which is still sharp. I have a tiny “German” scrub plane, blade 1-1/2″ wide or even less. It worked wonders on large wide rough sawn planks and it was amazing to see, how this small lightweight tool hogged away the waste so quickly. Of course, it is possible to use finer planes, but it is less efficient. I like to think of a smoothing plane in scrub-mode like a guitar tuned down to bass pitch: It sort of works, but it isn’t the same.
In a video, Paul Sellers talks about the history of wooden planes and how the scrub plane came to be (as a matter of fact, it was always there, but had no name). He demonstrates, how a scrub plane easily produces 1 mm thick shavings – try that with a smoothing plane!
The blade of your plane is fairly thin. I don’t know, if that is good or bad for a scrub plane. According to Paul Sellers, it should be fine, if it is seated well in its bed. If not, it might chatter and cause horrible tearout then (that’s just my idea, might be wrong).
All this said, you can probably turn this plane into a scrub plane, unless it already is one. Check the width of the opening for the blade. Or only clean it up a bit and keep it in memoriam to your grandfather.
Dieter
13 October 2016 at 4:47 am #141379Sorry let me correct. I think its the worst thing to spend the $120 or more the premium planes cost. It’s for rough work. You don’t need Nasa space age engineering for a scrub plane. Not that the tool isn’t useful, just that the high price of the premium plane isn’t worth it. Its better to find an open mouth wooden plane or something similar. Personally I like my wooden jack plane better than my wooden scrub for most tasks. The wider iron and longer sole helps me. If I’m planing a board to width I may use the scrub plane then.
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