Woodshop

[Turtle]

Stanley No. 45 and No. 55 Combination Planes

Stanley No. 45 and No. 55 Combination Plane

 

 

A very impressive tool.

 

:cup: :cup: :) :eek_big:

 

:xmas_sheep:That's a big 10-4 buddy! Errr... a big 45 I mean. Here's the pages I have been reading that led me to say this one was made ~1914. >>

 

The Superior Works - Patrick's Blood & Gore: Plane #45

 

 

Stanley No. 45 Combination Plane, or Traut's Patent Adjustable

 

I have nickel-plated lock-screws, the later design cam-rest, and the 21 'cutter' set.

 

The only thing I'm missing of the original set is the short bars, and I honestly don't recall ever having them. No worries as the long bars suffice. :) While this multiplane does a lot of different work, other tools often do it better or as well. Just so, I have used it primarily to cut beading for panel work and picture framing.

 

It's going to take me a while to clean it up to working condition, and I'm mulling an appropriate project. Later today I'll make us a little movie showing the assembly. :camera: Say cheese! :D

[Turtle]

... It's going to take me a while to clean it up to working condition, and I'm mulling an appropriate project. Later today I'll make us a little movie showing the assembly. :) Say cheese! :) :eek_big:

 

In this film, I assemble the 45 with a beading cutter. I put all the parts together, but in practice not all are used in every operation. :cup:

 

BRB ...technical difficulties. :camera::doh::cup:

 

Here we go.

 

YouTube - Stanley 45 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogV_0GtypWk

[Turtle]

:xmas_sheep:That's a big 10-4 buddy! Errr... a big 45 I mean. Here's the pages I have been reading that led me to say this one was made ~1914. >> [url=http://supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan6.htm]

 

This is fun! I never researched the plane this far. Now I think it was made after 1915, because I have the fine screw-adjust on the rosewood fence. Notice in the video the 'jumpy movement' referred to here.

... The sliding section and the fence tend to bind as they are moved about on the arms. The jumpy movement of them during setup often makes for a tough time of getting the accuracy you desire. This can be a real pain in the arse, and Stanley took steps to address it. Starting around 1915, a fine adjusting screw was provided for in the fence. A single knurled thumb screw can tweak the rosewood strip to set how far from the board's edge the plane works, which is a real benefit when trying to cut a groove, a bead, or whatever at a precise location. ...

 

http://supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan6.htm

 

This page lists the slitting cutter as part of the set, meaning I have 22 cutters, which may push the date of manufacture to ~1919.

 

http://supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan45cutters.htm

 

I better measure them all to see just what I have.

[Turtle]

Huh! I have no idea why those links display incorrectly!? No matter; their's mania afoot. So, I started taking a closer look at the irons/cutters, and I see I have 2 sash cutters and only one with a depth stop. Going in for a closer look, I find the bigger of the 2, and the one with the depth stop attached, is actually someone's home-made cutter. I can see the markings for the circular saw blade it was cut from. :hyper: So, I'm back to a 21 set of cutters, including the slicing cutter.

 

Now if you look caref.... oh...uhm...never mind.

 

The Superior Works - Patrick's Blood & Gore: Plane #45

[DougF]

Turtle,

i found this site and thought of you. ;)

 

» Stanley No. 45 Combination Plane

 

A very impressive tool.

and I like the camera angel on your video did you make a special mount or was the affect done with mirrors :shrug:

[Turtle]

Turtle,

i found this site and thought of you. ;)

 

» Stanley No. 45 Combination Plane

 

A very impressive tool.

and I like the camera angel on your video did you make a special mount or was the affect done with mirrors ;)

 

Thanks D. :) For just another tool in the box, this thing has quite a mythos built up around it. :doh: The cleanup is slow going and I'm using liberal amounts of machine-grade oil, a brass brush, nylon brushes and pads, cloth rags, and old fashioned elbow grease. If I don't get the insides of the bar holes clean enough with the nylon pads and oil, I'll pick up a .38 cal. brass bore brush and get out the Hoppe's #9.

 

The video I shot using a tripod on the bench and the camera high, looking down, and zoomed in a bit. Lighting is from 2 sides; a fluorescent in a reflector on the left, and a halogen on the right, with some fill light from a window behind.

 

I found this site with some nicvely done instructions for different operations. >> Combination Planes @ Cornish Workshop

 

In cleaning the sliding skate, I found that a previous owner ground part of the casting away to fit that home-made sash iron! A woodworker does what a woodworker's gotta do. :shrug: After some more reading I see I'm missing one of the depth gauges that fits on the sliding skate: I have only the long one used in beading.

 

I just learned from your link Doug, that the handle on the main body is Beech :); I was guessing Maple.:doh: Both my fence and the knob on the fence are Rosewood. I think maybe once it's operable, I'll use it to make wood box for the irons, if not the whole kit & kaboodle. That's all I got.

[Turtle]

I brought in the rest of the 3/4" thick pine boards to dry; the same stuff I made the stretcher bars from. 4 or 5 short wide sticks, and 1 longer and wide. The bigger piece is badly cupped, but all have this affliction to some degree. Whatever doesn't flatten out with drying, I'll plane out when I bring the boards down in thickness.

 

Now I've gone & done it! Whetted my own warp affliction that is. :eek:

[Turtle]

I read about the slitting cutter at one of the links, and they made the point that few people know what it's for. Count me in that group, or at least until recently. :shrug:

 

The slitting cutter is attached to the main frame, just under the handle and on the right outboard side. (seen in attached photo post #84) It is set 1/2" from the skate, which works as the fence if cutting 1/2" strips. No other cutters or attachments needed. This neat little dingus basically cuts strips of wood from board edges without the need of sawing! I tried it out, rusty depth gauge, dull cutter, & all, on one of those pine boards.

 

With the board secured flat, the forward depth stop & the slitting cutter depth stop are set to the same depth and the slitter blade exposed about 1/16". As the tool is pushed along the board edge, a shallow slit is cut. Flip the board and make the same cut on the opposite side. Now advance the cutter and repeat until the board is cut through and the 1/2" strip free.

 

As soon as I have the rust cleaned & the blade sharpened, I'll show the work. Just know I'm off to nurse a sore finger as a wild wire on the brush jammed right up under the nail.! :eek: :doh: So it goes. :eek:

[freeztar]

Whetted my own warp affliction that is. :shrug:

 

Nice pun!

 

Carry on... :eek:

[Turtle]

Nice pun!

 

Carry on... :shrug:

 

I'm no chiseler when it comes to crackin' wise. :hihi: :eek:

 

The more I look closesly at this plane, the less I think the previous owner used it. I think he needed to make a specific sash profile to match existing work, & bought the plane for that sole purpose. (plane 'sole';get it? :rant:)

 

The slitting cutter has never received a sharpening other than at the factory, and it's an interesting cutter. It has four bevels, all meeting at the tip, and I worked it on my stone this morning to a workable edge. :doh: The movie is a ways off yet as I want everything sparlky spic-n'span. :doh:

 

In general, the plane is sturdy and aligned well, but it does not exibit 'fine' craftmanship in some regards. Some of the machined holes aren't aligned evenly on the cast nub they penetrate, and the edges of the skates were not ground smooth before they were plated. There is some minor flaking of the nickel plating, but for a 90 year old tool it's in remarkable shape.

 

Carried away. ..................:eek:

[Turtle]

... The slitting cutter has never received a sharpening other than at the factory, and it's an interesting cutter. It has four bevels, all meeting at the tip, and I worked it on my stone this morning to a workable edge. The movie is a ways off yet as I want everything sparlky spic-n'span. :hihi: ...........:confused:

 

The movie of the slitting cutter in use is still a ways off, but I got everything spic enough, if not span enough :D, to make a video showing the removal and sharpening of it. Just keepin' 'er plumb, Bob.

 

YouTube - Stanley 45 - sharpening splitting cutter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFsH2wUZCow

[Turtle]

Through one conspiracy of time & place, my dematerialized tools rematerialized. Yesterday, it happened again - a conspiracy of time & place that is - and now some of my dematerialized wood collection has rematerialized. :( What's a woodworker to do? Why...hold a 'Know Your Woods' contest of course!

 

This is a 4 'side' view of our first mystery wood. ~ 6"" long x 4" wide x 2"thick. :)

 

[DougF]

:phones: :doh: :) :confused: :confused: :confused:

 

 

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), :shrug:

[Turtle]

:phones: :doh: :) :confused: :confused: :confused:

 

 

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), :shrug:

 

An exclusive far-Western species, yes :hihi:; but not Redwood :shrug:. :D It is of course a burl I can say, and this is the last bit of a sizeable piece secured in a wild-n-wooly hunt some scores of years ago. As to burls, I can't say with any positivity whut causes 'em, I just hunts 'em. :Guns:

 

The science of burls: >> What Causes Burl Figure in Wood?

[freeztar]

Well, let's see...

 

Without enlarging the picture I can tell that the grain is tight and wavy. This implies to me that it is from a tree of relativelty small stature. Also we can tell from the photo that the wood color is light (yellowish; potentially softwood?). It's safe to assume that the tree likes riparian zones as it is a burl.

 

With all that in mind, I'll posit a few guesses:

-willow

-red alder

-doug fir (simply because it is so common there)

[Turtle]

Well, let's see...

 

Without enlarging the picture I can tell that the grain is tight and wavy. This implies to me that it is from a tree of relativelty small stature. Also we can tell from the photo that the wood color is light (yellowish; potentially softwood?). It's safe to assume that the tree likes riparian zones as it is a burl.

 

With all that in mind, I'll posit a few guesses:

-willow

-red alder

-doug fir (simply because it is so common there)

 

:eek2: Right on cue Freezy! Mmmm...burls only riparian you say? Nobody told the tree I cut this burl from, as it was growing on a slope in the Willamette valley. :hyper: The tree was doomed by developers cutting in a new subdivision, and while I couldn't save the whole tree, I did rescue some of the wood. What kind of wood you say? Why, Acer macrophyllum, variously known as Big-leaf Maple, Oregon Maple, or Broadleaf Maple. :hyper:

 

The appearence of grain exposed by a cut in wood is dependent on the orientation of the cut. For this piece of Maple burl, the cuts perpendicular to the wild surface under the bark give the grain pattern referred to as 'tiger' or 'fiddle-back', whereas cuts paralell to the surface yield 'birds-eye' grain pattern.

 

Because I cut the piece green, I nailed a chain to it and sunk it in a pond for a year to keep it from splitting & checking. This procedure keeps water in the cells so they don't collapse as they cure; once cured, the wood is taken out of the water and air-dried. A quicker method some use is to immerse the wood in PEG, polyethyline glycol, but that's expensive and a chemical mess. :hihi:

 

So, I'll get another wood sample for us later today, an even more exotic PNW burl from a tree seldom used by woodworkers. I came, I saw, I sawed. :shrug:

[Turtle]

Mystery burl wood #2. This is an unfinished project I started ~25 years ago:eek: ; I think it's a cribbage board. :) The edge pieces are Oak. The colors are not 'true' partly because these bits of wood have been sitting around for so long, & the fluorescent light I'm using is not full-spectrum. What's a woody to due? :) ................:)