Author: Sam
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The world’s largest functioning hand plane
I recently came across a YouTube video of a massive European-style plane titled “World record – largest plane in the world” which made me curious to learn more. According to Guinness World Records, it was made by Schreinerei Fust who appear to be a Swiss carpentry business and it measured 7.13 x 4.37 x 2.10 m.…
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Removing pitting from plane irons and chisels
Removing pitting can be a real pain, especially if it’s deep. A disc sander or belt sander, if careful, would be ideal for removing pitting but if you don’t have access to one of them, there is another way. Lapping using long strips of coarse sandpaper on a flat surface will rapidly remove metal. Float…
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Restoring / cleaning up tools
Taking old, rusty or broken tools and getting them back into usable condition can be rewarding. It gives a sense of ownership, a feel for a tool that picking one off the shelf just doesn’t give, at least not right away. Even something simple like repairing a chisel with a split handle can be rewarding.…
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Wood turning safety
I recently read an article by Lynne Yamaguchi about her wood turning accident that is worth reading. It highlights how important appropriate PPE and using any safety features available are. Even so, all it takes is one distraction, a lapse of judgement, for things to go wrong. For some, the consequences can be even worse.…
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Restored planes are not always a good buy
Restored planes may look nice, sometimes nicer than when they were new, but they’re not always a good buy.
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Review of Evapo-Rust
I’ve been testing Evapo-Rust for the past couple of months to see how effective it is and I’m impressed with the results. Unlike acid rust removal methods, Evapo-Rust removes rust via chelation which only targets rust. This is a massive advantage over acid techniques which will attack good metal as well as rust. Evapo-Rust works…
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Clamp vs cramp, what’s the difference?
People often use cramp and clamp interchangeably, for example, referring to a sash clamp as a sash cramp. This got me wondering, is there actually a difference? Short answer Clamp and cramp generally mean the same thing and are often used interchangeable. A cramp is a tool that temporarily holds objects together. A clamp can…
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Restoring a wooden smoother
This wooden smoothing plane was bit of a mess. Someone had closed the mouth by fitting an insert which had come loose and had then been fixed using a screw, which is not ideal. The adhesive used to fix the insert in place appears to be have the consistency of grout. Possibly someone used whatever…
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EMIR No. 731 Grooving Plane
Another plough plane, this time a wooden one, which I believe is an EMIR No. 731. EMIR was founded around 1937 and was quite late to the wooden plane making business. I’m unsure when they ceased plane production, but they were still making them in the 1960s and until recently, EMIR was still making workbenches.…
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Record 040 plough plane
Another year, another hand plane. This time it’s a Record 040 plough plane which, according to “Record Hand Planes, A History“, was only in production from 1935-1943. Due to the short production run, it is less common than other Record plough planes, such as the 043 and 044, but despite that, they do turn up…