muddlermike

Chuck, this site will help you figure out about how old your stanley is: http://hyperkitten.com/tools/stanley_bench_plane/index.php

I agree GS - I've followed a dozen or more forums of varrying subjects over the last 15 years and this is definitely one of the "nicer" ones. I've also been following Matt's and Marc's podcasts since their beginnings and have participated with both the chat and this forum since they were conceived. However, the problem with forums - including this one - is that anyone can post anything without any accountability. So, you have to rely on the integrity of the posters to give advice based on their own knowledge and experiences. It's a typical problem when someone not just offers advice, but attempts to discredit other posts without any experience or facts to back it up. I may have opinions or suspect that some practice might not be valid, but if I have never tried it I personally feel that it's not my place to say anything about it. I simply have no facts or experience to back up my objection, so who am I to say it's wrong. I've read some of John's other posts and it seems like he has a lot to offer, but I question anyone who would attempt to discredit another poster's advice with admittedly no experience in the matter. There were a number of suggestions posted and they are all valid. I've never tried 3&1, mineral, baby, orange, and linseed oils as well as transmission fluid, so I would never dream of saying anything contrary to their use. It's just not my place. Now, if someone said to use grape jelly and I had tried grape jelly before and had problems with it, then I might say "be careful, I had this problem with grape jelly but maybe I wasn't using it correctly" or something along those lines. It's just being respectful to the poster and being honest about your own experience. Sorry Dean for hijacking your post. good luck with your planes

So, you've never used it and have no experience with olive oil going rancid on your tools, yet you spend 3 posts discrediting my advice? You know, the problem with forums is the lack of integrity of the posters. You just illustrated that point, John. Dean, again - camellia oil can also be found at Highland Woodworking http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/camelliaoil100ml.aspx and on Amazon, but Amazon's prices are slightly higher because it's sold under cosmetics. you've had a lot of good suggestions, just remember that whatever you use might be left on the wood to some degree and just be careful that it won't cause problems with the eventual finish of the piece.

GS - I think this is a great thread and if anyone is offended or polarized then they aren't really reading you questions Again, I can only speak to my experiences but I agree mostly with your first statement. I own a couple new Veritas, a few new Anants, and a couple dozen used/antique planes. With the exception of a couple cheap, stamped steel frogged planes, all of them that are complete and intact can be servicable planes. There is something to be said about design, though. Some planes perform better - and directly related to their design, in my opinion - than others. Of my used planes, the only changes I've made to make a few of them perform better is to replace the iron/cap iron with a Hock combo. And, I will say that a Hock iron/cap iron combo will improve any used plane with a standard iron/cap iron combo. As to the design issues I would question: a frog that doesn't have a nearly solid face (like post-WW2 Baileys), a frog that doesn't seat to the base casting well, a stamped steel frog, a depth adjuster with too much backlash to make fine enough adjustments or one that doesn't hold it's position well. All but the stamped steel frog can be helped with some adjusting. As to the post WW2 Stanley Baileys, Victors, Defiances, and Handymans (with sparce milled area to their frog faces), those can be helped with a thicker iron replacement. Again, this is just my experience.

I'm guessing that for some, the first plane they used was a new LN or veritas? It's been my experience that newer, high quality planes will work well out of the box and typically only need sharpening. Personally, my early experiences with bench and block planes were relitively cheap 1960's and '70's planes that had crappy steel for the irons and were designed poorly. I didn't know anything about sharpening back then, nor did I know anything about planes in general. If the sole is warped, the frog doesn't seat well or isn't designed properly, or you have an iron that won't hold an edge, then it's going to chatter. That being said, with a new hock iron and cap, my grandfathers 50's era stanley defiance does respectfully well (so much for poor frog design ). Aside from bad planes or irons, I've had chatter and/or tear out with harder woods that can be remedied with a higer cutting angle like 50 or 55 degrees. also, if I'm not paying attention, I might be planing against the grain and that might be the problem. John@verona brings up a good point about technique as well. Budget tools are funny, in that it still is based on design. If you look at post WW2 planes from stanley, you know that their frog designs started to suffer - even with their bailey line. However, if you look at millers falls, their budget line frogs post WW2 were just as solid as could be and a millers falls 900 will out perform a stanley bailey from the same year anytime. In today's market, there are servicable budget planes like the Anants that need a little fine tuning out of the box but perform very well. So, to your question: if a plane is of a solid design, is properly tuned up, and the iron is sharp and set up properly, then you should look to your technique and the wood for reasons of chatter.

Every plane I used up until 5-6 years ago chattered. The planes in "industrial arts" class were the worst. Just take a sightly more aggressive cut with a dull iron on hard maple. Wow... I can't believe you've never had a plane chatter on you

so John, you've had olive oil go rancid on your tools? I guess I've just been lucky, then, because I haven't had any problem. My basement stays pretty dry with a dehumidifier, so maybe that plays a part.

it takes oilve oil about 2 years to go rancid. it's a misconception that you can't use it for tools. It's funny, baby oil is just mineral oil with fragrence, so it make me wonder - why not just use mineral oil? It gets used to season cast iron skillets as well as used as a food safe finish on cutting boards. have we been duped into using more expensive oils to keep our tools rust free? anyone have input on that one??

you can get camilia oil at Highland Woodworking. You can also find it on Amazon but it's slightly more expensive as a cosmetic. You can also use olive oil.

Some dental floss might help to work the glue into the crack.

1) Milescraft TurnLock 3 in 1 router guide kit - to bulky to use effectively in most cases 2) I would've gone with the large Varitas shoulder plane instead of the medium 3) I wish I knew what I was doing before I bought my Ryobi BT3100 4) I should've spent the extra $50 for the Bosch router kit instead of the Hitachi - the hitachi is a good router but the plunge base sucks 5) I wish I went with a 1.5hp or 2hp DC unit, instead of the 1hp unit I bought

Crocs for me as well. Very comfortable and easy to get on and off when going in and out of the shop.

the Anant bullnose is a serviceable, inexpensive plane that will trim cheeks and shoulders for around $50-$60. The iron won't hold an edge like the Veritas but that can be replaced with a hock if you like. As for a low angle block, I would also suggest a decent antique or the anants if you're looking to go inexpensive.

it's been on my list for a while now. just haven't gotten around to buying it...

try a 5-10 degree back bevel for the maple, J-dubbs. I like a 55 degree cutting angle for maple, 50 degrees for cherry and walnut. I have gone to 60 degrees for figured maple, but if it's really curly then a scraper will save you headaches.