Official Luthiers Forum!

On sat I picked up a 30 in wooden maple jointer plane at a yard sale. Do any of you have a spare blade with a chip breaker for sale ?

Hi, and welcome to the OLF.
I see this is your first post, so you may not be aware there is a classifieds section, and that would be a more appropriate place to put a post for buying/selling.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Perhaps I am reading too much into Mr. Kleinman's post, but it seems the implied request is more along the lines of how he might go about locating a 2-5/8" tapered cast steel replacement blade with cap iron to be used in his newly acquired 30" wooden jointer. I can think of a few things to try:

- A PM to Mr. Ed Minch (Ruby50 here on OLF), who has great depth of knowledge and broad contacts in the old tools world. Mr. Minch is a fixture of sorts at our regional old tools annual sale and auction (aka, the PATINA March sale) and also owns a very flashy sports car from which he tailgates various items of ancient iron...I am sure he will be able to point you in the right direction.

- A perusal of the auction sites like eBay for old wooden jointers from which a blade and cap iron might be salvaged, or a suitable orphaned blade and cap iron.

- Ask the curmudgeons over on Sawmill Creek's Neanderthal Haven whether they might have some ideas on where to locate such an item. This should generate 30-40 replies, 2 or 3 discussions of completely useless but fascinating plane-related arcana, and at least one good argument. Bring popcorn and some patience.

- Check with Red Rose Reproductions, as they were making new blades as a market test quite recently, and were offering a 2-1/2" width slotted blade (to be fitted with a cap iron) for about $79. The 2-1/2" width is a bit narrower than you are seeking, but for a jointer plane, that seems like less of an issue than no blade at all.

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Ernie is not new.... He's been a longtime member of the OLF, just using a new screen name. And he's a cool dude.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

That name did seem quite familiar - thanks for the clarification, Mr. Pile! I have to say that adding a signature along the lines of "...still just plain old ________, just with a shiny new screen name." seems a helpful sort of thing.

I'll edit my earlier to reflect Mr. Kleinman's status as an grizzled veteran, versus still-dazed recent arrival.

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Ernie

Here is a 30" by New York Tool Co. with a blade by Auburn Tool. Auburn used prison labor at times to reduce costs, and that is one reason you see so many of them. This plane is lighter than a #8 metal plane that is 6" shorter. These are fun to use - just keep the bottom flat and waxed.

1) the plane, the wedge, and the double iron (blade plus chip breaker)

2) the sole. The blade is 2-5/8",and the opening is just a touch bigger. Notice the crack at the right hand side of the mouth. Like a guitar, wooden planes react to humidity. If the blade is borderline too wide, as the body shrinks it can crack right there and grab the blade so tightly you can't get it out. Better to have a slightly smaller width blade to avoid that - some would file the blade, but many blades are too hard to file at the good steel end. Of course you can always keep it in a case with a humidifier.

3) showing the taper in the blade, thicker at the business end

4) showing the relief groove for the chip breaker screw

I have put out some calls to see if I can find one. I haven't seen one on the web yet.

Ed

Since we only tried 20 times to log in yesterday . we were blocked out of the OLF, My wife , decided to change our screen name, sorry for the confusion ,for those who are interested I do have a whole bunch of other names. As well , in 4 weeks we will be at our new location n. of OKC in guthrie OK . Currently am scouting around for materials as the shop is basically a shell that needs to be well insulated. Our new website will be www. stringtown.biz. Anyone looking for info on building a uke ,there are 26 videos on various aspects of uke building. They are all under our former screen name here, which was ernie kleinman. Woody thank you for all that info . I did get an older 2 in plane blade from ed for my old 5.5 C jack. But this one is much wider . I looked over evil bay and felt prices were way too high!. I Looked at the newer plane blades like HOCK and and LV an LN. But we are on a tight budget these days. The most impressive blades in my opinion are the older laminated western blades or the laminated blades coming from china and mostly Japan. The plane body can only accomodate a western style plane blade .Thanks once again for the detailed list of possible places to check

Ed , that old plane with the auburn tool blade is a beauty , The yard sale that I went to also had a collection of transitional and coffin planes all made from t beech , as per the plane you have posted. The one you have looks like it is in excellent condition !! .The ones I saw on sat were in horrid shape not worth repairing I did pick up 3 t and G groove planes that were still usable. And , so thank you very much for going the extra mile ED !!! . Our plane is hand made maple and very heavy, I plan to use it upside down the way coopers do . One difference is that the bottom slot is located in the middle like a chinese style jointer plane but with western type mortised wood handle. Cheers

Well, I was going to suggest Lie-Nielsen, but it seems you've already gone that route. A #8 blade and chip breaker will run you around $90. I think that's pretty reasonable for such quality, but can totally understand wanting to spend less. Been there!

On a side note, I noticed the other day that Grizzly is selling some similar hand planes to what Lie-Nielsen offers. They were about $100 cheaper than Lie-Nielsen. I just had to ask, why would I spend $165 on a Grizzly plane, when I could have a Lie-Nielsen for $265? I found that pretty silly.

Anyway, you may find yourself in a similar situation with your blade and chip breaker. If you find the pair for $50 on ebay, would you be better served by spending $90 at LN?

These days, I'd rather not have it all, than have something of suspect quality.

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sweat the small stuff.

Ernie

I have a line on 2 and will know more later today. Much less than $50. And blades made at the time of wooden planes in the US (pre-1920 or so) are also laminated.

And Heath - why would you spend $165 on a Grizzly (or $265 on a L-N) when so many wonderful vintage tools are waiting to be loved at 1/3 of that price.

Ed

Ed , every dog must have his day. I love old well made american Iron about 20 yrs ago I bought an ohio forge tapered and laminated blade . I am always blown away by how hard that blade works . I made a simple wooden smoother bedded at 55 deg. And it never fails to smooth out the crankiest of woods , all for the sum of $1. Yard sales, estate sales and fb marketplace are excellent resources for serviceable tools. Including all the ones woody mentioned above . Thanks Woody. LN and LV planes are excellent, but I have put yardsale junkers for $5 into refurbished scrub planes,. Cheap groz smooth planes flattened and fettled also make serviceable planes for the budget conscious . Thanks Ed for your help cheers ernie.

PS the way the jointer is made there is only room for a plane blade and chipbreaker no more than 4.5 mm or 3/16in. FYI.

Ernie

Do you mean 3/16" at the sharp end? Is that dimension the width of the mouth? If not, how far back from the mouth?

Ed

ED when I put in the wooden wedge there is a gap/slot of 3/16in. from the top of the plane to the bottom. I can always thin down the maple wedge (large) or open the slot on the sole which is 11mm or 7/16in, or widen, or taper the to accomodate the plane blade. I have made about 10 of my own wooden planes. Thank you

Ernie

I have found 3 at 2-3/8" but with two sources still to go. One source is checking as they think they have a 2-1/2"

Ed

the width on the mouth of the plane is 70mm or 2 3/4in the wider the better ED thank you

Ernie

Results are in. I found a reasonable 2-1/2" with no chip breaker, and a VERY nice 2-3/8" Ohio/Auburn with the classy bevel edge chip breaker. I have looked at the usual sites and sorry, but this is all I came up with.

Ed

Ed , can you please PM with the details. Note new user name, Thanks

Ernie

The PM won't let me include shots, so I am sending this on the thread. I could not find the shot of the 2-1/2" - it's in there somewhere. It was a half of a double iron, so it had the slot, but no chip breaker.

Below is the nicest 2-3/8". It has the very classy bevel edged chip breaker and the cool hexagonal screw hole in the blade. You can see that it is just about full length. My friend Greg says it is yours if you buy me a beer. Best to send him a thank you note, and a picture of the blade mounted in the plane would be nice too - if you decide on this one.

What is your mailing address - PM that if you want to.

Ed

Ed thank you PM sent