On 1/21/2013 9:24 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
I just inherited a Stanley #81 cabinet scraper. The rosewood sole is badly worn. Any
suggestions for making (or purchasing) a replacement?

The tool is not a collector's item (one handle has been broken off and rewelded). I intend to
*use* it, not put it on a shelf, so the objective here is repair, not restoration.

It looks to me like any tight-grained hard wood, cut to the proper dimensions, should do the
job, and I have a plentiful supply of rock maple, beech, and yellow birch, so I think I'm good
there. I'm just not sure of the best way to go about cutting the slot. First thing that occurred to me
was to clamp the piece securely to the table saw, and raise the blade through it (after setting
the correct angle, of course), then finishing the slot with a fine hand saw. If anyone can suggest
a better way, I'd appreciate it.




While the wood that you have on hand is hard, I would think that harder
still might be the better choice. Ipe is pretty hard and what Steve
Knight used as the sole of his hand planes, IIRC that is what the soles
of my planes are made of.

Cut the slow with your plate joiner, aka biscuit cutter. or drill out
the slots like a regular mortice and file out the angle. Or double side
tape it to the the bench and use a tilt base trim router with a
straight bit.