On Mon, 30 May 2005 15:02:39 +0100, doozer
babbled like a waterfall and
said:

I was just reading a thread about planes and it reminded me that I was
going to ask you guys about them. I'm no expert with wood at the moment
so take it easy with the technical stuff ) (I've made book shelves and
a cupboard but they have been bulky and lacking finesse).

I was up at the NEC a little while back for the home and house building
show and I saw a French guy there selling the "Wonder Boy Plane" (or
something like that) it was a small plane that took Stanley knife blades
and came in a kit with had various attachments to convert it into
different types of plane. I really liked the look of it but I thought I
would find out more first so I didn't get one there and then thinking I
could pick one up on line. So does anyone know what I am talking about
and where I could get one? If you do know and think they are pants what
would you suggest as an alternative?

If it's any help it was similar in design to this
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=23088&recno=6 but it looks
better built.

Many Thanks
Graham

I would regard them as junk for all but very simple work like putting
a 2 mil chamfer on an edge of softwood.

I suppose sharpening is your problem? It certainly is mine.

This has been my salvation over the years:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...4781 382&rd=1

A decent oil stone or even wet/dry on a firm work surface works well
with one of these.

In article ,
doozer wrote:
I was up at the NEC a little while back for the home and house building
show and I saw a French guy there selling the "Wonder Boy Plane" (or
something like that) it was a small plane that took Stanley knife blades
and came in a kit with had various attachments to convert it into
different types of plane.

A Stanley knife blade simply isn't rigid enough for a serious plane. Nor
is it sharp enough.

--
*Gargling is a good way to see if your throat leaks.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
doozer wrote:

I was up at the NEC a little while back for the home and house building
show and I saw a French guy there selling the "Wonder Boy Plane" (or
something like that) it was a small plane that took Stanley knife blades
and came in a kit with had various attachments to convert it into
different types of plane.


A Stanley knife blade simply isn't rigid enough for a serious plane. Nor
is it sharp enough.


I'm not saying your wrong but there was a lengthy demonstration which
seemed to indicate that the blade was easily sharp enough. I admit that
he may have sharpened it a little more before hand but I don't think so.

As for it not being rigid enough it was pretty firmly held in place so
that only the blade portion was exposed. I would be surprised if
strength was an issue.

In article ,
doozer wrote:
A Stanley knife blade simply isn't rigid enough for a serious plane.
Nor is it sharp enough.


I'm not saying your wrong but there was a lengthy demonstration which
seemed to indicate that the blade was easily sharp enough. I admit that
he may have sharpened it a little more before hand but I don't think so.

These demonstrations are always designed to show the product at its best.
So nothing to do with real life use. ;-)

As for it not being rigid enough it was pretty firmly held in place so
that only the blade portion was exposed. I would be surprised if
strength was an issue.

Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to the
cutting edge as possible. But is many, many times thicker than a Stanley
knife blade.

--
*Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
says...
In article ,
doozer wrote:
A Stanley knife blade simply isn't rigid enough for a serious plane.
Nor is it sharp enough.


I'm not saying your wrong but there was a lengthy demonstration which
seemed to indicate that the blade was easily sharp enough. I admit that
he may have sharpened it a little more before hand but I don't think so.

These demonstrations are always designed to show the product at its best.
So nothing to do with real life use. ;-)

As for it not being rigid enough it was pretty firmly held in place so
that only the blade portion was exposed. I would be surprised if
strength was an issue.

Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to the
cutting edge as possible. But is many, many times thicker than a Stanley
knife blade.


In the back, the very back, of my tool cupboard is a Stanley replaceable
blade rebate plane I bought many years ago. It never worked for me.
Chatter was the main problem, which is of course down to both the
thickness of the blade and the clamping system, frog etc.
--
Paul Mc Cann

Paul Mc Cann wrote:
In article ,
says...

In article ,
doozer wrote:

A Stanley knife blade simply isn't rigid enough for a serious plane.
Nor is it sharp enough.


I'm not saying your wrong but there was a lengthy demonstration which
seemed to indicate that the blade was easily sharp enough. I admit that
he may have sharpened it a little more before hand but I don't think so.

These demonstrations are always designed to show the product at its best.
So nothing to do with real life use. ;-)


As for it not being rigid enough it was pretty firmly held in place so
that only the blade portion was exposed. I would be surprised if
strength was an issue.

Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to the
cutting edge as possible. But is many, many times thicker than a Stanley
knife blade.



In the back, the very back, of my tool cupboard is a Stanley replaceable
blade rebate plane I bought many years ago. It never worked for me.
Chatter was the main problem, which is of course down to both the
thickness of the blade and the clamping system, frog etc.

Ok I'm convinced. I didn't buy one at the show simply because I have
seen other people buy "wonder tools" that turned out to just be rubbish.
I am of the opinion that after several hundred years of refinement the
plane is probably close n as good as it's going to get.

Anyway can someone point me in the direction of some decent planes at
affordable prices ;o) and perhaps tell me what to look for in a good plane?

Thanks.

--

.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`· Shallow Sea Aquatics .¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·
.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯ http://www.shallowsea.com ¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to the
cutting edge as possible.

Perhaps you'd care to expand on that superficially wrong statement?

On Tue, 31 May 2005 09:35:22 +0100, Chris Bacon
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to the
cutting edge as possible.

Perhaps you'd care to expand on that superficially wrong statement?

It's about right, if you consider that "as close to the cutting edge
as possible" doesn't mean as close to the cutting edge as it can go.
The curling or back irons of my planes are all within between 2mm and
5mm of the cutting edge. That seems pretty close to me considering the
comparative chunkiness of standard plane irons.
My Dad bought a "Razor-Plane" once. It took used razor blades. It
didn't take them far though.
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the EGG to email me.

In article ,
Chris Bacon wrote:
Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to
the cutting edge as possible.

Perhaps you'd care to expand on that superficially wrong statement?

Not when you clip the other part of the post.

A decent plane consists of a very rigid body, and a well supported rigid
and sharp blade.

--
*Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.