Bill Stephens writes:

> I need to make some base board and a mantle to restore the "altered"
> rooms.  I'll be looking for a bunch of planes to reproduce this stuff.

[snip]

First off, welcome to the Support Group From Hell, Bill!  You won't find a
better source for old tool and technique information anywhere.

Second off (and everyone who's been here more than a few months knows what's
coming next), I'd suggest that making the molding with hollows and rounds
may be a better idea than trying to use a complex molding plane for short
runs like this.  If you've never seen the technique, it's pretty simple--
you lay out the low points with a plow or V-groover, use rounds to get the
basic shape, and finish up with the hollows to smooth the convex curves.
It's harder to explain than to do. ;-)

H&Rs are very common (thus cheap), and much easier to tune and use than the
complex molders.  With a set of H&Rs you can produce most any molding, and
it's surprisingly easy.  I made hundreds of feet of molding for my old
house, from cornices to baseboards and everything in between, using only my
H&Rs.  At one point I had a slew of complex molding planes, but now I am
down to only a handful.  When I build my snipe bills this weekend, I may get
rid of the last few...

The particular profile you showed (quirked ogee and bevel) can be made with
only a handful of planes: a single pair of H&R for the cyma, a smaller round
for behind the bevel, and perhaps a snipe bill (depending on how deep the
quirk is).

Another option is to make the short trip west to Marion, Indiana, and take
one of Tod Herrli's plane making classes.  After a 2-day basic plane making
class, you would be able to make your own hollows and rounds (or complex
molding planes for that matter).  Anatol sells an outstanding videotape of
Tod's planemaking instructions for a very reasonable price if you'd like to
see what's involved.

> I've also been considering a #55 since I have a bunch of profiles to
> create.

There are a few fans of the #55 around here, but not many.  It has a
reputation as being a very finicky plane to use, and the lack of a mouth
means that it requires *very* straight grain to produce good results.  Plus,
for the typical price one of these goes for you can get one of Tony
Murland's harlequin H&R sets and still have enough left over for a pair of
snipe bills...

ralph (in Chicago now, but at Tod's this weekend!  Woohoo!)