paul womack wrote:
>> And by 1928 Woodworker said that soaking was wrong - so wrong
> that manufacturers would not warrent a tool so treated
>> I certainly recall a reference speaking of a plane being weighed,
> soaked in oil, weighed again, and the weight of the taken-up oil being
> charged by the shop that owned the barrel of oil, but I can't remember
> which reference :-(

My memory is failing me. The reference was Woodworker 1930, not 1928,
and included the notion of dipping and weighing.

Herewith:

Forty years ago it was the general practice to take a new beechwood
plane to the chandler's or oil stores to have it soaked in raw linseed
oil. The oilman generally weighed the plane minus the blades and then
proceeded to tie a piece of strong twine to it, after which he threw it
bodily into the drum of linseed oil. In a week or ten days the owner,
usually an apprentice, would call and the oilman would withdraw the
plane from the drum by hauling in the twine. After the plane was drained
the oilman again weighed it and charged the owner for the oil absorbed
plus his labour. The plane was left for a few days to allow for
oxidation of the oil, after which the blade, etc. was adjusted and the
plane put into action. Another method was to putty up the mouth of the
plane and then to pour raw linseed oil into the escapement, after which
the plane as allowed to soak up the oil, which was, if necessary,
replenished once or twice.

Nowadays the plane makers decry such treatment, and at least one firm
issues a danger label printed in red which distinctly states that if the
plane be soaked in oil their warranty ceases. The accepted treatment at
the moment is to wipe the plane over thoroughly with a freely charged
linseed oil rag every day for from seven to ten day's, after which the
plane is fadded-in with french polish. One is apt to refer to work done
in the "good old days" so why this alteration in treatment?

First of all let us examine the end of a plane and we shall see that,
if a careful selection of timber has been made. the annual rings and
the medullary rays wll run approximately as shown at Fig 1. In other
words, the blocks from which the plane is made has been quarter sawn.
If cut as at Fig. I the sole stands up to the wear better and the
tendency for shrink is minimised because it is more or less in the
direction of the arrow. To illustrate this this more forcibly look at
Fig. 2, where the effect of circumferential shrinkave is shown, and it
will be obvious that, if the plane block were cut like this, the side
of the plane and its sole would soon cease to be at right angles and
this shape would be practically useless when used in conjunction with
the shooting board. Soaking the plane in oil has a tendency to swell
the wood and cause undue distortion, whereas if the plane is gradually
oiled the pores are filled gradually as the oxidation of the oil takes
place. The appli- cation of a little french polish as a finishing
process further seals the pores and makes for cleanliness. Swelling the
wood with oil also causes the frog (or the part on which the blade
beds) to become twisted, and this produces "chattering" and imperfect
cutting when the plane is in use.

Another cause of chattering i(s a faulty blade. Most planes are fitted
with a tapered blade, as at Fig 3, consisting of a small piece of steel
which is forged on to a wrought iron blade, The idea being that it is
easier to grind ha1f-and-half steel and iron than to grind a solid steel
blade. Many of these irons are left rough forged at the back and
consequently they do not bed accu- rately on to the frog of the plane.
Furthermore, as this type of tapered blade is ground away to, say, the
line A it increases the opening at the mouth of the plane. This, of
course, is obvious owing to its tapered length. A much better type of
blade is the gauged iron depicted at Fig 4. in this case the iron is
parallel in thickness and the back of the blade is ground and polished
perfectly flat and out of winding. All American pattern iron planes have
this gauged type of iron to ensure that they bed evenly on the frog and
to prevent any increase in the opening of the mouth as the blade is worn
shorter in length. This method is of course, theoretically correct.
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