Richard Wilson
yorkshireman Galoot in Northumbria




Paul is shrinking…. 

Well, his planes are.  

There is a discussion back in the archive about plane movement, and the
potential resulting blow out as a plane shrinks around the blade and the plane
side eventually has to split because it has no other choice.
As others have already said, take the blade and grind off a sixteenth of an
inch, or half that from each side.  Go to a reasonably fine abrasive to get a
good finish, and take off the arris to preserve your fingers, then I suggest you
take a hammer, and judiciously give the edge a hundred years worth of dings, and
maybe something a touch heavier where a user would have adjusted its slew.  You
could also leave the fresh metal out in the rain for a week (having made sure to
protect the faces). So that a bit of rust develops which you clean off only so
much as to leave the surface coloured with that blackened patina that shows on
old cleaned tools.

Pop it back in the plane and it will look and feel and behave as if it was made
that way.


That’s what I’d do.  Looks as if you did nothing.  

Richard Wilson
Yorkshireman galoot, in Northumbria 



> On 19 Sep 2023, at 20:00, Paul Winters  wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I have three Ohio Tool Co wooden planes—a fore/jack, a 22”, and a 28”. The
irons and wedges of the two smaller ones won’t fit in the plane bodies after
acclimating to the basement for the last year. I am worried about a similar fate
for the longest plane, which is new to me.
> 
> Most of the internet seems to think I should grind down the width of plane
irons to deal with the shrinkage (?) in the bodies. A few people suggest filing
the bodies. Or would the problem resolve itself with more or less humidity?
> 
> Looking for input on how to deal with this issue. 
> Thx!
> 
> 



-- 
Yorkshireman Galoot
in the most northerly county, farther north even than Yorkshire
IT #300