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!

Super common problem
   Just take 1/32 off the edge of the iron and chipbreaker.
Inspect the wedge while you're at it.
   Do this without a second thought. It only takes a few minutes and 
there is no bonus at all in a tight iron ;)
  yours scott


-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html

Hi Paul;

It sounds like your basement is fairly damp. If it's not a problem otherwise--
the humidity---and you're not going to 'fix' it, edge your irons. You can narrow
them pretty quickly on 36 grit garnet on a stiff substrate.
  
Garnet grinds fast, of course, but *The  Very Coarse Garnet Advantage* is that
it breaks down quickly into smaller grits and hides its own tracks---
particularly on steel---but also on wood.   In fact, when establishing new
bevels with a rolling guide like the Millers Falls #240, by the time a tool's
bevel is ground, it'll be polished and ready to hone.
  
Others may disagree, and will recommend widening the plane's throat. That'll
work, too.

       I hope this helps;   gam in OlyWA/USA



"If you were Einstein's father, we wouldn't have the bomb." Peggy Hill 

    On Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 12:00:13 PM PDT, 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!

Can’t argue with taking a bit off the edges of the iron and chip breaker, but
with one heads up. If the iron is an Ohio Tool Thistle Brand, the steel is
harder than granite and will take a lot longer than you think to remove even
1/32”. DAMHIK.

Stephen 
Almost ready to put an estate sale find Ohio Tool Company No. 34 Transitional
into service. Just have to quit procrastinating sharpening the Thistle Brand
blade.

Yeah Stephen...

...if you have any files around that you want to ruin, the edges of a tapered,
laminated blade like the "Thistle" will do the job very quickly. Don't ask me
how I know....
  
          best; gam in OlyWA


How horrible it is to have so many people killed!---And what a blessing one
cares for none of them! 
Jane Austen 

    On Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 01:34:38 PM PDT, Stephen Rosenthal
 wrote:
 
 Can’t argue with taking a bit off the edges of the iron and chip breaker, but
with one heads up. If the iron is an Ohio Tool Thistle Brand, the steel is
harder than granite and will take a lot longer than you think to remove even
1/32”. DAMHIK.

Stephen 
Almost ready to put an estate sale find Ohio Tool Company No. 34 Transitional
into service. Just have to quit procrastinating sharpening the Thistle Brand
blade.
> On Sep 19, 2023, at 1:09 PM, gary allan may via groups.io
 wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Paul;
> 
> It sounds like your basement is fairly damp. If it's not a problem otherwise--
the humidity---and you're not going to 'fix' it, edge your irons. You can narrow
them pretty quickly on 36 grit garnet on a stiff substrate.
>  
> Garnet grinds fast, of course, but *The  Very Coarse Garnet Advantage* is that
it breaks down quickly into smaller grits and hides its own tracks---
particularly on steel---but also on wood.  In fact, when establishing new bevels
with a rolling guide like the Millers Falls #240, by the time a tool's bevel is
ground, it'll be polished and ready to hone.
>  
> Others may disagree, and will recommend widening the plane's throat. That'll
work, too.
> 
>        I hope this helps;  gam in OlyWA/USA
> 
> 
> 
> "If you were Einstein's father, we wouldn't have the bomb." Peggy Hill 
> 
>    On Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 12:00:13 PM PDT, 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!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>

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

Thoughts from here

1 - dry out your basement
2 - move
3 - better to shrink the iron / wedge than the plane walls due to fear of a
blowout next year when it's even wetter in your basement.


Kirk in Half Moon Bay, CA, where it's always foggy and misty.

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 10:25 AM 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.
>
>


-- 
Kirk Eppler in Half Moon Bay, CA 

I would expect dryer air would cause the body of the plane to shrink, so 
the iron would be more likely to bind in the sides of the escapement.

Am I wrong about that?

Cheers

--

Peter Marquis-Kyle conservation architect
away from the office
mobile 0417 881 477

If I’m understanding correctly from some other emails, people are saying the
cheek thickness is increasing due to humidity.

While increased cheek at the escapement thickness could lead to a binding iron,
if the overall piece is experiencing an increase in humidity than the overall
width is going to be growing as well.

Is it possible that the entire body is actually shrinking which would lead to a
binding iron.

The solution remains the same regardless. grinding the iron.

It is my understanding that very old planes are always shrunken in comparison to
their younger selves even when kept at the same humidity.

This (age) is the reason for so many blown cheeks and misaligned profiles,
though of course a move from a higher RH climate to a lower one can exacerbate
the process.

Matthew Groves
Springfield, MO

Well said, Matthew. I believe that's correct. As the plane dries out, it 
shrinks a bit across the grain, tending to narrow the escapement and 
proportionately thinning the cheeks. This can be particularly noticeable 
in planes moving from the UK or Eastern states to drier Western zones.

fwiw
Don

On 2023-09-20 6:08 p.m., Matthew Groves wrote:
> \ufeffIf I\u2019m understanding correctly from some other emails, people are
saying the cheek thickness is increasing due to humidity.
>
> While increased cheek at the escapement thickness could lead to a binding
iron, if the overall piece is experiencing an increase in humidity than the
overall width is going to be growing as well.
>
> Is it possible that the entire body is actually shrinking which would lead to
a binding iron.
>
> The solution remains the same regardless. grinding the iron.
>
> It is my understanding that very old planes are always shrunken in comparison
to their younger selves even when kept at the same humidity.
>
> This (age) is the reason for so many blown cheeks and misaligned profiles,
though of course a move from a higher RH climate to a lower one can exacerbate
the process.
>
> Matthew Groves
> Springfield, MO
>
>
> 
>
>

-- 

"There are people you knew in high school who remain bosom buddies for 
life. Everyone you meet after that cannot be trusted." -Alex Kerr

\u201cTo argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, 
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like 
administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist 
by scripture.\u201d \u2015 Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

> On Sep 20, 2023, at 17:08 , Matthew Groves  wrote:
> 
> This (age) is the reason for so many blown cheeks and misaligned profiles,
though of course a move from a higher RH climate to a lower one can exacerbate
the process.


Yep, I've noticed shrinkage in chisel handles and plane infills since moving
across the state to a low RH climate several years ago, as well as loose plane
totes and saw handles. I haven't observed any binding of irons, but am now
thinking I should probably check over the user stash a bit more carefully.

On a related note, my recollection is that I used quartersawn blanks with the
rings running across the body to make hollows and rounds, in order to minimize
profile (width) changes with humidity.

Adam
Benton City, WA

gary allan may wrote:
> ...if you have any files around that you want to ruin
Haahahhaah
   No, taking 1/64 off the full length of a blade on both sides..........
wants that big heavy 8" hand cranked grinder you have in the corner lol
In fact, thick tapered blades from old woodies always want a grinder.
That steel was just as hard as they could make it. And thick as they 
are, making an adequate bevel requires removing steel.
  Once you do have a new to the back, beautiful deep hollow grind, they 
perform superbly, but it takes some getting there.

   Its kind of funny really. The early blades were hard as a whores 
heart. People got tired of that and formulated vanadium tool steel that 
would take and hold a killer edge easy, but then be easy to resharpen.

   Somehow over the generations people totally forgot what everyone had 
learned once, and are back to hustling the brick hard steel again. In 
plane blades anyway.

As for me, I still want a minty Sweetheart please
yours scott

-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html

Matthew Groves wrote: 

"Is it possible that the entire body is actually shrinking which would
lead to a binding iron." 

Spot on!  It's exactly that the whole piece of wood, the body, is
shrinking.

"The solution remains the same regardless. grinding the iron." 

Nope.  You can carefully open the opening as well.  It's usually only a
bit too narrow and removing 1/32 from each side should do the trick,
without substantially weakening the cheeks.  It is also possible to plug
the mouth with putty and pour in a 50/50 solution of linseed oil and
turpentine which will swell the wood back to its original dimensions. 

Mike in Woodland

Some days it does feel like I’m shrinking right along with the planes!

Thanks to everyone for the quick input. Assuming the irons are not too
tough, I should be back up and running soon.


Paul

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 2:34 AM Old Yorkshireman <
oldyorkshireman@g...> wrote:

This shrinkage of the wood body is very common with Japanese planes (Kanna).  
The only method used on kanna is to pare away the "gutters" on each side of the
blade.  
NEVER have I seen or heard of a blade ground narrower.  
Two reasons come to mind: heat of grinding would remove the temper, soften the
blade; blades typically outlast the wooden body by a factor of 3 to 4.  Why not
modify the least valuable part of the assembly.  A new plane is typically $300+,
and a replacement body is on the order of $50.
It seems I strongly disagree with the wisdom of the porch on this one.





Yahoo Mail: Seamless Account Control

> Two reasons come to mind: heat of grinding would remove the temper, soften the
blade; blades typically outlast the wooden body by a factor of 3 to 4.  Why not
modify the least valuable part of the assembly.  A new plane is typically $300+,
and a replacement body is on the order of $50.
> It seems I strongly disagree with the wisdom of the porch on this one.

We thrive on disagreements, but I think we were choosing some of the easier
options over the more difficult.

One could also just make a whole new plane body, but that’s quite difficult, and
so is the pairing of the escapement sides for some people.

Grinding the side of a blade is easy to do without ruining the temper and it’s a
much more accessible route for people who don’t want to tackle the cheek
thickness.

Your solution is very solid.

Matthew Groves
Springfield, MO

Grinding tool steel is a skill. Its not hard but you do need to practice 
up to gain the skill.
I am not sure why so many are afraid of it though.
Its not -that- hard and you only really have to learn once.
   We all learned (well ok many of us) when we were 13 years old in 
beginning shop class.

Meanwhile, I have lately fallen in love with blunt chisels. So 
controllable!!
   Paring the cheeks with a blunt chisel will be pretty easy if a guy 
wants to.

   I'd still grind the blade though. Old blades trade around 5 bucks 
apiece.
If I had to pay 300 for a blade I would rebel and make my own. haahahaha
Just how special did you think you were?? lol
       yours scott


-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html

Hey Scott

I'm not a complete tyro, but neither am i particularly skilled at the 
grinder. Probably just need more practice.

What would be your advice to someone wanting to develop the skill? What 
are the most important factors?

Don



On 2023-09-22 11:28 a.m., scottg wrote:
> Grinding tool steel is a skill. Its not hard but you do need to 
> practice up to gain the skill.
> I am not sure why so many are afraid of it though.
> Its not -that- hard and you only really have to learn once.
> � We all learned (well ok many of us) when we were 13 years old in 
> beginning shop class.
>
> Meanwhile, I have lately fallen in love with blunt chisels. So 
> controllable!!
> � Paring the cheeks with a blunt chisel will be pretty easy if a guy 
> wants to.
>
> � I'd still grind the blade though. Old blades trade around 5 bucks 
> apiece.
> If I had to pay 300 for a blade I would rebel and make my own. haahahaha
> Just how special did you think you were?? lol
> ����� yours scott
>
>

-- 

"There are people you knew in high school who remain bosom buddies for 
life. Everyone you meet after that cannot be trusted." -Alex Kerr

\u201cTo argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, 
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like 
administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist 
by scripture.\u201d \u2015 Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

Its pretty simple really.
  Pick a 1/2 decent grinder on Craigslist,
You can roughly tell the quality of a grinder by the distance between 
the wheels, or the weight of a hand crank. I have a hand crank grinder 
that can't weight a pound all in!
  I don't even know what it was made for except being a miniature
Good hand crank grinders weight at least 10 pounds with at least a 6" 
wheel, but 8" is even better. ;)

Stand at said grinder with a piece of scrap steel and a dip cup of 
water, and grind. (wear your face shield!)
  I like a coarse wheel, grinds fast and cool. You will only get 
yourself into trouble with a fine wheel until you have gained very high 
skill.
Coarse doesn't matter you are going to hone the blade anyway.

Do it barehand so there is no doubt when you are going too hard between 
dips.
   Make a bevel on said scrap. Dip
Check what you did and "find the pocket" again (your new bevel)
and drift it fore or aft depending.
  Its all freehand so you control where the grinding is happening.

    With each new couple of passes the pocket will be easier to find.
Keep passing and dipping until you get what you need.
Its very simple really.

   You want medium pressure and keep it moving. Make small adjustments 
as you go to keep the edge square. I mostly grind edge tools pretty 
straight across but I introduce my microcambers when honing.

These were all ground freehand from bar steel. Deep full bevels spine to 
edge. I did not burn them.
Its two old lawn mower blades, a carbon steel antique planer blade, and 
I forget the 4th hahaahah

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/knifepix/big4.jpg
yours scott

   --
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html

Thanks Scott. Nice work there. I'll just have to practice more. I 
suppose I'm too impatient...

Don

On 2023-09-22 12:43 p.m., scottg wrote:
> Its pretty simple really.
> �Pick a 1/2 decent grinder on Craigslist,
> You can roughly tell the quality of a grinder by the distance between 
> the wheels, or the weight of a hand crank. I have a hand crank grinder 
> that can't weight a pound all in!
> �I don't even know what it was made for except being a miniature
> Good hand crank grinders weight at least 10 pounds with at least a 6" 
> wheel, but 8" is even better. ;)
>
> Stand at said grinder with a piece of scrap steel and a dip cup of 
> water, and grind. (wear your face shield!)
> �I like a coarse wheel, grinds fast and cool. You will only get 
> yourself into trouble with a fine wheel until you have gained very 
> high skill.
> Coarse doesn't matter you are going to hone the blade anyway.
>
> Do it barehand so there is no doubt when you are going too hard 
> between dips.
> � Make a bevel on said scrap. Dip
> Check what you did and "find the pocket" again (your new bevel)
> and drift it fore or aft depending.
> �Its all freehand so you control where the grinding is happening.
>
> �� With each new couple of passes the pocket will be easier to find.
> Keep passing and dipping until you get what you need.
> Its very simple really.
>
> � You want medium pressure and keep it moving. Make small adjustments 
> as you go to keep the edge square. I mostly grind edge tools pretty 
> straight across but I introduce my microcambers when honing.
>
> These were all ground freehand from bar steel. Deep full bevels spine 
> to edge. I did not burn them.
> Its two old lawn mower blades, a carbon steel antique planer blade, 
> and I forget the 4th hahaahah
>
> http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/knifepix/big4.jpg
> yours scott
>
> � --
> *******************************
> �� Scott Grandstaff
> �� Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca� 96039
> �� scottg@s...
> �� http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
> �� http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html
>
>
>
> 
>
>

-- 

"There are people you knew in high school who remain bosom buddies for 
life. Everyone you meet after that cannot be trusted." -Alex Kerr

\u201cTo argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, 
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like 
administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist 
by scripture.\u201d \u2015 Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

On 9/22/2023 2:43 PM, scottg wrote:
> Its pretty simple really.

I have done this a couple o 20 times over the years.  I always start
with a file, if the iron isn't sticking too bad.  If that doesn't work
(sometimes that steel is pretty hard), then it's over to the grinder. 
Light passes on both sides with some file work to tone down the scuff
marks to get the iron down to where it fits properly.  Then I'll do the
cap iron to match.  Not a lot of fun, but.....

I rarely will mess with the insides of the plane body, other than to
drag a file through there to even things out a little.  Those areas are
the weakest spot on the plane, so you don't want to get to too carried away.

Tony (where the weekend looks to be wet, wet, and more wet..sigh)

--
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/tonyseomusic
Old River Hard Goods
http://oldetoolshop.com/

yeah, I just ground an infill iron down, as the previous iron was too
narrow, all I could buy was wider, I used a 60 grit sanding belt, then
squared it up.  Wasn't bad at all, would have been easier if I'd started
with a stationary belt sander with a way to hold it square easier.

Maybe on a Japanese plane it's harder, but nice coarse blue belts at 50
grit,  or normal belts around there do it quick without heating, (when
narrowing a blade, not sharpening.)

I am trying to redo a thrashed bevel on an older Auburn Thistle brand, and
it is a bear.  Need to refresh the paper on my disk.

Kirk in Half Moon Bay, CA sweating even tho its cool here, the humidity is
99%

On Fri, Sep 22, 2023 at 8:55 AM Matthew Groves 
wrote:

>
> > Two reasons come to mind: heat of grinding would remove the temper,
> soften the blade; blades typically outlast the wooden body by a factor of 3
> to 4.  Why not modify the least valuable part of the assembly.  A new plane
> is typically $300+, and a replacement body is on the order of $50.
> > It seems I strongly disagree with the wisdom of the porch on this one.
>
> We thrive on disagreements, but I think we were choosing some of the
> easier options over the more difficult.
>
> One could also just make a whole new plane body, but that’s quite
> difficult, and so is the pairing of the escapement sides for some people.
>
> Grinding the side of a blade is easy to do without ruining the temper and
> it’s a much more accessible route for people who don’t want to tackle the
> cheek thickness.
>
> Your solution is very solid.
>
>
>


-- 
Kirk Eppler in Half Moon Bay, CA 

Doesn't wet wood swell?  So as the humidity goes up the plane walls swell?
I hear more complaints from people who move into one of these things they
call basements, which is a very foreign term in my corner of the world,
almost sounds like a subterranean garage.  But frequently much higher
humidity than an above ground wood shop or garage.

Kirk in Half Moon Bay, CA, where humidity was 99% on Friday, 95% yesterday,
and back to 99% today.  The joy of living near the ocean.

On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 9:34 AM Peter Marquis-Kyle <
peter@m...> wrote:

> I would expect dryer air would cause the body of the plane to shrink, so
> the iron would be more likely to bind in the sides of the escapement.
>
> Am I wrong about that?
>
>
>


-- 
Kirk Eppler in Half Moon Bay, CA 

Wet wood swells.

But these cheeks aren’t just floating. They’re connected to each other with a
large hunk of wood on both ends.

Yes, the cheeks well.

But also, the wood connecting them swells as well, pushing those cheeks further
apart, not closer together.

Consider the following:
If you use a uniformly expanding material, let’s say metal,

and you have a washer shaep (circled of material with a hole cut out of the
middle.

When temperatures rise, the hole in the washer is going to get larger because of
expansion, not smaller because of wall expansion.

It’s that kind of thing.

Matthew Groves
Springfield, MO

Kirk
The whole body of the plane swells across its width as humidity rises, 
including the largest part supporting the iron. The iron doesn't swell 
though, so it becomes looser in the gap between the walls.

fwiw
Don

On 2023-09-25 10:41 a.m., Kirk Eppler via groups.io wrote:
> Doesn't wet wood swell?  So as the humidity goes up the plane walls swell?
> I hear more complaints from people who move into one of these things they
> call basements, which is a very foreign term in my corner of the world,
> almost sounds like a subterranean garage.  But frequently much higher
> humidity than an above ground wood shop or garage.
>
> Kirk in Half Moon Bay, CA, where humidity was 99% on Friday, 95% yesterday,
> and back to 99% today.  The joy of living near the ocean.
>
> On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 9:34\u202fAM Peter Marquis-Kyle <
> peter@m...> wrote:
>
>> I would expect dryer air would cause the body of the plane to shrink, so
>> the iron would be more likely to bind in the sides of the escapement.
>>
>> Am I wrong about that?
>>
>>
>>
>

-- 

"There are people you knew in high school who remain bosom buddies for 
life. Everyone you meet after that cannot be trusted." -Alex Kerr

\u201cTo argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, 
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like 
administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist 
by scripture.\u201d \u2015 Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

Matthew reminds us…. 


> On 25 Sep 2023, at 20:01, Matthew Groves  wrote:
> 
> Wet wood swells.
> 
> But these cheeks aren’t just floating. They’re connected to each other with a
large hunk of wood on both ends.
> 
> Yes, the cheeks well.
> 
> But also, the wood connecting them swells as well, pushing those cheeks
further apart, not closer together.
> 


However,  whilst true, this does not account for the unequal change in size over
time. Wood with a rapid moisture change needs a period of days or weeks to
restabilise  a cross section of any size.

Simply - it takes a long time for moisture to move naturally in or out of solid
timber - a yardstick is a year an inch for timber drying, as we all know.

A plane body is indeed, two lumps connected by thin strips.  The thin strips,
being wet on both sides, achieve full moisture change much more quickly than the
lumps at each end.  Say the thin bits are a ¼ inch, then the lumps will only be
moist for 1/8 inch on each side when the cheek sides are fully moist (and
expanded).
The now centres of the fattened cheeks are held at the same distance apart until
the moisture has moved further into the interior of the ends.  Eventually, of
course, they will end up farther apart than they started.   Trimming them too
soon will give you a slacker fit than originally if the moisture content
reverts.
Very unlikely to affect a plane in terms of cracking, especially if it has been
oil filled, as on an old one.  Oil filling the body would dramatically alter all
this theory of course.


I still have no problem in taking ten minutes to shave a blade down in width so
I can get to work.

My own view is that shrinkage over time is more likely to cause a tight blade,
as the entire body changes size.  I have a Clark & Williams smoother that I
offer as evidence, having suffered a cheek failure after a couple of years.
I’ll also state that Larry Williams replaced the body after hearing of the
issue, which I put down as my own fault, for leaving the plane set up.


Richard Wilson
yorkshireman Galoot in Northumbria




> Consider the following:
> If you use a uniformly expanding material, let’s say metal,
> 
> and you have a washer shaep (circled of material with a hole cut out of the
middle.
> 
> When temperatures rise, the hole in the washer is going to get larger because
of expansion, not smaller because of wall expansion.
> 
> It’s that kind of thing.
> 
> Matthew Groves
> Springfield, MO
> 
>> On Sep 25, 2023, at 11:41 AM, Kirk Eppler via groups.io
 wrote:
>> 
>> Doesn't wet wood swell?  So as the humidity goes up the plane walls swell?
>> I hear more complaints from people who move into one of these things they
>> call basements, which is a very foreign term in my corner of the world,
>> almost sounds like a subterranean garage.  But frequently much higher
>> humidity than an above ground wood shop or garage.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 



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