Any Neanderthals here? I've got a question...

[DamnYankee]

Ok Fellas,

I've purchased some hollow 'n rounds (and a few other molding planes) and is a good resource on the use of these relics to recreate mouldings from the 18th/19th century???

I've been scouring the Web, various books, and it's become a lost art. There's lots of Norms, but not alot of Roys.

Can anyone offer any advise/expertise while I give my my two M12Vs and router table a well-deserved rest?

Gracias!

[Ed DeLauter]

Try Mario Rodriguez's: Traditional Woodwork- Adding Authentic Period Details To Any Home Here's a Link:

Cheers, Ed

[Frank McVey]

Hi, DY,

No resources, I'm afraid, but I can give you a couple of pointers.

1. Your plane iron must be razor sharp. Sticking a moulding is quite hard work, and a blunt iron will make it difficult with small simple mouldings and well-nigh impossible with large complex mouldings.

1. You must learn to set your iron correctly, so that you have the correct amount of iron showing. This takes a lot of practice to get right. Too little and it won't bite, too much and the plane will try to dig its way into the wood and it'll jam. I find it easiest to completely withdraw the cutter so that it's a fraction below the sole (ie no possibility of cutting. Tap the wedge gently home and try a cut. Lightly tap the iron to give it a little more bite, then try again. As soon as it starts to bite, check the lateral positioning of the iron - if necessary, tap it sideways to align the quirks etc in the iron with the corresponding feature in the sole. When all is lined up, tap the wedge a little more forcefully to drive it home. Check again. You'll sometimes find that the action of driving the wedge home will have shifted the iron so that more is exposed and you'll have to start again, and make allowance for this the next time round.

2. Start with mild straight-grained softwood. If you can't learn to mould in this, then a more recalcitrant wood will be impossible. Having said that, you should always try to choose the straightest stuff for your mouldings. If the grain does run out slightly, then arrange things so that you're planing with the grain. You don't want to have to sand this fiddly stuff...

1. Do as little moulding as possible - IOW, shift as much of the waste as possible using other techniques - rebate planes, block plane, chamfer planes etc - before using the moulding plane.

2. Use the same technique as you would for a rebate plane, ie the opposite to a normal smoother. Start work at the _far_ end of the workpiece, using short strokes. Gradually lengthen the strokes as the moulding begins to form, working backwards towards yourself.

1. It goes without saying that the workpiece must be utterly secure. It can be difficult to secure small cross-sections, so for very small mouldings, it is best to form them on the edge of, say, a 6" wide board of the correct thickness, then rip off to the required size. In this way you can get quite a few strips of moulding from your board before it eventually becomes too small to hold easily.

2. Start off with the simpler profiles until you gain experience, rounds, hollows, beads etc. The simpler profiles usually involve holding the plane normalish to the wood surface. The more complex mouldings, like the sash ovolo etc entail holding the plane at a tilted angle to the workpiece, which adds a whole new set of problems.

1. Even with the simpler mouldings, like a hollow or a groove, it is difficult to keep the plane in line with the workpiece. Many people get round this by attaching a temporary fence to the workpiece, or even to the plane itself. The former is preferable, since it avoids damage to the plane, which may itself be a collectors' item. Having said that, I have seen many old moulders which have had just this modification carried out.

2. Once you get the hang of it, you can turn out short lengths of simple moulding, eg for c*ck-beading, far more quickly than you could set up a router table to do it. Because it lacks the soulless perfection of the router-cut moulding, it tends to look more "authentic" as well.

1. Do the very best job you can with the plane, because sanding the moulding afterwards gets very old very quickly...

HTH,

Frank

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 23:31:46 -0400, DamnYankee calmly ranted:

"There are" and "a lot".

"Advice" is freely given.

Learn all about planes:

Saws:

old tools: the whole gamut at the Electronic Neanderthal: much prefer hand tools but my body says I need to work more with power and save the hand tool for the finer work.

De nada, amigo. Waitaminutethere...a Yankee spreakin' Spanish?

[DamnYankee]

Thanks for all the pointers...

Here's my modus operandi and please tell me if this is incorrect:

My first cut would be with a fillester - to start the first line down the length of the plank. Then I was going to start using my rounds (I have rounds from 1/4" diameter up to 2-1/2" in diameter); so for the cove-like cuts, I was going to start with my smallest size round and work up after the fillester gashed the wood. For the "humps", I'd do the same except with my rounds. Astragals should work ok for those type of angles???

Am I on the right track or am I all wet?

And thanks for the tips about setting the blade...I'm sure each one of these planes are going to have their own personality, so to speak.

Much appreciated!

DY

Frank McVey wrote:

[DamnYankee]

Thank you - I'll check it out!

DY

Ed DeLauter wrote:

[DamnYankee]

I understand that! Consider that at the turn of the 20th century, the average life expectancy in the U.S. was only 42...so alot of these craftsmen died in their prime and probably were OK with all the old hand tools at their disposal.

Now that today's life expectancy for males is now 82, I'll be revisiting my routahs sooner rather than later!

Thanks again!

DY

[My Old Tools]

Books by Mike Dunbar, Graham Blackburn, and Garrett Hack.

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 22:32:27 -0500, My Old Tools calmly ranted:

Don't forget to include Alex Bealer (Old Ways of Working Wood) and Our Lord Roy Underhill's 5 bibles.