Question re Stanley 8C Jointer plane

[Vic Baron]

Just picked up one of these at a sale and have a few questions.

It's in relatively good condition but I plan on giving it a thorough tuning. I'm puzzled about the plane iron though - it appears that it has been ground in a slight arc across the cutting edge as opposed to a 90 degree cut. Is this normal for these planes? I've seen some planes with a curved blade before but wondering what effect it will have if I grind straight across.

2nd item - Although it's relatively rust free, the japanning is chipped in quite a few places. Having it re-japanned ( is that a word??) is not a viable option as is trying to do that myself. What might be a good alternative - I was thinking some sort of epoxy paint. Any ideas?

Thanx,

Vic

[John Grossbohlin]

A slight camber on the iron is useful for correcting out of square conditions and it keeps the corners from leaving tracks. By slight we're talking about 1/64" at the ends as compared to the middle.

Personally, for a "user" vs. a decoration I wouldn't bother with fixing the Japanning... but that's me.

John

[Vic Baron]

Thanx John - Actually I agree about the japanning. I'll just clean it up and leave it.

The iron isn't rounded at the corners, it's a smooth arc from side to side. I'll grind it square and round the corners as I usually do. Just wasn't familiar with this plane and wanted to be sure the arc wasn't a design function.

Vic

[J. Clarke]

It's called "camber" and it is a design function on a jointer plane. The idea is that you can adjust an out of square edge by the position of the plane rather than by having to tilt the plane or adjust the iron.

[diggerop]

I've got one of my jack planes set up with a a slight arc. I find it useful for taking off lots of wood in a hurry, while the reduced effective width of cut lowers resistance. Can't imagine ever wanting to do that to a jointer though.

diggerop

[Jim Hall]

I bought and old mid teens Cor. Stanley 607 on ebay and cleaned it up with 1 part citric acid mixed with to parts water by volume. It's a great rust remover. I use it on all the old tools I pick up that have rust on them. Citric acid comes in a powder from the local beer or wine homebrewing store. I scrub with a green pad and let it soak some more. Repeat until rust is gone. I was tempted to re-japan with this stuff

rust hasn't really come back and like John's mine is a user.

[Jim Hall]

10 parts water..

[RicodJour]

for Japan Black.

12 oz amber This is the stumbling block - the price of amber resin must have gone up quite a bit, relatively, in the 80+ years since the book was published. 2 oz asphaltum 's a liquid version, but Henley's is probably referring to the solid. by heat and add 1/2 pint boiled linseed oil and 2 oz rosin. When cooling, add 16 oz of oil of turpentine.

One day I'll make some. Sometimes I'd rather spend the same amount of money (and not put a price on my time) just to do something new that's old.

R

[J. Clarke]

You want it really slight--just enough to be able to adjust the angle of the edge without tilting the plane. The idea isn't to remove stock quickly, the idea is to get a square edge easily.

[Andy Dingley]

So that's not Pontypool japan then.

[John Grossbohlin]

The smooth arc is what you want... that way with a fine setting the corners are inside the body of the plane and don't dig in.

John

[Jim Hall]

Yeah, not the original asphaltum application method. I can't see cooking asphaltum in the kitchen oven.. In the end, scratched both.

So that's not Pontypool japan then.