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Hand planes are very versatile. That’s why they literally come in all shapes and sizes. While some woodworker’s like to have one of every type I don’t think that’s the best use of your hard-earned money. There are planes that are so useful you probably should have them and then there are specialized planes you could spend a wad of cash on, or you could improvise and break the rules a bit.
I wanted a scrub plane for some time and they aren’t very easy to find, either used or new. I scoured Ebay and my other usual sources and I was left empty handed, either because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time or my pockets weren’t as deep as they needed to be. Finally, I ran across a beat up Stanley #3C that I bought from a friend who sells me most of my planes. He thought I had lost control over my mental faculties. The $10 price tag was there, I’m sure, to recoup whatever he lost when he bought it. Of course I had $10 burning a hole in my pocket and the poor thing looked so lonely and forlorn.
The bottom was nice and flat and the casting looked in great shape, most of the Japanning still in place. There were no missing parts but the tote was broken, the knob chipped and a corner was broken off the lever cap. Although manufactured in the late 1930’s it was never destined to be a collector’s item. I didn’t buy it knowing it would become a scrub plane either - that came with reflection as I watched it sit on my plane shelf over the next few weeks. Already having a very collectible, highly serviceable #3 in my collection meant that I didn’t need another #3, even thought this one had a corrugated sole. Gradually, however, the two issues nagged at me until they became one idea – build a scrub plane from a #3 bench plane.
The idea is not as crazy as it sounds. Both the #3 and a scrub plane are smaller planes. While the scrub is usually fairly narrow the width of the #3, while not overly large, is wider but not so wide as to impede its performance as a scrub. Besides, a scrub plane has a well-rounded profile to the grind on its cutter so it doesn’t actually cut across the entire width of its sole. No, with the mouth set for coarse shavings and the blade set to take a reasonable cut, the idea seemed to have merit.
At this point I should interject a small piece of information. It has just occurred to me that not all of my dear readers may be familiar with the concept of a scrub plane. A scrub plane is a small to medium sized bench plane with a noticeable camber to its cutter. It is presented at an angle to a piece of rough sawn lumber and used to scrub out a group of semicircular troughs, if you will, the length of the board. The plane is then turned approximately 90° and another set of semicircular marks is created resulting in a kind of crosshatched pattern. I won’t go through the entire process as that would be the subject for another article, but the end result is to knock down all the high spots so that you only need a long bench plane to make the board flat – perfectly flat. I usually use a scrub and a #5 for shorter boards or a scrub and a #7 for longer boards. In effect, planing a board like this is akin to placing it face down on the jointer bed and flattening the face side of the lumber – the first step in milling stock four square. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s proceed.
To make the transformation, I had to disassemble the entire plane and clean everything. I use abrasive impregnated rubber pads to clean the machined surfaces, then I gave everything a good wash in alcohol to remove any residual paint or rust. I scrubbed all the crevices and corners with a toothbrush. After ensuring every bit of gunk had been removed I washed it down with soap and water, drying it thoroughly with compressed air.
To flatten the bottom I used a perfectly flat surface, my table saw top in this case, with a sheet of 220 wet/dry paper taped to it. This plane didn’t need to be lapped for long as the bottom was in really nice shape.
The brass was polished with a toothbrush and some Brasso, and chucking the hardware in my drill press, then holding a fine abrasive block to it while the chuck spun, made the screws and studs all look fresh.
When everything was clean and shiny, a coat of white shellac helped seal the Japanning and make the plane look nearly new. I tried to keep it from the moving parts as the thickness of the shellac layer can interfere with the movement of the working parts.
I flattened the chipped area on the knob and fitted a patch of Honduras mahogany. I decided it would be better to see the patch so that people would admire my ability to do so. The tote had obviously been repaired a few times and there was nothing I could do to save it. I found a leftover hunk of mahogany and bandsawed out a rough handle. Then I used rasps and files, and finally some sandpaper, to shape the new tote to perfection. Some may ask why I didn’t use my available rosewood for the repairs. My answer is simply that I want people to see how nicely the repairs turned out and I also want to be able to tell my scrub apart from my #3 smoother. It would not do to grab either of them in the wrong situation. After the final shaping was complete I French polished both the knob and tote, waxed them, and reinstalled them.
Using some blue machinists layout fluid and an awl, I scribed the camber I was looking for on to the original cutter. I did some research to find out what the proper curvature might be but had little luck. In the end I found a tin can with what I thought was a suitable arc and traced it onto the cutter. At the grinder, I set the tool rest at 90° to the stone and proceeded to joint the cutter. When squaring or altering the profile of a cutter you always grind at right angles. If you were to try and grind the profile and the bevel at the same time, the sheer volume of metal to be removed would ensure that the edge overheated and lost temper. On my cutter you can see the scratches an inch or two back of the edge. They were made as I swung the cutter side to side, trying to keep the grinder marks radiating out and perpendicular to the edge. I honed and polished the cutter freehand as on a scrub plane you have a lot of leeway. Every pass of the plane digs up only a narrow shaving so your sharpening habits need not be so exacting.
The end result was the transformation of an unwanted little bench plane into a workhorse that I’m proud to add to my arsenal. My little #3 scrub plane functions perfectly and looks nice too. It didn’t cost me much money and I had the satisfaction of doing it myself. What more could you ask for? Happy woodworking!
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