baok Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I have a few older Stanley planes that I’m reasonably happy with (if I would only tune them up properly). But one of them is a #4 from the modern era and is described on Patrick Leach’s site as “the beginning of the end.” I was wondering if it would be reasonable to re-grind the iron with an 8” radius and use it as a scrub plane? There’s probably nothing to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchesterpa Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I've been thinking about doing something similar but creating a toothed blade. I thought about the scrub route but worried that I couldn't get the throat wide enough and that the blade, even with a cap iron, wouldn't be thick enough to power through the cuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Almost any old bench planes can make good scrubs, a #4 should do fine. The bottom doesn't need to be flat, tolerances are loose, etc... You will need a pretty big mouth opening, a lot bigger than a smooth plane will have. This is easily accomplished with files, and/or a Dremel, but there's no going back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 You can effectively open the mouth on a Stanley plane by adjusting the position of the frog. The one downside of making a scrub plane out of a #4 is that the sole is short enough that keeping the board flat as you hog off material might be an issue. I have a #5 with a blade with an 8" radius on it that I use for hogging material. I never really needed to use a scrub plane since I have that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 You can effectively open the mouth on a Stanley plane by adjusting the position of the frog. The one downside of making a scrub plane out of a #4 is that the sole is short enough that keeping the board flat as you hog off material might be an issue. I have a #5 with a blade with an 8" radius on it that I use for hogging material. I never really needed to use a scrub plane since I have that one. What he said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhl.verona Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 What he said! Exactly. Just started using Miss Rusty (a badly rusted Stanley #5) on a biiiiig piece of Ash. Need to open the mouth a bit and camber the blade more, but it's doing the job nicely. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceWW Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Wilbur took my answer! Guys from Jersey, I tell you what! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 That's just proof of the million monkeys/million typewriters theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byates Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 I think you'll have an easy time of making this work. The dedicated scrub planes don't have a particularly long sole so that shouldn't be an issue. I too use a number 5, I have a Hock blade and chip breaker in it for normal work, and switch to the original blade and chip breaker with a nine inch radius for scrubbing. Since the Hock is so thick and required me to move the frog back when I pop in the more heavily cambered but thinner iron I don't need to do any adjusting. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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