The ground bevel seemed less unrefined than it should and looked as though it had never been sharpened but of course it had because the plane was quite well used. By the time I had achieved the full-width cut and shape, the shaped wood looked quite rugged.
ALL THAT NICKELODEON VETERAN TURNS 40 FULL
Opening up my restoration and examination began with using the plane to create a fully formed moulding following full depth from the plane. It’s also worth remembering that what started out as a 6mm wide cut, soon becomes 35mm wide, and the planed profile might well take off an additional 12mm and more when the shaving parallels the actual length of the cutting edge, were both to be laid out flat and straight. This is heartening to any user, stroke on stroke, and seeing the flats become corners, coves and beads by your own efforts, energies, muscles and skills. They at first appear to take off only the barest amount, but within a few strokes, the mould steadily deepens and soon changes from this minimal amount until the full shape is finally formed along its length. Remember that all planing with moulding planes start out with easy passes along the length of the wood’s fibres. I like that such a reflection will record his history in some degree, that had no paper certification or qualification, even though he and they remain anonymous to some degree, don’t you`? This carefulness shows and reflects the life and livelihood of the man that made for a living and one that loved his craft too. The best planes age with the user using them and do so by the care and consideration they received. Like wine, some pieces will have improved through the decades without actually doing very much at all. The essence of ammonia will turn many woods dark and especially those woods with high levels of tannic acid within their fibres. Some might sit amongst its like for a year or more without use, ageing is a natural process that takes place simply by exposure to the atmosphere, daylight and any chemicals surrounding the workplace. Many moulding planes lived a long life of greater or lesser use. There are softnesses to old planes that reflect the owners care in ownership and use.
Within the main working of the plane lies the evidences I need that cannot be faked and not the least of these is the patination resulting from a 250-year existence. My Madox common ogee plane (left) shows amazing regularity to an image on the inside cover of Bill Goodman’s book on British Planemakers from the 1700s Had it not been in pretty good shape, I would have had to reshape it with files, diamond abrasives, and such. This matters very little in terms of functionality but when it comes to time and value it can make a huge difference. Why did I want a faithfully shaped cutting iron to follow the sole shape? I naturally wanted to restore the cutting bevel and sometimes an overzealous restorer can cause serious and even irreversible damage necessitating major remedial work or replacing the cutting iron altogether. But the good news is, rough as the bevel is, the cutting iron still gave me near-perfect shape and followed the sole contours perfectly with no adverse dips to deal with from grinding wheels and angle grinders - and, yes, this happens. It came with a rough cutting edge and bevel to the iron and I am not altogether sure why it was in such a condition but it is 250 years old, perhaps I should cut some slack here. I’m looking for other telltale signs like wormholes, powdered wood, staining to mask flaws, remakes and the like. Things the seller might not know of or have experience of were the condition of the cutting iron bevel, nails into the sole leaving either small rust stainage, holes or broken off nails left in the sole. There was some evidence of changes made but all in all the seller gave good pictures and enabled me to look for flaws I might not like. Overall, the condition of the plane was excellent, with no staining, evidence of mistreatment, watermarking, etc. My Madox moulding plane came from the eBay seller well packed, padded and wrapped with secondhand but good quality materials.