Friday, February 14, 2014

Anchor No 3 hand plane, the result

The plane needed more work than I had imagined, not any major problems, but it had enough flaws to ensure that it would not work properly. I suspect the reason for the plane to be in such a good shape is because it has never worked very well and therefore it has never been used much.

The lever cap problem is illustrated by the 2 pictures where it can be seen that during mid closing of the lever, the tension is a lot stronger than when the lever is closed.
During the mid closing position, the distance measured 6.5 mm, and when the lever was closed it measures 5.2 mm
I solved the problem by rounding the corner with a file. So now the mid closing distance is more like the 5.2 mm, I didn't do a second measurement, but it feels right so it is probably OK.

The frog had a little rust all the way down, where the blade is supposed to rest. I took a file and gave the frog a few swipes with it to remove the rust. Much to my surprise, the front of the frog was so poorly machined that the blade wouldn't even touch the end where it should. I filed some more, and ended up with a flat front after some time.

To make the frog fit the sole, I applied some grinding paste and tried to see if that would do the trick. It wasn't quite enough, so I had to remove a few burrs with the file. Then back to paste grinding.

I had found that the frog couldn't be moved far enough forward to make a really tight mouth, and I suspected that the washers for the frog holding screws were the cause. I found out that adding a washer behind the slotted piece of metal also enabled the frog to be able to move as I wanted it too.

The sole needed a little flattening, but nothing serious.

All that is left now is to sharpen the blade and test the plane.

Lever cap showing the mid closing lever problem.

Distance with lever closed.

The finished plane.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Jonas,
    any ideas to what the tote and knob wood is?
    There isn't a lot available on the WWW about anchor planes. About the only thing I've found out about them is that they were made in Sweden.

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    1. Hi Ralph.

      The wood is beech.
      I think the problem with www is that you need to search for: Jernbolaget eskilstuna.
      They were the manufacturers of the anchor line of planes. I think their chisels and saws were just labelled "jernbolaget Eskilstuna", but for some reason the planes got a cool name.
      From what I have read various places (which might not be the truth) the company was finally bought up by Bahco (B.A. Hjorth & Co).
      the company made all sorts of things from scissors to knives and forks, house hold scales and tools etc.
      I have an older model 6C which is of a better initial quality than this one is.
      I read on a forum that the old series of planes were painted black, and the newer ones were painted green. So I suppose it is like I have read about Stanley, that the newer products aren't as good as the old ones. I can say that it is true for those planes at least.
      I actually forgot to write that this one is a 3C, and not just a No3.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  2. It looks nearly new! That was very "cool woodworker"! You get bonus points for this one Jonas!

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    1. Thanks, Being a cool woodworker is like the knighthood of the craft :-)

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  3. Looks great! I think the brand name is a perfect fit for you! An etch of an anchor or some scrimshaw work on the side could be cool addition for your sea chest.

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    1. It would have to be an anchor, here is a link for the company logo:
      http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hersteller/jernbolaget.phtml

      I sadly suck at making drawings like scrimshaw, so I think I will just leave it as it is. But I can hardly wait to give the blade a good sharpening at home and try to use it.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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