• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

COMPASS PLANES

Assuming you fancy having one to use, I'd follow Patrick Leach's advice and go for the later, more robust model on the left.


Do bear in mind that I resisted buying one for a long time, but bought one like that. And so far, I've used it on as many as TWO real life projects:)

Of course, if you want to research the history of these fascinating devices, then you could make a start in a small way by getting all three... ;)

PS - your screenshot says the listing is a year old - I'd be wary of that - but if it's a local dealer that has them, I assume you'll be able to inspect them before you buy.
 
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Thanks Andy, I did notice the age of the listing. The dealer is usually closed through the Winter but I'll send a message.
I have bought a few things from him in the past. Also need a small adze!
I will have a read of your attachment.
 
I have a small hand made compass plane, made by Richard Kell, which is set for luthiery. I bought it from an American guy in Cremona on a violin course (making, not playing) in Italy, years ago, and it is a great little tool, though obviously of limited use to most people. I've never tried using a larger compass plane. Richard Kell is still around but I don't think he makes the planes any more.
 
I have an absolutely pristine Record version of the one on the right of Duke's piccy. I bought it years ago and have never, ever used it; the important thing to look out for is the thin, flexible sole. Make sure its not cracked and that the plane has been stored 'flat'

Somebody can buy mine if you're so minded as it's stored in my nice warm tool box in the house - Rob

Edit - Richard Kell makes lovely stuff but I don't think he's doing planes any more. I have a few of his bits n'bobs!
 
Last time I used one was half a Century ago, I can’t say I was overly impressed I’m afraid.
If I remember correctly they only really work on parts that are an arc of a circle. Not very good on elliptical curves? But it was a while ago lol.
 
I've used one occasionally, the type on the far right of your picture.. They are not easy to use, the blade is very thin and it chatters. Also the handle bit, the tote, if you like, is very uncomfortable and gave me a blister on the web of my thumb.
Generally I prefer a spokeshave.
 
I have a record one. I've only used it a couple of times and should probably sell it to be honest. They are an interesting tool, but far from essential.
 
My initial thought was do I really need one of these. Keep thinking a drawknife and spokeshave is the way to go. Which I have a few off each.
 
Last time I needed a compass plane I bought a cheap wooden plane and shaped the sole. In my opinion it worked better than the metal Record compass plane.
 
I have a nice Record one, basically a copy of the design on the left, bought almost unused.

I got it perhaps twelve years ago (can't remember), and I've used it exactly once, for about ten minutes, about six or seven years ago.

One thing is that shearing-cut template followers for the router table produce such an excellent finish (and are easily obtained and some are inexpensive, considering), that these planes really are obsolete, unless you're boatbuilding or doing something similar involving big, curved surfaces. Otherwise, a spokeshave or a scraper?

All the comments about chatter, etc., I found to be true also.
 
I feel obliged, as the owner of one who has apparently used it more than anyone else on here (!) to link back to my long bed-building thread, where I used mine, to plane a nice smooth curve on the head and foot rails, after sawing the curves with a turning saw.

www.thewoodhaven2.co.uk

Ash bed WIP - Finished!

You were definitely right to replace those slats. I’m trying to learn to be more patient in my woodwork but often fail on that score!
www.thewoodhaven2.co.uk www.thewoodhaven2.co.uk

You'll need to scroll down to the last two pictures in that post, and peer through a pile of shavings:)
 
I have a Record compass plane and have used it on a few occasions. Like others have said you can use a spoke shave with good effect in place of one but if you have the money and want one then why not as they will sell again if not used.
 
They work well if properly set-up.
You must set the bed to a curve that is slightly larger than a convex surface,
and conversely slightly smaller than a concave surface.
Most get frustrated when they set the bed to the same curvature as the work at hand...
 
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Fine Woodworking ran a detail piece by a US woodworker on setting up a compass plane some years ago - in that case a Kunz.

The advice was basically very similar to setting up a normal plane - sort the mouth out, carefully flatten the sheet metal base approaching and around the mouth and fit a correctly set up thicker iron and chip breaker...
 
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