New adjusting knobs for Bailey style planes.

[Andy Kev.]

New often means "gimmicky" but this one looks interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8PcEm1_Cw0

Any thoughts?

 

[Dr.Al]

I can see how it might help some people with hand difficulties (arthritis?), but for most people it strikes me as unnecessary: I can adjust the standard knob with one finger pushing into the wheel and turning it with little difficulty, so the star shaped one just seems like a limited benefit Rob Cosman gimmick to me.

 

[AndyT]

I agree with Al. If the adjuster is too stiff to turn, the first thing to do is to make sure that all moving parts are lubricated and free of dust and dirt, then check that the screw holding the lever cap down is not over-tightened.

Of course, using an adjuster that looks like something off an old water tap is not a new idea - The Birmingham Plane Company of Connecticut were doing it in the 1890s:

 

[Lurker]

Just channeling my inner Jacob here,
The current design is donkeys years old and has worked well for thousands of people, but snake oil salesmen are constantly offering up short cuts to skills that require very little time to acquire.

 

[Mike G]

I humbly suggest that if your dexterity and finger strength are so compromised as to not be able to adjust a plane with a normal knob, then hand-tool woodworking is going to be something of a challenge for you.

 

[Woodbloke]

I agree with Al. If the adjuster is too stiff to turn, the first thing to do is to make sure that all moving parts are lubricated and free of dust and dirt, then check that the screw holding the lever cap down is not over-tightened

I agree with Al and Andy; the other thing as mentioned is that the lever cap shouldn't be cranked up so hard that it's too difficult to spin the wheel. This has all the making of another Cosmanesque gizmo...there have been others :eusa-whistle: - Rob

 

[Pete Maddex]

I manage to adjust mine with one finger and only usually need to do it once.

Solution looking for a problem.

Pete

 

[Andy Kev.]

So that’s a resounding “no” then.

In my innocence I had thought that it could be of use.

 

[Woodbloke]

So that’s a resounding “no” then.

In my innocence I had thought that it could be of use.

Yep, especially when you see the price that Classic Hand Tools will probably charge for it! - Rob

 

[Alf]

Of course, using an adjuster that looks like something off an old water tap is not a new idea - The Birmingham Plane Company of Connecticut were doing it in the 1890s:

Well done, Andy - I knew there was at least one, but my brief search yielded it not.

Methinks it's an appealing enough idea to sell a few, and that'll help keep Mr Cosman in maple syrup and that's fine. Of course it's not necessary, but necessity isn't everything.

 

[Doug]

I humbly suggest that if your dexterity and finger strength are so compromised as to not be able to adjust a plane with a normal knob, then hand-tool woodworking is going to be something of a challenge for you.

Whilst I agree perhaps it’s designed for all those Americans who lose their digits at the table saw & so don’t have the full quota to enable them to turn a round knob :eusa-think: :lol: :lol:

 

[AJB Temple]

Nothing new under the sun....

I've got a bit tired of emails from Rob Cosman pushing stuff. He does know how to work wood very well. but his marketing machine is quite pushy now. I would not buy his star thing. The knurled wheels on my planes are easy to use just with finger tips. If you sharpen and lubricate as the planes are used, they don't get stiff at all and only minuscule adjustment is needed in use. It's not a ship's rudder!

 

[MrH]

It's a difficult one. There isn't an issue with the standard set up. I think if anyone is serious about handwork this kind of thing is just ignored.

However, people enjoy infomercials and buying stuff. I'm not sure how many TV sales shows there are now. I seem to recall QVC from a while back.

I'll file this innovation under "I can't believe they invented it"

https://youtu.be/viejY6UZ5Bk

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Cabinetman]

No I wouldn’t buy one,
No I don’t think it’s necessary,
I think it will sell, particularly to the Americans, ( brill comment about missing fingers), so was that Rob Cosman?
I think it’s a good looking shape and probably if it had been cheaper to make than a knurled knob we would all be using them now.
I would quite like to try one, just to see what I thought really.
Ian

 

[thetyreman]

well I can't watch anything by wood by wright or cosman so that's me out, if it sounds like snakeoil it probably is, just use the plane how it comes to you.

 

[Mike G]

well I can't watch anything by wood by wright or cosman so that's me out....

Me too.

 

[Woodbloke]

well I can't watch anything by wood by wright or cosman so that's me out....

Me too.

Include Sellers in that list - Rob

 

[Mike G]

Yeah, but I'm not honestly sure why anyone experienced would want to watch Sellers anyway. He essentially just teaches the basics, over and over. Is it the "I've done this every day for 50 years" line which drives you up the wall? He does have quite a good video on saw sharpening, though......

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A solution looking for a problem.

 

[Woodbloke]

Yeah, but I'm not honestly sure why anyone experienced would want to watch Sellers anyway.

The only Sellers I watch from time to time is Peter, not Paul - Rob

 

[Mike G]

Yeah, but I'm not honestly sure why anyone experienced would want to watch Sellers anyway.

The only Sellers I watch from time to time is Peter, not Paul - Rob

Watching is fine. Robbing one to pay the other.......apparently that doesn't work. :lol:

 

[AndyP]

I found woodworking so much easier before the internet. I had just one book and a lot of confidence. I just got on with it. Now it is all to easy to spend hours looking and watching to see how things should be done. Of course I have learnt a lot and this place and it’s predecessors are a goldmine of information, inspiration, ideas and friendships.

Everything I built before I had a computer is still in use so I did not get too much wrong.

 

[rxh]

Well, I couldn’t resist making my own version to try out the idea
As I don’t have a left-handed tap of the right size, I made it to clamp onto the existing knob. It does make adjustment very easy but I would say that it is not a significant improvement on the existing wheel (as predicted in some of the comments above). Anyway, it was in interesting exercise. I would recommend anyone considering buying the commercial version to try one before buying.

 

[Mike G]

Did that leave room for your fingers gripping the handle?

 

[AndyT]

Brilliant!
Now I know for certain that I don't need to buy one.

 

[Lons]

Well done for making it but it just looks weird and out of place, not for me.

 

[rxh]

Did that leave room for your fingers gripping the handle?

I have tried it on a No.4 and a No.5. With the No.5 there is ample room. With the No.4 it is OK with a three finger grip and the index finger pointing forward.

 

[rxh]

Well done for making it but it just looks weird and out of place, not for me.

Yes, I don't think it is likely to catch on

 

[fiveeyes]

Luddites

 

[Doug]

Luddites

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Reinventing the wheel.

 

[Andy Kev.]

Did that leave room for your fingers gripping the handle?

I have tried it on a No.4 and a No.5. With the No.5 there is ample room. With the No.4 it is OK with a three finger grip and the index finger pointing forward.

Despite being the bloke who flagged this up, I was/am entirely agnostic on whether it is necessary or not.

From your experiment, could one conclude that if a manufacturer introduced it as standard on new planes (with no attendant price increase) that it would represent:

a. A slightly worse set up.

b. A slight improvement.

c. It would be neither here nor there.

I ask this as someone who has no difficulty at all in using conventional adjustment knobs but who thinks from the look of it that it could perhaps qualify for verdict b.

 

[rxh]

Did that leave room for your fingers gripping the handle?

I have tried it on a No.4 and a No.5. With the No.5 there is ample room. With the No.4 it is OK with a three finger grip and the index finger pointing forward.

Despite being the bloke who flagged this up, I was/am entirely agnostic on whether it is necessary or not.

From your experiment, could one conclude that if a manufacturer introduced it as standard on new planes (with no attendant price increase) that it would represent:

a. A slightly worse set up.

b. A slight improvement.

c. It would be neither here nor there.

I ask this as someone who has no difficulty at all in using conventional adjustment knobs but who thinks from the look of it that it could perhaps qualify for verdict b.

I think verdict b would be correct.

 

[Woodster]

Well, I couldn’t resist making my own version to try out the idea
As I don’t have a left-handed tap of the right size, I made it to clamp onto the existing knob. It does make adjustment very easy but I would say that it is not a significant improvement on the existing wheel (as predicted in some of the comments above). Anyway, it was in interesting exercise. I would recommend anyone considering buying the commercial version to try one before buying.

As you don’t have a suitable tap it’s a brave attempt but in no way does it compare to the original!
As a result you can’t realistically claim the original would not be an improvement over traditional adjusters solely based on experience with your example.

 

[MrH]

Well done at having a bash at making a version rxh. Compared to your other creations it must have been a walk in the park!

I'm highly unlikely to buy one of the Cosman versions. I'd be open minded enough to try it on someone else's tool but shrewd enough to keep my money for something more interesting and useful to me.

After near 30 years of professional work and personal projects it's interesting to see the "pimp my tool" market develop. Perhaps some go faster stripes on the wings and fluffy dice on the lever cap might finish the look!

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Mike G]

If that were to happen, I reckon that an aftermarket bronze lever cap and a pair of new handles would be amongst the early pace-setters. Have the lever cap laser-engraved, and with the handles in some exotic hardwood, all yours for just £200..........or 6 sets for £1000.

 

[Woodbloke]

....the "pimp my tool" market....

As far as I'm aware, this has pretty much always been around; there are some stunning examples of engraved planes done in the USA with commensurate prices to match :shock: Personally, I think they're hideous and I wouldn't give one 'shop room but I can't help but admire the time and effort that must go into pimping one up - Rob

 

[MrH]

I'd want to get the hand plane in the wind tunnel. I just don't think aerodynamics have been taken seriously enough, perhaps some kind of downforce device. Insert joke about wing and plane.

Agreed Rob. It's just the delivery method has changed. The engraving is I imagine personal taste and not being sold on solving a problem that doesn't really exist.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Alf]

Engravings? Lever caps? Tool pimping requires much more imagination than that, chaps, if you want to be a trend setter.



Okay, so I set it eleven years ago and it has yet to trend, but one of these days...

 

[Mike G]

Carruthers, get your coat........