Monday, April 30, 2012

A Textbook Example for Hollows and Rounds

I was recently contacted by a man, Bill, who is reproducing a tall case clock that his great great grandfather made in the mid 19th century and his great grandfather refinished around 1890. The clock is currently in his brother's possession.

Bill has made the case for the clock and was looking for a way to address the moulding. Custom knives were an expensive option.
(the original)


Bill had seen Don McConnells' dvd regarding the use of moulding planes and called me to see if this was a viable option for him.

Bill came down to my shop Saturday morning. We completed the four mouldings for his case before 12:30.

I'm often asked how these tools are relevant in today's shop. "My router is much quicker" is a line I hear quite a bit.

Bill and I beat custom knives for a shaper by approximately 2 weeks 6 days and 20 hours. The total cost of making 4 completely custom shapes: $0.00 to the craftsman with these tools.

The first moulding we made (which was also the first time Bill used any moulding plane) was the crown/support for the hood. (Back row in above picture.)


Bandsaw followed by table saw (or rabbet plane).

#18 Round

Rabbet plane for the chamfer followed by #4 hollow.


Stay tuned...






5 comments:

  1. Matt,

    Love to see some more eyes opened up. What a great example.

    Keep up the great work!

    Cheers,

    Lee Laird

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  2. I am impressed. Very good. Thanks, Elmer

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  3. I have sold many wooden planes over the years, most to users as opposed to collectors. A few years ago a restorer came to me with a tracing of a piece of crown molding and asked if I had a plane to cut it. I did not have a moulder with a 5 1/2" blade, but I did have four or five hollows and rounds, plus one narrow rabbet. A cutter would have cost him $150+, but the right sized wooden planes ended up costing him $60 and he can use these planes on other projects.

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