Musings

This One’s A Head Scratcher

During a recent dive into my inventory of block planes needing restoration the lines of this one caught my eye.  It was comely, with a very low angle so I immediately thought it would be a good candidate for me to restore for my son-in-law.  Sure it was void of any adjusting controls but he knows how to adjust a plane manually with an iron-setting hammer.

At second glance there was something hinky going on with the plane.   Was the iron sitting in the pin?

Once I took it apart the confusion set in.  What the heck?  The way I read this tool, with the iron not resting over the pin but impaled on the pin, the iron is utterly and completely un-adjustable!  In one sense the tool is on the “primitive side” given the ostensible lack of mechanized adjustments.  Bur completely un-adjustable?  Given the general quality of the plane design and quality execution, I’m just left scratching my head.

 

At this point I’m noodling soldering on a block over the pin and using the tool as I first figured it was designed.  Or is the pin malleable and designed to be whacked back and forth with the iron?

Any thoughts?