Best selling wood projects - Falcon Pope Hand Planes A Small Review

Best selling wood projects

One of the joys of any road trip is the encounter of the unexpected.  I had the good fortune to encounter some pieces of classic Australian post war hand tool manufacturing, in the form of two Falcon - Pope handplanes.
These are the less common F 5-1/2 and F 4-1/2.  What a great opportunity for a mini-review.

These have spent the best part of the last sixty years in a trade college, but show signs of very little use, in spite of some running repairs to moving parts.  The handles are dented and dinged about from rough storage - trade schools can be tough on tools.

 Falcon Handplanes were introduced just after World War II in 1946, and had ceased manufacture in 1956 - a very short history to be sure.  Yet they were an essential part of Australias post-war development and housing boom. They were contemporaries of  Carter and Turner - other plane manufacturers in Australia.

The F 5-1/2 seems to be completely original, right down to its two piece depth adjuster yoke.

The F 4-1/2 has had a couple of modifications that, I assume, were essential replacements to keep it in service.

The most obvious of these is the addition of a Carter - Australia - Blade.  Less obvious is the substitute depth adjuster wheel, and one piece yoke that engages the cap-iron.
I am guessing that these were added to replace "lost" items.

Both planes are well made, with flat bases and sides that are square to the soles.  The frogs are made of cast iron, and on both, the sloped surface that supports the flat of the blade was well machined and completely co-planar.  Later Pope planes had alloy frogs that were sometimes prone to bending - not so in this case.
 The depth adjusters on both planes showed a certain amount of "slop" or play between the forward and backward engaged positions.  The split yoke on the F 5-1/2 had around 2 full turns of the brass depth adjuster, the F 4-1/2, had only a little more than one.  The solid yoke may account for this.

For comparison, here is the F 4-1/2 frog beside a 1920s Stanley frog.  The Falcon Pope has a little lateral movement when the frog screws are loosened, where the Stanley has none.  Stanleys of this era were among the best ever made, and their parts fitted together with very tight tolerances.  The Falcon Pope tolerances are a little broader than that.

 One thing that I have noticed on all Falcon Popes that I have seen, is the angled nature of the recesses for the frog screws.

The Stanley has recesses whose rear is at 90 degrees to the surface where the screws engage.  The Falcon Popes seem to be undercut. This does cause the screwdriver to jam against the frog when tightening the frog screws after adjusting the frog forward.  Angling the screwdriver solves this, but it is impossible to engage the full flat of the screwdriver blade in the screw slots as a result.

The mouths of both Falcon Pope planes are square to the sides and a good size to accommodate the blades.  They are more carefully machined and a more precise size than those of Stanleys that were being produced around the same time.  They more closely resemble the quality mouths produced on Stanleys from a much earlier era.

Both of these planes have mouths that are the same size - it is the difference in blade thickness that creates the fineness shown here.

Falcon Pope blades are thicker than the standard Stanley offering, and the Carter blade found in the F 4-1/2 is thicker again.

Using these planes is quite a pleasure.  Both of them are heavy - with thick castings.  Compare the cheeks of the F 4-1/2 to those of the Stanley beside it in the picture - three above.  A standard Stanley 4-1/2 plane weighs 4-3/4 lbs. The Falcon Pope F 4-1/2  tips the scales at 5-1/4 lbs ....   quite a beast!

The mass of both of the Falcon Popes,  ensures that they both absolutely breeze through timber in the planing process.  Here is a piece of ropey old radiata pine that I set to with first the F 5-1/2 Jack, and then the smoother - the F 4-1/2.

Good thick chunky shavings from the F 5-1/2.  Wood removed in short order - great fun.

Much thinner shavings from the F 4-1/2, and a quite acceptable finish. This from the Carter blade as found with no further honing.

For a quick comparison, here is my Bedrock 604-1/2 with a Lie Nielsen Blade, and the shaving that it produced.  Much better.

Here is the result after honing the Carter blade. Virtually the same as the Lie Nielsen.
And look at that surface - glassy smooth.
Not too shabby at all.

 Instead of the traditional japanning, these planes have a painted stippled finish that is quite pleasing to the eye. On these two planes it is still near complete after sixty odd years, showing little - if any - wear. Obviously this was a quality choice by the original manufacturers.

These are very good planes, and well worth using in any workshop.
It is a shame that they were produced for such a short period of time, and that there are so few out there.


Finally, it is great to take pride in the fact that they were made right here in Oz.
For anyone looking for a very well made, Australian-built handplane, these can still be found at Sunday Markets and online auctions.  Well worth the investment.

Happy shavings partners .....
.................... and happy woodworking to all ..............


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Best selling wood projects - Used and Abused

Best selling wood projects

I have been working with my son for the last five days, demolishing, repairing and re-building his bathroom.  That is another story, but during the re-build, we needed a rough-house chisel, and mine wasnt handy so he produced one from his shed.  We only needed a beater, and what he found filled the bill nicely.

When hed finished, he passed this chisel to me.

Oh my sainted aunt!

The handle was the first clue - birch - and the shape - definitely Swedish.  One look at the blade told me it was something special.  That same bevelled edged shape has been used by Jernbolaget, Kronan and Erik Anton Berg.
I was ready to weep.

Here it is next to a Berg handle - fresh from the market.
Closer inspection showed it for what it is:

Swedish Toledos are excellent chisels and make fine parers.  They are to be cared for, honed and used for the purpose for which they were manufactured - paring, with a razor sharp edge.
Lets check that edge:

Holy opened paint tins Batman!
Its a super-dull maxi-fat-edge chisel, of the non-cut variety.
This looks like a job for the dynamic duo - wire wheel, grinder, oilstones and arkansas stone.  (OK quartet!)

A quick cleanup revealed the problems ahead.  No serious pitting thank goodness.

................The back needed re-flattening, and the bevel - (what bevel?!!!!!!!!) -  needed re-grinding after the edge was squared to the sides.

That poor old handle had been belted so much that it had lost a full half-inch of its length.  Furthermore, it was cracked all the way through both sides. Only the ferrules were holding it together.

Time for a new one.
 I remove old handles by gripping the blade between scrap leather in my Carter vice, and tapping a suitably sized open ended spanner against the handle.  If the handle is worth keeping, I pad the spanner as well - not in this case however.

With an inch of blade already gone, this chisel begged for a longer handle in the Japanese paring chisel style.  Ill try to stay true to its Swedish origins with the profile, but there will be no top ferrule.  This chisel will never again be struck.

I have chosen a piece of black wattle from my wood-cave for this handle.  Black wattle grows wild around here, and is a plentiful, renewable resource.  It has some pleasing grain and will serve very nicely.  As before, with the Sorby chisel, I have accentuated the length in this handle, as I enjoy the added control that this imparts to the chisel when paring.

A coat of beeswax and a quick polish with a handful of shavings, and the handle is complete.
Here is the finished article: one Toledo Steel - Made in Sweden - Bevelled Edge Paring Chisel!

Once again, a good test of the keen-ness of the blade, is how well it pares end grain.

Not too shabby at all!

Now that is a real feel-good ugly duckling story.

Ill have to find another beater of a chisel for my son to return to his shed.  Something with a plastic handle this time.  Hee hee!  This one can become his going out chisel, only to be used on Sundays.......

May all your uglies turn into swans, and all your problems be small ones ...............

....... and happy woodworking to all ...............


Best selling wood projects

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