Slick Rehab - Bob Smalser?

[Bark]

After attending the Useful Hand Tools presentation at the WBS, I naturally had to go out and buy two of the tools discussed: the tongue and groove plane and a big slick. Found them both at the show.

Slick question: I read Bob S's great articles on plane restoration and chisel rehab, but I want to make sure I'm clear on the grinding/flattening requirements before I go to work on the slick. It cleaned up pretty well with a wire brush and some Ospho, but there is a fair amount of pitting on the edge, particularly on the back. Here are a few pics - do you think the next step is to flatten the back where the pitting already exists, or is something more serious required? Slick is about 18 inches long overall (including short wooden handle). Thanks for any tips.

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL483/8634233/16009429/263868119.jpghttp://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL483/8634233/16009429/263868117.jpghttp://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL483/8634233/16009429/263868115.jpghttp://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL483/8634233/16009429/263868113.jpg

[Bob Smalser]

Flatten the back as best you can and don't worry too much about any remaining pits. Don't sacrifice any blade length because of them.

Sure, they'll chip the cutting edge a bit as routine honing moves the edge back into them, but the edge will remain sufficiently sharp to work well. A slick isn't a smoothing plane. Think of serrated edges.

[Bark]

Thanks, Bob. I guess my real question was whether I should cut the blade back beyond the pitting, and that answers it. Any thoughts on the utility of the existing (short) handle vs. making a longer one? The one used in the WBS demonstration was considerably longer. Again, many thanks.

Ben

[Mrleft8]

I like a longer handle than that, but not so long that it becomes a lever. You'll probably want a slight "knob" at the end too....Not so big it gets in the way though....Your palm will thank you! ;)

[mike hanyi]

are you collecting the dambed thing or going to use it?

flatten the bottom and cut it back till you get good surface.
then sharpen it up.

a tool with a ****e edge is of no use even if it is an antique.

I got over one full day salvaging a simmilar condition slick and it is now the envey of the shop, sharp as hell and a joy to use, she is not worth anything to a collector and its just fine with me.

mike

[J P]

Is it a laminated back? Maybe look at having a machinist surface grind the back. Then you can work it to a mirror finish (or however far you want to go) with stones or on abrasive sheets.

[pcford]

Flatten the back as best you can and don't worry too much about any remaining pits. Don't sacrifice any blade length because of them.

Sure, they'll chip the cutting edge a bit as routine honing moves the edge back into them, but the edge will remain sufficiently sharp to work well. A slick isn't a smoothing plane. Think of serrated edges.

Huh?

[Dave Fleming]

That don't look like a SLICK to me.

Minimum blade width for a slick is approx 2 3/4 inches.

Handle should be at least 12 to 14 inches long UNLESS the user has a special purpose for another length.

Looks more like what we would call a 'ships carpenter's chisel'.

A slick ,in this old geezers opinion, can most definitely be thought of as a smoothing tool. Used to pare an edge almost dead smooth. Slick deck plugs( or bungs ) right flush with deck.

If you are going to use it as a general purpose wide chisel then YES you can leave the back pits without worrying about 'em. But, if you intend to do any kind of fine paring I would suggest you either look for another wide chisel with a blade in better condition to begin with.

Now we come to the type of blade....is it one piece of cast steel or is it laminated? If it is one piece of cast steel then you might consider taking it to a machine shop with a precision surface grinder and pay them to surface the entire length of the back then see just how deep those pits go. If too deep then fine paring work is out and you have a hefty chisel for rough cuts. Though the back will be nice and flat.

If it is laminated, most laminations of fine tool steel blade to a softer body don't go all the way up to the socket.

I looked at several of my chisels and slicks and the farthest the lamination goes is about half way up towards the socket.

Most are a good deal shorter, say 1/3 the blade length.

Of course these are tools that range in age from about 60 to 125 years old. Therefore a significant bit of useage has used up a goodly percentage of the lamination.

As you can deduce, if the blade is laminated and you go cutting off a goodly chunk of that lamination you are loosing a lot of chisel.

[Bark]

are you collecting the dambed thing or going to use it?


I'm interested in using, not collecting. :D It is kind of nice looking, though, and heavy. Been around a while, I'd imagine.

[SamSam]

I'd sacrifice the length back to where the pits are gone.The pits on the back of that slick will give you an edge full of small areas that have bevel on both sides of the edge at different heights than the areas where you have a proper edge of one bevel with a flat back. It would sort of be like how a very small bevel on the backside of any chisel really screws up using it. Depending on how much you use it, it might take years to grind away the pits with regular sharpening, which would equate to years of using a mediocre tool.

[Bark]

Now we come to the type of blade....is it one piece of cast steel or is it laminated?

The stamp says "Brain(m)ard Woodruff & Co" and "Cast Steel - Warranted". The blade is about 2 inches in width - definitely not 2.75+. My sense is the pitting isn't all that deep, so maybe I'll let my neighbor (with machine shop in basement) see if he can do anything with it. "Ship's Carpenter's Chisel", huh? Has a nice ring to it ...

[Jay Greer]

I've often found such tools at garage sales. One I treasure was once used as an anvil and had thousands of pits that I honed out. I rely on diamond plates to true up the backs and grind O flex wheels for the faces. It shouldn't be too much trouble to hone a flat in the pitted area. Later you can think of grinding back the length if it flattening isn't up to snuff. Never cut off today that which you may need tomorrow!
Jay

[SamSam]

The stamp says "Brain(m)ard Woodruff & Co" and "Cast Steel - Warranted". The blade is about 2 inches in width - definitely not 2.75+. My sense is the pitting isn't all that deep, so maybe I'll let my neighbor (with machine shop in basement) see if he can do anything with it. "Ship's Carpenter's Chisel", huh? Has a nice ring to it ...

Well, there you go. Warranted. Take it back to Woodruff & Co and make a complaint! ;) 2" wide is what it measures on my monitor screen so it looks like removing about 1/2" would take it past the bad pits. That wouldn't effect that chisel very much at all, but for me, to hone a 1/2" secondary flat area on the back would pretty much render it useless. But as Jay says, you can always shorten it.