Hello All,
I am working to reproduce several hundred lineal feet of base molding as part of the restoration of a 1754 home. Fortunately, I have a complete Stanley #55 with all the cutters, stops, fences and even the users manual. It is in excellent condition (90% plus) with no signs of damage, modification or abuse. Fortunately, the very beaded profile that I need to replicate is described in the #55 manual. To do this beaded profile, I essentially need the cutter to approach the corner of the work at a 45 degree angle to produce the bead and matching quirks on either side of the bead. This requires that both fences of the #55 bisect the 90 degree corner angle of the work piece (45 degrees to the cutter for the first fence and 45 degrees to the cutter for the second fence, for a total included angle of 90 degrees. Having the cutter supported by a fence on two adjoining sides of the work piece prevents the plane from rocking and should yield two consistent quirks
My problem is this…no amount of adjusting and fiddling with the fences will allow me to achieve a precise 90 degree angle between the two fences. It seems the adjustment mechanisms on the fences won’t go far enough to achieve 90 degrees. I know the #55 has a reputation of being complex and finicky, but in this case I can’t seem to get it to do the job it is designed for.
Are there any experienced #55 users who can help me through this?
Best Regards,
BillB
Replies
fwiw, the picture below is of the two fences. Note the one which has a knob...
This as you probably know is the fine adjustment knob. Make sure it is not interfering with the tilting of that fence. They do (or should) both tilt enough. mine did, though I never cut a bead as in illustration 45--the one I assume you are referring to.
Take care, Mike
Bill,
Can you hot melt glue some small angled fences on top of the 55's original fences to get the correct angle? There's definelty a learning curve using the 55 and you may run through 8' of board before you get a section that looks right.
Stanley marketed the 55 as an all-in-one milling machine but very few people could ever get the precision they were looking for out of it. The major design flaw of the 55 (along with the 45) were the skates inability to hold down the wood fibers just in front of the blade causing major tear out when being used. You may have better luck with some beading molding planes and maybe a few hollow and rounds to get the correct shape of the base molding.
mike
Mike,
That's an excellent idea. I really didn't want to modify the original fences, although that would have worked. I could easily mill an angled fence that will give me the angles I need. Hot glue would make it reversible and without altering the original fences. I'll try it.
Sometimes a fresh view of the problem finds the easiest solution. Thanks again.
Bill B.
I'm glad I could help : )
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