More Casa de Cowboy stories, and a question about planes

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › More Casa de Cowboy stories, and a question about planes

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#249429 10-May-2019 11:23

So when you're running cable from the floor to the ceiling, you can try and run it inside the wall, or failing that find a route that runs alongside some existing feature and hide it with ducting. Or:

You can use a multitool to hack your way through anything in the way and run the cable up the path thus created.

The really annoying thing is they've hacked their way through three different types of trim, two of which don't seem to be made any more and for which in any case I only need about 100mm worth. I think I'll just buy some dowel and shape it by hand to match, so... does anyone have any use experience of this, sold as a Craftright 225mm Jack Plane? It looks close to a Stanley #4 (down to the flip lock and frog positioning screw, which are often missing on cheapie planes) at one fifth of the price, but there's almost no info available online about it. Alternatively, there's the Fuller equivalent from Mitre10.

I'd be interested in hearing how much tuning either of these need (sole smoothness, presence of casting flash, finish on the cutting edge and chipbreaker, etc) before they're usable.

1 | 2

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2234471 10-May-2019 13:48

Can't really see the profile clearly and no real comment about quality of those planes.

However, I'd rate the chance of a butt join in that moulding not cracking open due to movement as close to zero, and as it's in a reasonably visible position on a sill, it'll look bad enough to annoy me.

Although I hate the way little jobs get bigger, I think I'd be looking to replace all the moulding with new, as close as you can get to original profile.

I'd be surprised if the cornice profile wasn't still available, and you'd probably not notice a patch up there.

Bung

6505 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2234481 10-May-2019 14:11

Is that the right photo? I'm not seeing any trim looking like dowel or obvious cable route, more like some sort of room divider removed from wall.

If the plane takes a standard blade it might be worth a try. The SH shop price of a #4 was $45 last I noticed.

tripper1000

1619 posts

Uber Geek

#2234540 10-May-2019 15:55

No cavity under the floor to run the cables to a better location to get into the ceiling?

That's the joy of modern architecture and floating concrete pads - what you have is what you have and it is difficult/expensive to change wiring or plumbing.

Also iron/decromastic roofs make this job harder - in the same situation on concrete tile roofs (also more rare with modern architecture), I've removed a tile, then put a long spade drillbit through the wall top plate and down the wall cavity with multiple extensions (on an internal wall nearer the apex you don't need to remove a tile). Occasionally you stuff it up and go out through the jib board, but it is a much smaller/cheaper repair than what the OP is dealing with.

reven

3743 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2234542 10-May-2019 16:01

do you have the removed pieces? just expoy them back in place (its a good gap filler glue).

that trim look fairly standard. is the window trim and ceiling trim the same? could you use a piece of the window on the ceiling, then just find a similar trim for the window.

if you had access to a table saw, it looks like a minute job to make trim that matches that...

networkn

Networkn
32369 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2234543 10-May-2019 16:15

Or just leave it exactly as it is and call it a feature wall :)

eracode

Smpl Mnmlst
8876 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2234547 10-May-2019 16:23

Could you explain more about the cable-hiding? Can’t exactly follow what the problem is from your explanation or photo.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2234618 10-May-2019 17:21

Fred99:
Can't really see the profile clearly and no real comment about quality of those planes.

I think I'm going to get some funny looks tomorrow when I wander in with an optical flat and a loupe and ask to look at their planes...

Fred99:
However, I'd rate the chance of a butt join in that moulding not cracking open due to movement as close to zero, and as it's in a reasonably visible position on a sill, it'll look bad enough to annoy me. Although I hate the way little jobs get bigger, I think I'd be looking to replace all the moulding with new, as close as you can get to original profile.

It's in the laundry so not a high-traffic area... I hadn't thought of replacing all the moulding, let me think about whether it's worth the time/cost/effort vs.anyone noticing it. I guess I'm contributing to the Casa de Cowboy by not replacing all the moulding, but it's on paint-clogged wallpaper so I'm afraid of tearing it when I remove the moulding and making it even more work.

Fred99:
I'd be surprised if the cornice profile wasn't still available, and you'd probably not notice a patch up there.

Oh, sure, but the usual suspects (Bunnings/M10/Placemakers) don't seem to have it and there's a limit to how much effort it's worth putting in to replace 110mm of moulding.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2234620 10-May-2019 17:24

Bung: Is that the right photo? I'm not seeing any trim looking like dowel or obvious cable route, more like some sort of room divider removed from wall.

I removed a pile of stuff that was there, tacked-on painted-over dowel to protect the "cable run".

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2234633 10-May-2019 17:27

networkn:
Or just leave it exactly as it is and call it a feature wall :

"Plasterer to fix".

It's a 1970s house, at least its metric so the window is bog-standard 40mm double bevelled arch trim. And the rest will now be an excuse to play with hand-shaping the right trim.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2234635 10-May-2019 17:29

eracode: Could you explain more about the cable-hiding? Can’t exactly follow what the problem is from your explanation or photo.

Everything that was the problem is now removed, just need to patch the wall area back to its original condition, the photo shows the remains that need remediation.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2235540 12-May-2019 18:26

Answering my own question about the planes, apart from assorted > $100 Stanleys there are three main ones stocked by the usual suspects. The first one, for which just the photo screams "don't buy", is the Trojan plane from Bunnings, which is what you get when you ask a Chinese manufacturing engineer to make a plane as cheaply as possible. It's not really a plane so much as an oven scraper screwed into a vaguely plane-like body. Ugh, the less said the better.

Next is the Mitre 10 Fuller bench plane, which doesn't look like the photo so presumably the found a cheaper supplier. It's a cheap-and-nasty copy of a Stanley #4, rough sole, casting flash in various places, the blade was crooked, the grip is flimsy plastic (not what's shown in the photo) that stinks of plasticiser, and it just felt cheap.

Finally, the cheapest of the lot, the Bunnings Craftright Jack Plane. This is, as far as I can tell, a direct clone of the Stanley #4, just made at a lower cost, e.g. non-chromed chip breaker, steel rather than brass frog screw, and a few other corners cut, but no sign of flash, blade looks OK, and since it appears to be an exact copy of the Stanley I can swap out the blades if required.

I'm guessing the Mitre 10 one is a Chinese copy of the Stanley #4 and the Bunnings one is an Indian copy. I'll report back once I've played with it a bit, but unless you can afford Stanley prices I'd go with the Bunnings one.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2235703 13-May-2019 00:15

First impressions: The blade is dire, paint-scraper quality. That's not fatal, I'd want to give any blade a proper sharpen before using it, but with this one in particular you don't want to apply it to anything out of the box.

The sole needs a lot of work, it's been machined with about 1/4mm concave so you need to remove quite a bit of material to get it properly flat. I've now got it mostly flat using the most convenient flat work surface to hand with water available, the stainless steel kitchen sink area. Mrs.Neb was not amused. Luckily Ned keeps some Barkeeper's Friend on hand, and the couch is reasonably comfortable to sleep on.

If only the Stanleys weren't so expensive... I've also heard their quality has been slipping in the last few decades as well, so there's no guarantee you won't need to do additional work on a Stanley either.

EMB

54 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2235723 13-May-2019 07:27

Second hand tool shops are the answer for buying planes - a number 4 Stanley or Marples in good condition should be $50-80.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2236092 13-May-2019 16:20

EMB:
Second hand tool shops are the answer for buying planes - a number 4 Stanley or Marples in good condition should be $50-80.

Yeah, you'd definitely want to physically inspect it before buying because that machined high-carbon steel rusts if you look away for more than ten minutes. Given the prices Stanley charge you'd think they could do most components in 300/400-series stainless or something - there's that hideously expensive UK brand with the double-barrel name... Lie-Nielsen, that does the body in bronze, but they come with a prepaid mortgage application form.

I've seen... well, at least OK-looking planes where, when you pull the blade from the breaker or the frog there's masses of rust between them where the owner didn't think to clean or apply oil. I'd had a look on Trademe earlier but it's too risky, I don't mind a bit of cleaning up to restore it but I may as well get a good-condition one from the get-go.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2236935 14-May-2019 20:15

So the made-in-India Stanley clone actually came up pretty well with a bit of work:

That's the sole, the blade needs more work which I'll get onto another time. Not bad for a $29 plane.

1 | 2