Transitional: the smoother.

[MIGNAL]

Another intensive 2 day build. I bought a Stanley No.4 off the auction site, cracked casting. For my £15 (including postage) I got a usable frog, blade, chipbreaker, lever cap and of course the rear handle. I didn't see the point in discarding the handle, so a bit of work with a small scraper removed the old finish. A touch of reshaping and then stained with Indian ink.
The rest of the Plane is Maple and Ebony. Frog (for better or worse) pitched at 52 degrees. The handle is screwed and glued into place. I also used a small dowel where the usual metal lug locates into the base of the handle.
Not the best of pictures but this may not be the finished article. This one seemed to be a difficult birth. I made the side cheeks too high and then had to reshape them. Of course it would have been much easier to do before the parts were glued together.
It works perfectly well on medium density woods like Maple and Walnut. Cuts very well and zero clogging. It struggles a touch on Bubinga. Perhaps it's the pitch, perhaps the lack of weight/heft or a combination of both factors. I just have the feeling that one has to put too much effort in trying to control the cut. Getting it back to 45 pitch won't be too much work. I can carefully remove the Ebony sole and replace the rear section of the plane. To be decided. I'll have to live with it for a few more days before making any decision.

 

[Trafalgar]

Phenomenal work. Exquisite.

 

[marcros]

nicely done. very nicely done.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Nah. Don't bother fixing it. It'll never make you happy. Send it to me instead. =P~ =P~ :wink:

 

[lurcher]

perfect my friend a true piece of art and craftsmanship i am totaly sold on the transitonal planes so much that i am selling my marples no 7 and no 6 as they havent had alot of work latley as i came accross a stanley transitional jack plane the sole was worn out but all the metalwork was a1 good so i made an 18" long sole from a piece of oak and now have 3 fantastic planes along with the rest if any of you guys come across a transitional plane buy it try it you may even like it .
i am making a large oak cross to go on a family grave and my marple run so so smooth it takes some beleving .
i also highly recomend the german wooden planes realy nice tools in the hand and work great .

 

[Biliphuster]

Very nice work. The ebony sole in particular.

Could you post a shot of the frog mounting? Is the frog removable?

 

[MIGNAL]

The frog is removable. I simply cut the 'legs' off the Stanley frog. It is then screwed into the base of the plane. The last 1" or so of the blade is bedded onto wood. The frog really just acts as depth/lateral adjuster.
Not sure about using Ebony for the sole of a plane. Rosewood seems a bit slicker somehow and of course Ebony is more prone to movement in respect of varying humidity. It's what I had as offcuts, so I used them. The Maple is bang on quarter sawn, with a striking medullary ray.

 

[Trafalgar]

You should name this plane the Filet Mignal.

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Beautiful!

 

[MIGNAL]

This is the transitional smoother planing highly figured Maple. :shock:



Try get your LN's and Veritas to do that!

I've had more chance to try it out on various woods. I've decided to stay with the original angle that I set. It's only that piece of Bubinga that highlights the limitations of a relatively lightweight plane. That bubinga happens to have quite twisty grain, even metal Planes 'feel' it, although they do have a distinct advantage on such wood. My 8" coffin smoother struggles a little, just as this transitional does. Incidentally both planes are very close in overall weight but I find the comfort factor much nicer on the transitional. I've never been a fan of the larger type of coffin planes.
I've now tried it on Cherry, Maple, Oak, Walnut, Sapele and Rosewood. None of those timbers proved problematic, although the Rosewood may have been somewhat difficult had it exhibited nasty grain.
The depth adjustment wheel is best used with the thumb of the left hand and the index or middle of the right hand. Room is a little limited to use the two digits of the right hand. I don't find adjusting it like that an issue. Of course the backlash is exactly the same as on any Stanley/Record plane. The frog that I used was probably from a late 60's/early 70's model. At least it had the cast yoke rather than the one that is of bent metal.
Anyone thinking of making such a plane has to be aware of two important factors. The frog has to be mounted at the correct height in relation to the sole. It is possible to get that wrong such that the blade can't be retracted enough. The rear handle also has to be carefully positioned, otherwise it can easily foul the lateral adjustment lever.
Here it is planing Sapele:



Leaves a lovely finish but then you would expect that with a very sharp blade and a relatively high angle. What is a little strange is how the shaving sometimes shoots out of the plane. I've made and used plenty of Planes in my 35 years as a woodworker. I've never used a plane where the odd shaving jumps out so far forward!
It's a mystery.

 

[rxh]

A real pleasure to see that
Please can you tell us what glue and finish you used?
Also please can you post a photo with the blade removed so that the frog attachment can be seen?

 

[MIGNAL]

Not a lot to show really. The frog is simple to modify. I just cut it with a hacksaw and used a sharp coarse file to make sure that the base was flat.



The modified frog is then just secured with wood screws and you will need a few washers. Obviously the bedding angles of the plane and the frog have to match/align. You can't adjust the mouth opening (as on a Bailey) but who cares.



The photo above is from the Jack plane version which has become the Plane that sees the most use in my workshop. I rarely reach for the metal version now, actually I haven't used a metal Jack plane since this was made. The only time I would reach for a metal Plane is when faced with difficult wood/grain. That's not all that frequent, even though I use Ebony and Rosewood fairly often.
I used Hide glue for the construction, the real stuff and not the liquid version. I doubt that it matters which type of glue is used.
I slapped a bit of Shellac on at the end, not caring too much about the finish. This wasn't done as a commercial Plane and it's going to get beat up pretty quickly in use. I tend to care more about every day working ergonomics and function rather than appearance of the tool.