Just ordered a new plane...

[GLFaria]

Thanks for the links, bugbear. I'll be sure to read into them.
Some years ago Alf also posted this:
viewtopic.php?t=5595

I usually drill large holes by steps, never go directly from a pilot hole to a large diameter drill. However, I do this mainly because that's how I learned to do for drilling metals. I really don't know if this is the best practice for wood - would you comment, please?
I can understand the problem of the drill snatching, it has happened to me. And I am pretty sure the wood I intend to use is prone to that.
Thanks.

 

[Jacob]

You will find it easier to drill the holes on your blank first, before you start shaping. It's easier to shape to match the holes rather than struggling to get them aligned and central in a finished handle.
Counterbore first.

 

[matthewwh]

Depends on the bit you are using, pilots work for pointed drills by creating a path of least resistance, but many wood drills (lip and spur, brad point, augers, forstners) are designed to go straight into solid material.

As Pete and Jacob said, drill the big hole first, then drill the smaller one inside it. To provide a bearing surface for the sleeved nut, a brad point drill that creates a reasonably flat bottomed hole would be favourite.

 

[GLFaria]

So far, in 11mm diameter, I could only find twist drills (HSS no less...). No spade, no brad, no auger - these all seem to jump from 10mm to 12mm.
So I bought one 11mm HSS twist drill - relatively expensive, but I may use it on other occasions and for other purposes - and one 12mm run-of-the-mill spade drill.
If I find no better solution, my idea is to reduce the spade drill from 12mm down to 11mm, maybe with a small relief (to 10mm or so) 2-3mm or so back of the lips, eliminate the side spurs, re-sharpen the lips, and use it just to flatten the bottom of the hole made by the twist drill.

Alternatively, after drilling the hole I can re-grind the lips of the twist dril so they are at 180 degrees (effectively making it a bottoming drill) - no special difficulty, only work, I've done it before - but I would rather keep this drill intact, so I will probably make a test run on a scrap piece to ascertain if the spade drill modified as per above is a viable solution or not.

Crazy?

 

[Jacob]

Spade drill won't work in a predrilled hole - it needs solid wood for the point to locate and guide.
It's not difficult to shape a twist drill into a spur bit, on the corner of a grindwheel, perhaps dress the wheel nice and square first

 

[AndyT]

You could look for a 7/16" drill bit, which is the same size as 11mm.

 

[GLFaria]

Spade drill won't work in a predrilled hole - it needs solid wood for the point to locate and guide.
It's not difficult to shape a twist drill into a spur bit, on the corner of a grindwheel, perhaps dress the wheel nice and square first

The point will be drilling in solid wood - the bottom of the hole previously made with the 11mm twist drill. I believe this, plus the wall of the previously made hole, would give enough support to guide the spade drill, which would only have to do a light work flattening the bottom of the hole.
The sequence of the drilling would be: 1) drill blind 11mm diameter hole, 2) flatten the bottom with the modifed spade drill, 3) drill 6mm hole through the blank.

You could look for a 7/16" drill bit, which is the same size as 11mm.

I did. It is proving even more difficult to find a 7/16" drill bit than an 11mm one around here. This country is fully metric these days. It would have been the contrary, say some 40 or 50 years ago, when I had to go to some specific suppliers to find metric taps, for instance... Now it seems I would have to order it from abroad - with shipping charges besides.

(edited, so this might be a little more comprehensive)

 

[GLFaria]

Well, it seems I will eventually be able to buy a 11mm brad point bit (thanks for the tip, bugbear). Would you believe I had to order it? I could not find anyone ten miles around of where I live who stocked this size. So I ordered it through a local tool and hardware store. Expect to have it by mid next week.

Scrounging the (very, very shallow) bottom of my wood "store", I finally found one piece of wood of about the right dimensions to make a plane handle. Nicely coloured and figured, tough, wear resistant. A bit thin at 23mm, but anyway...,

The drawback? It's pterocarpus erinaceus, a.k.a. vene, and it's one of the worst woods I ever worked (only twice, and I hoped I would not have to do it again...). Of the very few tropical woods I ever worked with, I put it second worst only to Ipe (and that's because of that noxious, pervasive, yellow dust ipe releases when it is cut). Where I brought it from it was used for flooring, as it was so wear resistant. It has a rather coarse, open grained texture, somewhat wavy and difficult grain, but it is very hard (I had to hone the blade of my plane four times before I managed to get the sides of that sample resonably flat (not really flat, mind you)

I don't even know wether this is a good wood for making a plane handle or not. I'm afraid it will have to do, but could any of you much more knowledgeable than I am tell me the pros and cons of using it and any specific tips you may know about working vene?

Thanks

 

[mqbernardo]

can´t help you with that wood, but it does look very nice to my eyes.
would you prefer some cherry or walnut? i have some left overs i could spare. or some boxwood, if you´re feeling bold. i can search some tropicals too.

best,
Miguel.

 

[GLFaria]

can´t help you with that wood, but it does look very nice to my eyes.
would you prefer some cherry or walnut? i have some left overs i could spare. or some boxwood, if you´re feeling bold. i can search some tropicals too.

best,
Miguel.

Thank you very much indeed for your generous offer. I felt tempted to accept. But then I thought, unless someone here says categorically "don't do it!", this may be a very interesting challenge (we'll see if I still find it interesting along the way; but once started...). If I don't manage to make a handle with this wood, and if at the time you still keep your offer, then maybe...

BTW, I had thought of driving to Leiria at the beginning of next week (the person I usually take care of will not be here), but then I remembered it's the 12th and 13th May, which means the road traffic in the vicinity will probably be horrendous, so I gave up.

May I ask where you buy your wood?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Miguel, your wood is wear resistant and hard to plane yet you wish to CARVE it and SAND it into a plane handle? Are you a masochist?

 

[GLFaria]

Miguel, your wood is wear resistant and hard to plane yet you wish to CARVE it and SAND it into a plane handle? Are you a masochist?

eeer...not Miguel, me.
Not really masochistic, I'd say just a little stubborn... besides being the wood I have right now, I'm curious of seeing what it will look like when made into a handle - if I manage to, that is.
I'ts true they reccomend stellite bits for cutting it, but anyway... there are always those rasps for use with electrical hand drills

Miguel, in case it makes it easier for you to identify, this wood was called pau-sangue in Guinea-Bissau, where it came from (although the same family, Fabaceae, it is quite different from the brasilian wood of the same name). It is also know as pterocarpus africanus. No need to tell you why I had to stay in Guinea for a time, I guess...

 

[mqbernardo]

Well, i buy my wood from lots of places. Tonewood dealers, mostly. I was also fortunate to find a closing cabinet maker which sold me some pieces on the cheap. I also visit some lumberyards here and there (somapil near Leira, Madeiras Oeste in Benedita, Pinto Leitao in Oporto and some other in Braga which name i forgot). For smaller pieces of more valuable lumber i sometimes indulge on some "wood safaris" in the Pacos de Ferreira region. You can still buy some nice brazilian rosewood, ebony, satinwood here: http://www.folhas-classicas.pt/

Pau sangue: a friend of mine ( his site: http://www.orlandotrindade.net/ ) is a fine instrument builder and has some sets of pau sangue - i never used it, though. I thought it could be a Guibortia (bubinga family) but it turns out it´s a Pterocarpus (Padauk family). Thanks for the info.

all the best,
Miguel.

 

[GLFaria]

Thanks a lot. I usually cant't stay away for long, but I'll start to do some planning...

I think I have heard or read the name Orlando Trindade before, but can't guess where or when.