Plane making attempt #4

[Sheffield Tony]

In case anyone wondered what got me trying out Liogier floats ... It was swagman's fault. I've been eyeing up chamfer planes for a while, and his post made me think to try making one.

This is my 4th go at making a plane, #1 was an attempt at a panel raising plane which had so many faults (including a nicely skewed bed, skewed the wrong way ), that it went in the woodburner. #2 was a scrub plane, which I still use a lot. This one is a more complicated thing. Because I have never actually set hand on one of these, only seen pictures, I hope I haven't made any howlers ...

I may have moved down south now, but In traditional Sheffield style, my maker's mark is a bit lop sided :lol: (

I used a brass sole held on by four countersunk screws with the heads filed down - a tip I picked up here. As a first shot, I've made the iron from O1 ground flat stock - I am rather hoping it stays put without a taper on it because that sounds like hard work to achieve, but if it doesn't hold securely I'll grind it down and fit a new wedge to suit.

 

[bugbear]

As a first shot, I've made the iron from O1 ground flat stock - I am rather hoping it stays put without a taper on it because that sounds like hard work to achieve, but if it doesn't hold securely I'll grind it down and fit a new wedge to suit.

Parrellel irons were used in all the premium planes, so you should be fine.

I think the taper "just happens" when you add a steel cutting layer to a soft iron body.

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

That looks the business, but you seem to have left out the photo where we see some shavings!

I like the branding too.

Is the chunky locking screw a special? And is it the trad woodscrew or is there some extra complication with a threaded insert or embedded but?

 

[Sheffield Tony]

The locking screw is (was) an M6 stainless bolt. I re-styled it with a drill press and a file, using the trick of wrapping copper wire around the thread to hold it without damage. The slot is cut with a hacksaw and file. There is a fairly ordinary nut embbedded in the sliding part.

Shavings - what doesn't show in the photo too clearly is that it is freshly laden with linseed oil, which still needs to dry some before use. I did try it out a bit before I oiled it, which was when I discovered that the brass sole would probably be needed. I don't know whether elm is a good material for this, but used it because I had a thick slab to hand.

 

[Corneel]

Brilliant Tony!

 

[swagman]

Very nice Tony. Your box chamfer plane turned out a real treat.

I am happy to hear I bear some responsibility for providing the impetus for this project.

For those of you that have never tried, its very easy to underestimate the total amount of work involved in building this type of plane.

Tony. Any chance you can show a couple of photo's with the plane dismantled. I am interested in seeing more detail on how you shaped the wedge side of the box.

Also, you haven't mention the timber type used.

Excellent work. =D> =D> =D>

Stewie;

 

[rxh]

Very impressive work, Tony.

Please can you tell us the main dimensions and blade angle?

 

[Sheffield Tony]

It is roughly taken from the measurements in a photo Jimi posted of his plane. 6" long, 2" wide and 2 1/4" high. The iron is 1 1/4" wide, and bedded at 55 degrees. Once I got beyond the basic block, I switched to metric units ! Geometry is too hard in fractional inches. So the iron is 3mm thick and 140mm long. Wedge is 10 degrees.

I think our posts crossed Stewie - it is English elm from the National Trust's Wimpole hall estate. The bit I used is more or less quartersawn. Whether it is a good choice for planemaking, I don't know but will surely find out. I'll try to add some pictures of it in pieces later.

 

[G S Haydon]

Fine work Tony!

 

[8squared]

Great job it looks fantastic.

 

[jimi43]

Where the hell have you been hiding this work Tony!!! :shock:

That is truly superb! :mrgreen:

If you have them...some WIP pictures would go down a treat...I too would love to see the plane in its component parts...

This is not a simple project and you have made a super plane which really looks the biz...

Now...stamping that iron...as a Man of Sheffield I think we need details! :mrgreen:

Love the traditional wonkiness BTW...but you have a way to go yet to match the pros!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Bravissimo my friend!!!

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

Jimi

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Too late for a WIP, 'fraid. but I'll take a picture of it in bits. And maybe some shavings !

I wondered if anyone would ask about marking the iron. It isn't a stamp, but is electrolytically etched, using a method based on printed circuit board manufacture...

The design was done at the computer (hand written in Adobe PostScript), in white text on a black background. This mask is then laser printed onto polyester film. The transfer to the metal is a photographic process, using a positive photosensitive resist (Electrolube PRP) - It comes in an aerosol can. The iron then gets the polyester mask layed over it, and exposed to UV light for 3-4 minutes, then the resist developed in sodium hydroxide. The exposed resist comes off, leaving an acid resisiting film everywhere that the black printed areas of the mask protected - insulating tape covers any other areas to be protected from the etch. It then went into sulphuric acid, as the anode (+ve), with an iron nail and the cathode. A matter of seconds is enough to bite quite deep.

I need to perfect the technique though, my mask was not quite perfect so some little pits were etched where they shouldn't be, and the etch was a bit lop sided, the 'T' is a bit faint

 

[jimi43]

Too late for a WIP, 'fraid. but I'll take a picture of it in bits. And maybe some shavings !

I wondered if anyone would ask about marking the iron. It isn't a stamp, but is electrolytically etched, using a method based on printed circuit board manufacture...

The design was done at the computer (hand written in Adobe PostScript), in white text on a black background. This mask is then laser printed onto polyester film. The transfer to the metal is a photographic process, using a positive photosensitive resist (Electrolube PRP) - It comes in an aerosol can. The iron then gets the polyester mask layed over it, and exposed to UV light for 3-4 minutes, then the resist developed in sodium hydroxide. The exposed resist comes off, leaving an acid resisiting film everywhere that the black printed areas of the mask protected - insulating tape covers any other areas to be protected from the etch. It then went into sulphuric acid, as the anode (+ve), with an iron nail and the cathode. A matter of seconds is enough to bite quite deep.

I need to perfect the technique though, my mask was not quite perfect so some little pits were etched where they shouldn't be, and the etch was a bit lop sided, the 'T' is a bit faint

WOW...how coincidental is that!

CLICK

But I have to keep quiet about what this is for....for the time being! :wink:

Jimi

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Some extra views, as requested. In pieces:

And some shavings. I tried some pine, and an old piece of oak.

This was interesting. I tried different thicknesses of shaving, and found thicker worked better. The high-ish pitch of the iron makes the shavings quite curly, more so with a lighter cut. These thinner shavings have a tendency to collect and crinckle up inside the plane requiring occasional pauses to shake free, whereas the thicker shavings are expelled nicely. The thicker shavings also came away with that nice "zip" of a wooden plane, and seemed to get the job done quicker whilst still leaving a very acceptable finish.

It might be worth trying to make the escape path for the shavings easier; I have left the sliding box a bit long, originally so that there is always enough of the top to grip for adjusting, but maybe this is not necessary; cutting this away, perhaps shaping it like Stewie's, might help.

 

[jimi43]

I'll go have a look at mine again in action...see how that works...I have to say I hadn't noticed clogging on any depth of cut so there may be a solution out there somewhere.

Could I trouble you for a closeup of that there iron mark...?

I am keen to find an alternative way of marking my steel and brass with the KT Tools logo and although engraving looks the biz...it's a tad expensive for smaller items.

I am considering masking and then glass bead blasting...that's another though on the to do list.

Jimi

 

[swagman]

Hi Tony. Thanks for the extra pics. Much appreciated.

When I built the 1st chamfer plane I started off with a reasonably close mouth opening similar to yours, and encountered the same problems you have with the shavings getting caught inside the box escarpment.

To help overcome this issue I would suggest the following

1st; reduce the length of the box by at least 1/4 height. .
2nd; increase the mouth opening to about 1/4" (6mm).
3rd; at the very top of the box, reduce the front wall thickness to 1/8" (3mm).

Completing these 3 steps you should allow you to then adequately reshape the inside of the box to a much larger opening.

Stewie;

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I've been pondering n this.

It is only when taking a light cut that the shavings don't emerge without the occasional pause to shake them out. Now, I do find that various planes I have also do this - the Record 050C and Stanley 78 both seem to clog, probably worse.

When taking thicker shavings, it works well, the shavings eject nicely. At the same time, it leaves a rather good, glassy finish. Even when taking a heavy cut, in either direction on the bits of oak and pine I tried.

I presume the thinner shavings curl up more, and bunch up inside rather than having the rigidity to be pushed out the top.

Your suggestions (1) and (3) seem like good ideas - I had already though that shortening the box could do no harm. I don't think I can take quite 25% off without it disappearing inside the body at the bottom of the adjusting slot - it is 75mm total length at the moment, and I could reduce that the 60mm (i.e., by 20%). Thinning down the box and possibly parts of the wedge seem like a good idea too.

I will need some convincing to widen the mouth though. 1/4" :shock: I guess it would allow smaller debris to simply fall out the bottom. But - I worry that it would sacrifice the rather nice smooth crisp finish I get at the moment. I would rather be able to take thick shavings and get a nice finish quickly, than have to take lots more thin shavings to avoid tearout ? Also, as there is no sole of the plane behind the iron, leaving a wide mouth will surely give poor control of the depth of cut ? The plane will contact at the back of the brass sole piece. and tilting the heel of the plane down will take a deeper cut.

 

[swagman]

Hi Tony. Re the amount of box projecting above.

How you finally choose to shape the top profile of the box can also make a big difference on the above projection.

For example:

Before;

After;

Stewie

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Taking on board some of your comments Stewie, I have trimmed back and shaped and opened out the sliding box section, which, because of the angles, makes a lot more diference than one might imagine to the the space available for the shavings to pass out through. I also pared away some of the wedge between the tines. It does seem to help. Thanks for the comments.

(I've left the mouth opening alone for now though.)

 

[swagman]

Hi Tony. By the sound of it you should see an improvement in the flow of shavings.

Stewie; =D>