Veritas Plane Review - Part Nine. Large Shoulder Plane

[dedee]

When making a cut - that .0015" along the side translates into less than .0005 (half of 1 thousandth of an inch) of error in the cut...excellent tolerances if we're talking metalworking - and absolutely fantastic for woodworking.

I'd certainly be very happy if my joints were out by 2 or 3 times that amount.


Andy

 

[Rob Lee]

...and light is visible

(snip)
Certainly I've been surprised when "sighting" plane soles using a straight edge, and subsequently making a quantitive assessment using feeler gauges.

Amazing amounts of light will sneak through small gaps

(snip)

Hi -

That's also an advantage of sighting as well - for a finely ground (or polished) surface, the gap looks twice as large as it is, due to the reflection....

Cheers -

Rob

 

[Johnboy]

Rob, thanks for the response. I am only just getting started on this hand tool lark but your products are at the top of my list and your presence here and the open and helpful replies will help keep them there.

Alf, hope you feel better soon.

John

 

[Pete W]

Thank you for you support, underserved though it is.

Tish, I say. And twice tish!

I've been reviewing IT stuff for a living for more years than I like to think about and know how much work goes into even a short review that covers only the key points.

Your reviews have been comprehensive, and highly readable - which is a good trick.

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Aragorn]

Great review Alf.
Tolerances, eh? As if wood doesn't move!

Hope you feel better soon. I'll put a ginger and lemon tea in the post. Hope it gets there in time.
Presumably: "ALF, Cornwall" should get to you OK? :wink:

 

[Alf]

You just beat me to it, Aragorn. Had forty winks this afternoon and feeling much better, thank you (and Pete and John). Alas the ginger & lemon tea will be too late, but a nice thought. I'll have to make do with an early night and something alcoholic (and possibly Scottish) instead.*

Cheers, Alf

*Ewan McGregor on a pub crawl... No, no, that's not what I meant at all. See? Definitely better. :wink:

 

[Midnight]

Alf wrote....

Do not get hung up on the bloomin' measurements.
The plane works.
It does a good job.
It doesn't matter.
I'm sorry I mentioned it.
It won't happen again.

Can I go away and sulk now?

In short.. No.!!

further more.. I'm not gonna blaw yer trumpet re how good, bad or otherwise your review was neither.. deep inside you KNOW how good it was; doesn't take us to tell you that..

What I will say... is that I'd put more store in a bad review written by you on a bad day (like that's ever gonna happen) before I'd put faith in any review in one of the published rags.. Take that any way you like, I dare say I'm not the only one here who feels the same way...

<hands a tissue>.

Now... blaw yer nose.. dry your eyes an get back at it...

sulkin.... sheesh... over half a thou too..... Oi Vey..!!!!!!

 

[Aragorn]

Alas the ginger & lemon tea will be too late, but a nice thought

:sniff:
Don't suppose you want to pop one in the post to me, then :splutter:
:cough:

 

[Alf]

Alas the ginger & lemon tea will be too late, but a nice thought

:sniff:
Don't suppose you want to pop one in the post to me, then :splutter:
:cough:

Oh Aragorn! Oh deary me. If I had some... And here's me feeling all chipper this morning too. Didn't even need the tot last night.

Mike, folks, now just give over now, okay? If you humour me when I whinge and have a tantrum I'll just warm to my theme. But thanks anyway. <goes to let out adjustable galoot hat a notch or two>

Oh, and I've edited my edit in the review. :roll: Sort of makes part of my summing up a bit redundant, but as it still applies to the blade I've left it. I'm suffering from not seeing wood for trees on this at the moment though, so if the feeling is I ought to edit that too, I'll look into it.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Shady]

Alf: If you ain't happy with the '2 thou tolerance' type stuff, which I agree is a little intimidating, try going back to the 'popular woodworking' style approach of using the tool itself to assess its accuracy (as in how to check a straightedge):

It's all about right angled 'shoulders'... Cut one with any method you're happy with (bandsaw, TS, handsaw...), on a 'reasonable furniture length' piece of stock (let's say 2 feet long, for a medium size table apron) that is at least 6 inches wide. Then true it with the plane under test. Now run the thing lengthwise through the TS or bandsaw to give 2 identical pieces (the stock, not the plane )

Flip one of the 2 pieces upside down and mate them. (ooh - fun!) If there is obvious 'non-parallelism' along the length of your 'shoulder scarfed' 4 foot piece, the plane is unacceptably out of square. If it is 'eyeball acceptable', then the plane is useable... Ah, the joy of basic physics and euclidian geometry...

 

[Alf]

Ah, the joy of basic physics and euclidian geometry...

Shady, I was doing so well until you threw that in... :shock: Hmm, not a way I'd considered, I must admit, but a method I shall keep in mind. Ta.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Shady]

Yup: just to make it clear, the 'tenon' stub should be shorter in length than the height of the plane's side, and the shoulder a fraction less deep than the plane's width. Make the cut with the plane on it's side, which gives maximum registering surface for when you subsequently mate the 2 pieces. If either bearing surface is longer than these dimensions, the unplaned bit may throw your mating surfaces out of alignment. Lie the whole thing on a jointer table or surface plate and squint at it a bit...

 

[Alf]

Got it. Just need to buy a jointer or a surface plate now then...* :wink: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

*Just kidding. What d'you think I keep the Maxi for? :roll:

 

[bugbear]

a surface plate now

Despite saying nobody wanted a small cheap surface plate when I asked last year, APTC now stock one. Well, it's small anyway, at 12" x 9".

I hope, at that price, it's 'A' spec.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=210861&recno=3

I have to say, I'd hate to be without mine, which is the same size, 'B' spec, and 14 dollars, carried as hand luggage by a friend visiting the US of A. My friend has long arms - at least he does now...

BugBear

 

[Alf]

I have to say, I'd hate to be without mine, which is the same size, 'B' spec, and 14 dollars, carried as hand luggage by a friend visiting the US of A.

I never tire of hearing that gloat.

Just as well as too... :roll: :wink: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

Sorry BB, couldn't resist. I'm only kidding, of course.