Popular Post TerryMcK Posted February 9, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 There has been much renewed interest in old wooden bench planes over the past few years. I guess people want to get back to the artisan ways of making things and using a wooden bodied plane is one such route. To facilitate the manufacture of such planes Veritas recently announced that they would make available hardware kits using their mechanism based upon the Norris style adjuster. The bevel down plane kit comes with all the parts and a choice of O1, A2 or PMV11 blades. All you have to do is supply the timber of your choice. I chose the PMV11 blade option because I wanted to. My build I had some teak on my wood racks that was almost the same size as the requirements. Veritas recommend a piece of wood 8”x 2-1/4”x 2-1/2” or larger. The piece I had was 2" x 2" so I glued another piece to make it 2" x 3" x 18" long. I decided to use some contrasting pieces for the side cheeks, again from teak, but it is a slightly different shade. When glueing teak you have to wipe it down with some acetone or mineral spirits first of all to remove the natural oil on the surface of the wood. The next thing to do after the glue sets up is to cut it down to 1-11/16" wide and 2-1/2" tall. Then one block is cut at 3" long and the other needs a 45 degree cut. I left this angled piece still long just in case of mistakes with cutting the pocket of which there were a few! The small 3" long block required a 4" radius cut machining into it so I did this with the bandsaw and oscillating spindle sander. There is a 1/4" section that is left square to what will become the sole. Sketchup representation of the inner blocks. Sketchup shows the radius faceted but in reality it is a smooth 4" radius. The next part to cut was the pocket for the adjusting mechanism. I use a 7/8" Forstner bit to machine the two ends of the slot and chiselled out the remainder. The teak is extremely hard wearing on your tools and I had to have several attempts at making the slot. The first couple of times the bit simply ran off the centre mark as it was not cutting. I had to cut the 45 degree a couple of times and thankfully I had left plenty on to do this. I resharpened the Forstner bit with some diamond files and got a good cut. Teak is really, seriously tough on tools! This is what the finished sloping bed block should look like. Mine did but I had no photos of this part. Then I milled the side cheeks down to 5/16" thick and glued the inner blocks to the outer cheeks leaving excess on to trim off later. The inner blocks were sat flat on the benchtop with a plastic sheet in the way. They are separated by 5mm to create the blade slot (a 5mm packer was inserted during glue up to maintain this setting). I calculated this using SketchUp to give 3/64" clearance when the blade is present. After glue up the plane has very straight sides The next thing to so whilst still in the square condition was to mark out the position of the holes for the brass cross pin, This is all relative to the tip of the 45 degree "point" so is easy to do. Shaping for aesthetics Using a combination of bandsaw to create the rough shape, oscillating spindle sander to smooth it out and a couple of spokeshaves to finesse the shape I ended up with something that is nice to the hand. It is not in the same class as Scott Meeks or James Krenov planes, nor is it intended to be, but it is a first off attempt. Shaping with a spokeshave Smoothed and finished to 220 grit on the sides and 320 grit on end grain. Makers brand applied. After wiping over with acetone a single coat of shellac was applied. There will be several coats of poly applied over the top of this. There is no need to coat the sole as the teak has a natural oil which will lubricate long term. I need to make the blade wedge and give the body several coats of poly. Then I will assemble it and adjust it. Watch this space. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 Nice work Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weithman5 Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 i am very very jealous. that is fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Beautiful and functional ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've just got around to finishing off the plane. A blade lever cap plate was made, again from some teak, about 3/8" thick x 1-5/8" wide x 3-1/2" long. A 30 degree bevel was cut on the leading edge and the back end rounded off. A 3/8" hole counterbored to 5/8" was drilled at the far end. A brass shouldered and threaded insert was pushed into place. The brass adjustment screw was inserted. The lever cap needed slight adjustment on the top face to slide under the cross pin with ease. Then it was coated with some lacquer. After a couple of coats of shellac I applied another few coats of a waterborne gloss lacquer from ToneTech simple with a foam brush. When the lacquer had cured I set about clearing the slot of any remaining lacquer. Then the sole of the plane was trued using some self adhesive sandpaper on a convenient cast iron surface (my table saw). The teak really does suit being used as a wooden plane and it was very easy to obtain a true surface. The sole has no finish applied and it's natural oil content contributes to easy planing. I did put a little beeswax on it to make it even slippier. The first thing to insert was the 1/4" diameter brass cross pin. This is a push fit into both holes and went in with some tapping from a deadblow mallet. Next to be fitted was the bearing cup. This is dropped into the mortise made by the 7/8" Forstner bit and fits perfectly. I did have to remove some of the lacquer again and just had to square up the bottom of the mortice slightly as it was out by a couple of thou. This made the cup parallel and co-planer with the bed. The bearing cup was secured with the supplied brass screw. Next the blade adjustment assembly was inserted. This simply sits in the cup. The blade, bevel down, is inserted and engages the location pawl. The final piece to be put into place is the lever cap and that is it. Adjusting the plane involves using a mill file on the flat leading edge face of the slot. However in practice I had no need for any adjustment as the gap was around 1/32" of an inch when the blade was in place. I seem to have got it right first time. The first tryout of the plane was really successful. Veritas have designed the adjustment mechanism as their factory made planes. This is back and forth and side to side all using the same knob. The classic Norris style adjuster works well. The blade I bought was a PMV11 ground to 23 degrees with a 2 degree microbevel. It did not need any honing at all out of the box. The shavings produced on some scrap teak were continuous and came out rolled up. If you are used to chip breakers then it is quite different. Of course you can move the lever cap closer to the blade edge but you limit the clearance for the chip to come through. I was more than happy with the results. My smoother is quite lightweight especially when you consider that I normally use a Lie Nielsen bronze #4 which weighs about 4-1/2 pounds. This one seems quite light in comparison but is similar in scale to a #2 or #3 pattern smoother. I tried it out on some oak too and was producing very thin 1 thou shavings. Again making this woodworker very happy. I have designed two more planes with 50 and 55 degree beds respectively and will make them in the next few weeks. These will help in those more difficult to handle highly figured pieces. So if you fancy making a wooden bodied plane then the Veritas kit is one way of doing it and is well recommended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Thanks for the ride along and the product review it provides! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Awesome, well done. I've been thinking of giving this option a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Baltic Birch? What? interesting concept. Check out a challenge posed to Scott Meeks. Could be a way to practice building these wooden hand planes. https://www.facebook.com/scottmeekwoodworks/photos/a.10150108010397510.290906.267645667509/10153048045797510/?type=1&theater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Where did the reference for baltic birch come from? I didn't mention it as mine is made totally from teak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 sorry for the confusion. I was just sharing a link to a guy who makes wooden planes and how he was challenged to make one from Baltic Birch. I thought it might be interesting. Also thought it might be an interesting way to practice making them to get the best shape before making the final one out of solid wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Ah understood. No problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Jeez, Terry - How'd I miss this thread?? Very awesome man...that first pic where it takes shape (before adding finish) made my jaw drop. Well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Thanks Vinny. I was using it in the shop tonight. It really is a nice tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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