Part 1 of smoothing plane build.
Part 2 of smoothing plane build.
Now that the throat is shaped, I could get to the wedge. OK, I'm fessing up. I actually made the wedge immediately after forming the abutment recesses because I couldn't wait to try to make shavings.
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| First shavings with prototype |
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| First shavings with the final plane |
Anyway, after squaring up a blank and fitting it side-to side in the recess, I planed an angle at one end based on my layout lines. Then tested the fit ... and planed some more ... and tested ... and more ...
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| First try was not close |
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| Getting closer, but still not there |
When I was happy with the fit, I figured out the length of the wedge. Take a look at the iron.
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Knife points to the location where the cap-iron starts curving towards the iron.
The pencil points to a mark where the iron exits the throat |
It's important that the points of the wedge do not extend past the line that the knife points to. If they do, they will create a gap that shavings can get caught in, causing a jam in the mouth. So I placed the iron and wedge into the throat and marked on the wedge where it meets the start of the cap-iron's curve.
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| The lower end of the wedge |
The wedge has two functions. First, as it is tightened, it forces the iron against the bed to keep it solidly in place. Second, it allows for the efficient redirection of shavings, forcing them to the center and up. The tapers at the end of the tips of the wedge divert shavings towards the center and the angled ramp sends them up in the throat.
Update: I've been using the plane for a few weeks now, and have had to cut the tips of the wedge shorter. As the plane has worn in, the wedge seated about 1/8" deeper, forming an area where shavings were getting caught. I'm guessing that this is because the wood fibers on the wedge and on the front abutment wall have compressed with repeated hammer blows to the wedge.
After the wedge was all set, I could shape the plane body. The prototype was the same size as the J. Pearce smoother used as a model, so I used the Pearce body as a template. The final plane is 1/8" longer and about 3/16" wider, so I scaled up the shape a little bit.
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| The shape drawn on top |
In the photo above, you can see two curved lines on each side. This accounts for the chamfer that I put all around (the chamfer extended 3/8" down the sides) and also gave me the extents of the curve that I drew in for the back end.
On some planes I've seen, I really like the detail of the rounded back end with sharp transitions between flat and curved surfaces.
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| Note the curves on top and on the heel. Used a circle template to lay them out. |
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| Sides shaped, back end pending |
I used chisels, rasps and files to get the back end smoothed out and was very happy about the shape.
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| Back end shaped - note the sharp semicircular transition |
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| Not as sharp a transition on top - I had smoothed it for a more comfortable grip. |
The last thing I added was a strike button like the J. Pearce smoother has. I made a 3/4 dowel out of maple and slightly rounded the end. Then bored a 3/4" hole, about 1/2" or 5/8" deep (can't remember now), centered in the front deck of the plane. Cut off enough of the dowel so that it would extend about 1/8" above the top of the plane and glued it in.
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| Strike button glued in |
The strike button works like a champ! I mean, phenomenally well! And I feel much better about hitting the maple end grain with a metal hammer than I would about hitting the plane body.
As a final fitting of the iron to the bed, I used a trick I learned from Bob Rozaieski where he burns a candle to get soot on the iron. Insert the iron and wedge and tighten them up. Then advance the iron and the soot left on the bed will tell you where you need to remove some material to get a better fit.
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| Back of iron with soot |
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| Dark spots mark where I had to shave a little wood |
After several go-rounds with this method, the iron fit the bed like a glove.
Another task before completion was to flatten the sole, and I did this on plate glass / sandpaper. The iron was in the plane, well retracted.
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| Marked lines on the sole to gauge progress |
I finished the planes with two coats of BLO thinned with turpentine.
And here they are, prototype in poplar and maple and the real deal in red alder.
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| Ta da! |
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| Smoothing plane complete |
One final note: on the prototype I really nailed the mouth opening, but it's a bit too big for my liking on the final plane. So far, it performs fine, but if I ever work with figured or more gnarly woods I might find it a problem.
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| Prototype - toe to bottom of photo |
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| Final plane - toe to right in photo |
All for now. I hope you all are finding solace in woodworking through this health crisis.
I'm impressed, turned out great
ReplyDeleteBob
Thanks, Bob. It has been fun to use. But I've found it tough to hold sometimes. I'm used to having a tote to hold on to.
DeleteIt takes a little bit to get used to it. If you look at your woodie besides a Stanley No 4, you will notice your hand position is different. On a metal Bailey plane you are planning comfortably on a higher bench height. Your hand is pushing forward. On woodie, notice your hand sit higher and you are pushing downward as well. Hence a lower bench is preferred allowing you to be more on top, using other body muscle. It is amazing how much the smallest little changes, make a difference in the experience. Ergonomic and body mechanics were nothing new to our ancestors, learned thru the centuries. I bet we still have a lot to learn or re discover about these wondrous tools. Looks are decieving, a eooden plane looks very simple, almost primitive to some. But as we both know, they are a marvel of engineering, every small details are there for a reason.
DeleteBob, almost done purging cleaning my piles of papers
Bob, in his most recent issue of "The Lost Scrolls of Handwork" e-magazine, Salko Safic wrote an article about building a workbench and he discussed bench height in the beginning of it. He mentioned about having the bench a little shorter if you use wooden planes, something I had never thought about.
DeleteDisclaimer: I do the copy editing for his magazine, but for no financial gain.
Nothing finer than seeing shavings come out out the mouth of a plane that you made.
ReplyDeleteYou got that right, Ralph. I love using this thing.
DeleteThat came out great.
ReplyDeleteWhen you cut the front of the mouth the way you want before bedding the iron, the mouth will get bigger. Next time if you leave the final mouth trimming to the end you can get exactly as you like.
Thanks a lot Steve. I thought about opening the mouth by trimming the bed, but in reality, I only removed a few thousandths of bed and only in certain areas- none at all at the mouth. The mouth being a little too wide was my own fault in the layout. I think it makes sense to lay out the mouth ultra tight (perhaps even totally closed) and then open it when the plane is close to completion.
DeleteMy dear, you have a career of plane maker in front of you! Really a great job, low hat and congratulations!
ReplyDeleteLionel, not posting much but progressing with his last project.
Thanks, Lionel. Ha! If I had only gotten into woodworking much earlier - maybe I could have been a planemaker. What a job that would be!
DeleteInteresting study:
ReplyDeletegoogle “the ergonomic and design of an inclusive best-fit solution to workbenches”
Thesis by William F. Caughran – Brunel University.
(Click on the (3rd?) response with a PDF link)
This guy has taken the elbow height as parameter for able bodied person and knee height for wheel chair person. He doesn’t specifically focus on back pain. The study shows pain in other body parts linked to workbench height (e.g. shoulder pain or wrist pain).
One has to add the shoe heel height to the bare elbow height.
To avoid any misunderstanding, taking the elbow height (EH) “as parameter” doesn’t mean that the elbow height is the optimum height.
About 60 persons were invited to work at various heights:
* EH -100 mm;
* EH -150 mm;
* EH -200 mm;
* EH -250 mm;
* a commercial workbench at 800 mm.
The optimum height would be about 150 mm below elbow height (+shoe heel).{with metal plane?}.
For more body measurements, google : “Body Space Anthropometry, ergonomics and the design of work ” by Stephen Pheasant.
When using your woodies with a tote, you can walk on a duckboard. Note how German woodies are designed for a better comfort of the pushing hand.
Sylvain
Thanks for the input, Sylvain. A bit too much reading for the time I have lately ... But I'm sure that we could all benefit from properly fitting workbenches - and that would depend on what types of planes we use and what type of work we do.
Delete