Completing a wooden smooth plane

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I started this smooth plane project at least ten years ago with a block of mesquite from Woodcraft, laminated the body, made the 3/16” thick iron…

and then put the project aside when I saw the mouth was much too wide.

Today, I started on finishing this project by cutting a 1/4” thick bed shim of a similar wood and a pair of plastic wedges.

After using a float to make the shim fit, I glued in the shim using the plastic wedges as clamps.

 

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After flattening the sole by planing, sanding to 600 grit, and adding a coat of wax, the mouth now looks like this:

 

[drw]

Mike, looks good and your wide-mouth solution is ingenious. That said, how is it at making shavings?

 

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That said, how is it at making shavings?

Donn, I still have to harden & temper the iron and make a wedge before I can answer your query.

 

[tvrgeek]

Been thinking of giving it a try, but my own version of a transition, maybe a Norris.

 

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O1 is an oil-hardening tool steel that is easy to heat treat with minimal equipment. There are plenty of exact procedures to heat treat O1 but I simply do what follows and it works well enough.

I use a MAPP torch to heat the steel and a magnet on a stick to test when the steel is hot enough to quench in peanut oil.

An improvised tin can “furnace” helps concentrate the torch heat. Be sure to use locking pliers to hold the steel away from your hands.

After heating (about 5 minutes in my case) until the magnet won’t stick to the hot end of the steel, immerse the steel in the peanut oil and swirl it until the smoking stops.

Here is the steel after quenching and sandpapered to remove the scale. At this point, the steel on the right side is very hard and brittle and needs tempering to draw down that hardness.

A thrift store toaster oven is fine for tempering. I set the oven at 400 degrees and tempered the steel for about 1-1/2 hours.

Not fancy, not precise, but good enough for woodworking.

 

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Did an initial sharpening on the iron but still need to flatten the back some more. Making a wedge is next and here is how I measure the angle that it needs to be.

Edit: After mulling a bit, I normally wedge at 10 degrees and with the iron, this wedge will be a bit thinner than I would like. So, next I will use an edge float to open the abutments to fix both conditions.

 

[Jack A.]

Those angle gauges are a nice idea.

 

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Those angle gauges are a nice idea.

Shown to me by Bill Anderson 'bout 20 years ago. I'll try to attach a PDF of the pattern that I made to make them.

 

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Today’s problem was how to accurately change the abutment angle from about seven to ten degrees. First made a ten degree wedge to fit the throat. Hard to see, but there is a gap at the bottom of that left abutment.

Next used a flush cut saw to “kerf in” the abutment. The other side was kerfed through the bottom because of the saw’s one-way set.

Four kerfs on each side was enough for a ten degree abutment. Compare the wedge position with the previous photo.

Couldn’t wait so I used the kerfing wedge to temporarily hold the iron for take a proof shaving for Donn.

Remaining to fettle is fixing a little gap on one side of the wedge and making sure the iron has good contact with the bed. No finish yet other than a waxed sole.

 

[drw]

Mike, it appears your handiwork is making great shavings! Please know that when I originally asked about making shavings, it was more of a rhetorical question than a request for proof. Knowing your skills and craftsmanship, I had a high level of confidence that the final product would be highly functional.

 

[pop-pop]

Mike, it appears your handiwork is making great shavings! Please know that when I originally asked about making shavings, it was more of a rhetorical question than a request for proof. Knowing your skills and craftsmanship, I had a high level of confidence that the final product would be highly functional.

Recognized the query as rhetorical. This one may not work as well as I had hoped due to a design choice and we’ll see after I get the fettling done.

 

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Made the wedge fit tight on both abutments and the plane cuts much smoother now.

Wooden plane bed angles typically are either Common pitch (45), York pitch (50), Middle pitch (55), or Half pitch (60) degrees. My coffin smoother is York pitch. For reasons that I don’t remember, I bedded this plane Half pitch. I tried to find a piece of wood with reversing grain direction where it made a big difference compared to several Common pitch panes but did not so far.

Two things that I did notice that it is 1) harder to push, and 2) touchier to adjust (both caused by the high bed angle). Putting this aside for now and next is finishing an improved chamfer plane.

Here it is with one coat of 50% BLO.