08-18-2013, 06:23 PM
As we're presently in the process of trying to sell our house, I figured it couldn't really start a full-fledged piece of furniture as a next project. So, I decided to pull out the casting from Sturnella and begin work in earnest on this plane. To be honest, I was hoping someone else would post an excellent start-to-finish build-along before me so I'd have something to go on because I have zero experience making planes and only very minimal experience making tools (and certainly nothing as exacting as this!). So, when this turns out a wreck, at least we'll know why!
Anyway, I wanted to begin by preparing the casting. James was nice enough to mill the mouth a bit on the blade side, but he didn't or couldn't go all the way to the sides, so there's some file work to be done in both corners.
I don't have an special files for plane-making, but I knew I needed something thin enough to fit in the mouth, and ideally with a safe edge. Turns out an auger bit file works great as long as you don't have much material to use as was the case here. Still, it took some time, which was probably good to prevent me from overdoing it. Once I had it filed even all the way across, I found that the mouth still needed to be opened up along it's length to accommodate the hock blade. Not a big deal - just a little more file work, which was made easier to be sure by having a safe edge.
I then attempted to remove some of the small jagged irregularities from the pour of the casting - mostly just little guys the size of a large speck of sand, but too big across their base to just sheer off with some blunt force. I didn't have any files that had cutting action all the way out to the edge, so I ground the end of one on my grinder at about 85 degrees and with a slight convexity to allow focused efforts at scraping. This pretty much did the trick and I went about taking down the very high spots on the inside of the casting. The side walls are the easiest to do because you can come in with a small and rigid 120 sanding block after the initial scraping. I didn't get crazy with it, just enough to that the infills could slide in an maintain consistent contact with the sides vs. getting bound up on little rough or high areas.
Then I started thinking about design. I want this to have the general look of this Sauer and Steiner plane:
Which means overstuffed. As it comes out of the form, the casting has a roughish rounded edge all the way around. If I were to overstuff it now, there would be unsightly gaps all around where the infill met the bronze on the side. So, more filing:
Fortunately, I was able to use the high quality of the pour to my advantage. Since it was nice and parallel to the sole, I could file both sides at once in a cross-ways motion to ensure that I was approaching a flat that would also be square to the side. Then I did the rest:
I looked around for suitable infill material and found some mystery exotic that I'd bought at an estate sale a couple of year ago. I think it's rosewood, but really I have no idea. It is very heavy I will tell you that!
I also found some curly probably maple that would also work, but I think I'll probably go with the mystery wood.
Now on to the big questions. What bed angle to shoot for? The angle machined into the bed is about 47.5 degrees. I'm all set with smoothers at 45 and 55 degrees. So should I go even higher? This template was drawn up for 58.5 but perhaps I should go for 60? Or maybe I should calm down and go for 50 (an intermediate angle I don't have)?
Also, do we think there's enough room down there for shavings to be pulled out? How do people feel about the prospective position of the pins for the lever cap? Do I need to worry about leaving more meat around (and especially above) it?
I appreciate everyone's thoughts - especially those of you who have and use infills or especially those who have built them!
Reed
Anyway, I wanted to begin by preparing the casting. James was nice enough to mill the mouth a bit on the blade side, but he didn't or couldn't go all the way to the sides, so there's some file work to be done in both corners.
I don't have an special files for plane-making, but I knew I needed something thin enough to fit in the mouth, and ideally with a safe edge. Turns out an auger bit file works great as long as you don't have much material to use as was the case here. Still, it took some time, which was probably good to prevent me from overdoing it. Once I had it filed even all the way across, I found that the mouth still needed to be opened up along it's length to accommodate the hock blade. Not a big deal - just a little more file work, which was made easier to be sure by having a safe edge.
I then attempted to remove some of the small jagged irregularities from the pour of the casting - mostly just little guys the size of a large speck of sand, but too big across their base to just sheer off with some blunt force. I didn't have any files that had cutting action all the way out to the edge, so I ground the end of one on my grinder at about 85 degrees and with a slight convexity to allow focused efforts at scraping. This pretty much did the trick and I went about taking down the very high spots on the inside of the casting. The side walls are the easiest to do because you can come in with a small and rigid 120 sanding block after the initial scraping. I didn't get crazy with it, just enough to that the infills could slide in an maintain consistent contact with the sides vs. getting bound up on little rough or high areas.
Then I started thinking about design. I want this to have the general look of this Sauer and Steiner plane:
Which means overstuffed. As it comes out of the form, the casting has a roughish rounded edge all the way around. If I were to overstuff it now, there would be unsightly gaps all around where the infill met the bronze on the side. So, more filing:
Fortunately, I was able to use the high quality of the pour to my advantage. Since it was nice and parallel to the sole, I could file both sides at once in a cross-ways motion to ensure that I was approaching a flat that would also be square to the side. Then I did the rest:
I looked around for suitable infill material and found some mystery exotic that I'd bought at an estate sale a couple of year ago. I think it's rosewood, but really I have no idea. It is very heavy I will tell you that!
I also found some curly probably maple that would also work, but I think I'll probably go with the mystery wood.
Now on to the big questions. What bed angle to shoot for? The angle machined into the bed is about 47.5 degrees. I'm all set with smoothers at 45 and 55 degrees. So should I go even higher? This template was drawn up for 58.5 but perhaps I should go for 60? Or maybe I should calm down and go for 50 (an intermediate angle I don't have)?
Also, do we think there's enough room down there for shavings to be pulled out? How do people feel about the prospective position of the pins for the lever cap? Do I need to worry about leaving more meat around (and especially above) it?
I appreciate everyone's thoughts - especially those of you who have and use infills or especially those who have built them!
Reed
