Thread: The last plane I'll ever make (for the third time!)

About 18 months ago, I made a small (115 x 38mm) rear-bun smoother. It turned out to be a really sweet little plane, & I’ve used it more than I expected. The size was dictated by the short pieces of bronze I had for the sides, and it’s a teeny bit shorter than I’d like. It’s fine for the brief sessions it gets used for, but because of that very short rear bun, the edges of the blade can chafe my hand if used for a long time. I think it’s likely a problem common to any small infill like this, and not too severe because it’s rarely used for more than a minute at a time.

So that should be end of story. However, soon after finishing that plane, this nice block of ringed Gidgee came my way, and, I could clearly see the infill of a small plane lurking inside it:
1.jpg

There was enough length in this block to make a plane at least 25mm longer than the original, which I think might make a big difference to user comfort.

I tried to talk myself out of making another plane, I have more than enough already, but that block kept nagging at me, ‘til finally, I gave in. So, for at least the third time since I said “no more!”, I done it again. Yeah, ok, all derogatory remarks about my will-power are richly deserved
My previous small rear-bun infill also has parallel sides. I would have liked to have given it some curves, but the side material I used was thicker than the 1/8” brass I normally use for sides, and I thought it would’ve been a major challenge to bend evenly.

I won’t bore you with many build details, things went pretty smoothly (this was my 10th infill) except for a glitch that I’ll get to shortly.

But something I may not have mentioned before; I got this tip from a plane maker on a British forum. The bottoms of dovetails and pins need to be perfectly flat & in a straight line. Clamping the side to the back of a piece of squared hardwood, with the scribe-line carefully aligned to the top of the block, makes an excellent guide. Keeping the file as square to the block as possible, file until you just graze the top of the block and you’re there: 2.jpg

To get into the corners of pins & tails, you need a narrow file with ‘safe edges. You can buy barette files from jewellers suppliers, but they are needle files; ok for very small dovetails, but a bit under-nourished for 5mm thick steel. Pferd make a decent machinists barette, but the price is eye-watering, so I make my own version. I have a tin full of spent saw files, many of which still have sharp teeth except on their corners. Grinding two faces back creates a very good substitute for a barette and wrings a bit more use out of my saw files.

The part of this build that gave me the most grief was fitting the stuffing. Apart from being hard, the Gidgee was inclined to crumble & tear out under the sharpest of tools. I had a hard time getting a really tight fit over the tops, in particular.

I started by making a mock-up to sort out the dimensions & make sure the woodwork would sit properly where it was supposed to. It would better be described as a ‘rough-up’: 3.jpg

However, it served the purpose & showed me I needed to alter a couple of things. First, the front was too high, so I chopped it down to the thick pencil line. The rear bun could also be a bit higher, I thought another 5-8mm would look better.

Then it was crunch time, I knew my Gidgee block was a bit narrower than I would have liked, so was it going to be enough? I was hoping that it would work because where the stuffing overlaps at front & back is narrower than the widest part of the body. As it turns out, it was ok for the rear bun (just!), but a couple of mm too narrow at the front. I had other possibilities, for instance some very nice Black Wattle, and a chunk of Western Rosewood (A. rhodoxylon) that are plenty large enough. I considered switching to one of these: 4.jpg

But I really, really, wanted to use that Gidgee! After a good deal of head-scratching & drawing various combinations on the block, I decided it could be done, but only if I cut the front bun out ‘sideways’ from the block, to get the required width. It meant the grain would be running roughly at right-angles in the two pieces, but I hoped that wouldn’t be too obvious or detract from appearances.

No guts, no glory - I cut up my Gidgee block.

And after some very anxious moments and a few expletives when I thought I’d stuffed the stuffing, I had my buns: 5.jpg

It was pretty much plain-sailing from there on. I set the buns in with a goodly slop of Araldite and riveted them with 1/8” brass rivets, then cleaned the whole thing up to 400 grit. I couldn’t resist wiping he Gidgee over with some shellac to see how it was going to look. Not too shabby, I thought, and best of all, the rotated grain in front & back isn't at all obvious: 6.jpg

I was re-using a lever cap from another decommissioned plane, which meant a bit of fiddling to fit it. Normally, I work out where the pivot holes will need to be & drill those, then put the LC in place & mark the holes on its sides. My solution to this problem was to square a line across the top of the LC above the fulcrum point, then clamp it to the blade/cap iron assembly in the position it will occupy, and mark where the line meets the sides. I then measured from that point to the centre of the pivot holes, which gave me the centre of the hole, but on the wrong side! To transfer the centre to the outside, I used this highly technical device: 7.jpg

A flat stick, cut like a peg to fit neatly over the side. The inside is aligned to the centre point, then a line drawn along the matching side on the outside. Repeat, with the sick at 70-90 degrees to the first alignment, and bingo, there is the centre for the pivot hole: 8.jpg

With the LC attached, I could put in the blade and lap the sole. The mouth was eased & straightened at the front, & finally, I sharpened the blade & took it for a test drive: 9.jpg

Not too bad, but a couple of small matters need attention. One is to reduce the LC thumbscrew, which is too long. That was very minor, what was a bigger worry was that the sides were a bit tight at the top of the blade bed because I curved them back a bit too soon from the throat area. This meant very little lateral adjustment was available, and the only solution I could think of was to grind a bit off the sides of the blade.

That solved the problem, and won’t affect the blade because the material removed is well above the useable end.

With all sorted, I finished the woodwork by rounding the sides of the front bun and cutting the rear bun away more – it looks a bit angular and not hand-friendly as I had it initially.

The final product – I’m really pleased I persisted with the Gidgee! 10.jpg

Cheers,