Thread: Using up more scraps

I'm tidying up my shed - been at it for more than a year. Part of the process involves sorting through a whole pile of offcuts, and therein lies a problem. I keep discovering bits I'd forgotten were there, and being inspired, so tidying gets a miss for a while. The latest distraction was caused by finding a chunk of Ebony I'd forgotten I had. I think it's the last bit of a block I got from Sri Lanka a very long time ago.

I've made several 'thumb' planes over the years. The first one was about as basic as it gets but they became a bit more sophisticated as my metal-working skills developed. My bit of ebony looked to be just about the right size for the stuffing for another one, and since I couldn't think of a better use for it, I set to work. A rummage through my pile of brass offcuts turned up a coupe of bits just big enough for the sides. I would have preferred 3.2mm steel for the sole, but all I had was 3/16", so that had to do.

I wasn't going to fess up to making this plane, & didn't take any pics until I had the body together, so you'll have to imagine the first couple of chapters which included cutting out the parts and peening the dovetails. It took me a couple of D/T'd planes to realise how important it is to take extra care fitting the raw dovetails. Getting those to a nice, tap-together fit makes it a whole lot easier to do the peening, but I think I've learnt that lesson now! This one went pretty well, though such a small body is awkward to clamp up & still have room to get at it with a hammer.

So we start where I've finished the body & filed & sanded the D/Ts flush, & glued in the stuffing. I'm at the stage of fitting the rivets through the woodwork (I like to glue it in with epoxy, then do the rivets within 12 hours or so while the epoxy is still a bit plastic). You can see the mould I used for peening to the left, and the rivets all placed & ready to hammer: 1 Rivets ready to peen.jpg

Two things I've learnt about riveting, the first is to have just the right amount of projection (~1.5mm works well for a 3.2mm rivet) and when you think you've got them hammerd down enough, go over them again! They don't look very pretty at this stage: 2.jpg

But if you've done 'em right, a little filing & sanding makes them disappear very nicely: 3 Rivets sanded.jpg

Time to turn attention to a lever cap. This was cut from a scrap of 3/8" brass that just happened to be the right width. Doesn't look much like a LC at first: 4 LC cut.jpg

And it gets worse! I first take to it with a hacksaw & knock off as much of the brass I safely can that doesn't look like a lever cap: 6 LC roughed out b.jpg 5 LC rough shaped a.jpg

That gets cleaned up with files and various grades of sandpaper wrappped around dowels & flat sticks, & pretty soon it's ready for a final buff & polish: 7 LC done.jpg

Fitting lever caps is the part that gives me the most angst in plane building. You can't do it until you are at this advanced stage & it's possibly the most critical step - stuff this up & the whole thing's a binner. Fortunately, this one went very smoothly, and at this stage, I just have to have a quick test to see if it's going to work. I hadn't made a thumbscrew for it, yet, so had to borrow one from another plane (it's a bit oversize!). And voila! First shavings: 8 First shavings.jpg

What my test assembly did show was that the bed needed a bit more work. In fitting the rear bun I'd managed to get the stuffing about a half a mm too far forward, and had to file down the bed to get the blade to fit through the mouth. In doing so, I managed to cause a slight hump in the bed so that the blade wouldn't sit flat. Fixing something like that is a very tedious chore!

But eventually the blade was sitting nicely, the brass & woodwork got a polish-up, and it makes 1 thou shavings with ease: 10 One thou shavings.jpg

Very happy with it, but not sure whether I should call this one a thumb plane or a small block plane. At 85mm and 360g, it's quite a bit heftier than the one I made last year (70mm and 230g), but still a bare handful. 11 pr cf.jpg

And these are not toys, you'd be surprised how many times they come out for little jobs that full-sized planes are just too big & bulky for....

Cheers,