Thread: Shop Made Plane Adjustment Hammer

I've managed to acquire myself a few of Terry Gordon's planes. For a while I had an adjustment hammer I'd made of Gidgee, but I threw it in as a bonus with another wooden-bodied plane that I sold last year.

So I needed another one, and I wanted to make it out of Brass and hardwood. Unfortunately, I did a crap job of documenting the build visually, so here's a photo of the finished product:

IMG_0393.JPG

Basically, it's a piece of 7/8" (22mm) brass that's had a hole drilled in the end at the center. Then a piece of wood is placed in the lathe and an appropriate sized tenon glued into the brass with a strong epoxy. Once dry, sand the wood down flush with the brass. Then, drill a hole through the brass at what will be the center of the head. Then turn your handle and shape it with planes or a spokeshave, leaving an appropriate sized tenon for the hole in the head. I turned my handle oversized and then planed a flat on either side with a block plane.

The head is then fitted onto the handle by wedging it. I put epoxy between the handle and the brass, but I used wood glue on the wedge. This seemed appropriate.

And it's great! I use the wooden end on the plane body, and the brass end to advance the iron. It's well balanced, appropriately heavy, and it feels great in the hand.

For this one I used Archidendropsis basaltica, or Dead Finish, which I obtained from a fellow forum member last year before leaving Australia.

It should be noted that it would be a stronger build if you turned the brass and inserted a brass tenon in the wooden end instead of the vise versa version which I did. Nonetheless, this hammer isn't seeing any serious blows, so it's probably unimportant and not worth seeking out a metal lathe unless you have one.

Anyway, I hope that helps someone.

Cheers,
Luke