The Ultimate Jack?

[derekcohen]

A year ago I received a selection of timbers from my Galootclaus. A length of Ebony went to infill the Brese small smoother kit (and there is sufficient over to infill a St James Bay Thumb Plane kit). There is a block of Padauk. And there was this piece of Mesquite ...



I have been waiting to build a jack plane around a blade I bought last year. It is 2" wide and 5/16" thick D2. This is very abrasion resistant and could make a super jack plane for use on Australian wood.



This could be The Ultmate Jack!

The design is a mix of tradional vintage England with Malaysian influences. Mesquite body with Jarrah tote and wedge.

The razee body is 15 1/2" long, 2 3/4" wide, and 2" high at the mouth. This keep the centre of gravity low. The plane weighs 1.5 Kg (3.3 lbs).





The mouth is set wide for a thick shaving. The bevel has not yet been cambered. It will have a radius of 8".



The blade does not use a cap iron, and the wedge design keeps the mouth free ..





I should have a full tutorial on building the jack up on my website in a few days.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Claw Hama]

Extremely nice DC, looks like a great design, not to mention your beautiful craftmanship. Can't wait to hear how it performs (fantastic I'm sure)

[RayG]

Wow Derek,

I like the jarrah and mesquite combination, they compliment each other nicely, and beautiful craftmanship, I think you have another winner there.

Regards
Ray

[Virgil]

Terry Gordon will have to look out!

Well done Derek. Another functional work of art.

Cheers,
Virg.

[IanW]

All those pics & not a single shaving?

Is it just a pretty face after all??

[Andy Mac]

Hi Derek,
Beautiful plane you've made, I look forward to the tutorial.

Cheers

[monoman]

Nice job.

Bit concerned about the grain direction. I think you would have been better served with some straighter grain because it will twist less as the moisture content changes - and it will change.

[IanW]

Nice job.

Bit concerned about the grain direction. I think you would have been better served with some straighter grain because it will twist less as the moisture content changes - and it will change.

Possibly - but Derek's done rather well for himself getting a chunk of Mesquite that size!
It's a small tree that grows under some pretty tough conditions. I once tried to get bits long & straight enough to make some clamp screws from, but had no luck...... I've heard it's a bit oily, and therefore probably quite stable - is this true, D.?

Cheers,

[derekcohen]

Hi Ian and George

As far as I can tell the timber has been dry for the past 16+ years. I have had it "acclimatising" for 12 months (another word for procrastination ). Mesquite is one of the more stable timbers. It is hard and dry. I oriented the grain into quartersawn as well (better seen at the heel than the toe). I do not expect any movement.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[kman-oz]

Looks wonderful Derek, but I see no curlies!

Can you tell us a little about the specifics of the blade angle, etc. It looks like a York pitch, perhaps it might double as a scrub plane?

I've just started on two new planes for D2 irons also; a big jointer like yours and a jack... like yours...

I'm not copying you, honest, but I also had the idea to make them razee style planes with only a short drop so that they don't loose too much mass. Your images have been filed for reference!

Dave.

[derekcohen]

Hi Dave

The bed is a common pitch (45 degrees). It is a plane for rough work - to take the place of my Stanley #5 1/2. The blade has yet to be cambered - it will have an 8" radius (for comparison, a scrub has a 3" radius).

No curlies as it has not been used! I finished it late on Monday and it will wait until the weekend now before it gets a thorough workout (I am due to start on a highboy).

Hopefully I will have a tutorial written up by the weekend (if I can find the time - lots of pictures taken of every stage). Copy with pleasure!

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Pops]

Hi Derek,

Very nice, very nice indeed. You must never sleep.

At 5/16" you do not want to drop that little fella on your foot, even with shoes on. Ouch ! What a beauty.

What timber did you use for the mouth piece, (if I have correctly spotted on the photo of the underside)? And how did you install it, and is it intended to be replaceable? OK, don't answer now. I will wait for the tutorial to get these answers. Looking forward to that and the highboy.

Cheers
Pops

[Tex B]

Looks fantastic, Derek. I've never seen anything that nice made from Mesquite. As IanW says, most mesquite is thin and not straight, used mainly for firewood and barbecue, but tough as nails.

You've done a really nice job. Look forward to the review.

Tex

[kman-oz]

What timber did you use for the mouth piece, (if I have correctly spotted on the photo of the underside)?

It looks like a brass rub plate to me, there was some brass distributed for the D2 buyers.

[derekcohen]

Hi Perry

The mouth does have a brass rub piece - Mesquite is a brittle wood and I could otherwise see the mouth chipping.

Just a piece of brass flat from Bunnings.

Regards from Perth

Derek