Thread: Coffin Toother.

Originally Posted by planemaker

Hi all. Attached are photo's of coffin shaped toothing plane I just completed. The iron is bedded 89.5* . (Measured from the face of the iron to the sole of the plane.)

Most of my previous toothing planes builds I have experimented with the iron bedded at around 55 - 60*. From ongoing correspondence with John Walkowiak, who suggested I would achieve greater performance benefit if I moved to a more upright bed. The results of doing so was quite measurable, and I am now in complete agreement with John.

More details on the new plane.

8 inches in length, and has a total weight of 2.4 Ib's (1.025 kg). The mouth clearance was set at 1/8".

I rans performance tests on some difficult grained Australian Blackwood. Very sweet. The traditional coffin shape to the body of the plane also delivers in spades, making the hand plane extremely to hold.

Now for the photo's.

regards Stewie;

Hi Stewie, Another awesome plane mate, One day I will get the time to try and do this. I am in the process of finishing off my first saw that I started with the help of IanW and the workshop that he held,Top bloke Ian and I think that I can speak for the other guys who attended that we learn't one hell of a lot from him in one day, Cheers, Richie

Originally Posted by Richie Rich

Hi Stewie, Another awesome plane mate, One day I will get the time to try and do this. I am in the process of finishing off my first saw that I started with the help of IanW and the workshop that he held,Top bloke Ian and I think that I can speak for the other guys who attended that we learn't one hell of a lot from him in one day, Cheers, Richie

Thanks for the feedback Richie. 5 days work in that plane. Not the easiest traditional tool to make. 1/2 a dozen different angles to negotiate in order for the plane to function correctly. Not too many around still building these the old way.

Ian & Ray have both been very important to this forum on promoting the interest of backsaw making. Kudos to Ian for running this extra workshop session. He's a top bloke as you mentioned. Sounds like Ian has covered the basics steps of saw making well. Now the hard part starts for each of the students. Practice, practice, & more practice. Be prepared to make mistakes. That's an important part of the learning kerb. Always set your goals slightly higher after each saw build. Take whatever time is required to complete each of the steps correctly with each backsaw build. Your goal should always remain the same. "to the best of my ability". There are no bonus points offered for completing a saw build in 1 weekend.

regards; Stewie.

Hi Stewie,
Just a little interested in the " Hitting Knob ". Wood that be the head of say a ½in. Bolt, & is that the best way on loosening The Blade.
Other older Wooden Planes you wood hit the end with a wooden mallet.

That is one Great Job Stewie, so, I will just keep Drooling.

Originally Posted by issatree

Hi Stewie,
Just a little interested in the " Hitting Knob ". Wood that be the head of say a ½in. Bolt, & is that the best way on loosening The Blade.
Other older Wooden Planes you wood hit the end with a wooden mallet.

That is one Great Job Stewie, so, I will just keep Drooling.

Hi Isatree. The bolt head is fairly close to 1 inch dia. The bolts I use are all black steel. Similar to a carriage bolt without the square neck. IMO the effectiveness of a steel strike button hit with a steel hammer to shock the wedge loose is much higher than the other traditional method of using a wooden mallet to achieve the same result. In saying that. Both methods will still do the job.

Stewie.

Here is a close up of the fine toothing profile on the face of the plane iron.



This shows the back of the toothing iron with its original 13* primary bevel. Notice there is no visible evidence of the toothing profile along the front cutting edge. A secondary bevel is required in order for this profile to become exposed, and allow the plane iron to function as per its intended design.



Using a coarse diamond stone a secondary bevel has been formed allowing the toothed cutting edge to become exposed.



A medium, then fine diamond stone is then used. With a final hone completed on a flat mdf board coated in honing compound. The burred edge is then lightly removed using a coarse rag so as not to cause any flattening to the face of the toothing.

Here is a close up of the timber surface after being worked with the toothing plane. As you can see the grooves visible on the timber are extremely fine. Minimal follow up with a scraper blade or sanding medium is only required.



Stewie;

Originally Posted by planemaker

Here is a close up of the fine toothing profile on the face of the plane iron.



This shows the back of the toothing iron with its original 13* primary bevel. Notice there is no visible evidence of the toothing profile along the front cutting edge. A secondary bevel is required in order for this profile to become exposed, and allow the plane iron to function as per its intended design.



Using a coarse diamond stone a secondary bevel has been formed allowing the toothed cutting edge to become exposed.



A medium, then fine diamond stone is then used. With a final hone completed on a flat mdf board coated in honing compound. The burred edge is then lightly removed using a coarse rag so as not to cause any flattening to the face of the toothing.

Here is a close up of the timber surface after being worked with the toothing plane. As you can see the grooves visible on the timber are extremely fine. Minimal follow up with a scraper blade or sanding medium is only required.



Stewie;

Hi Stewie, Do you think that blackwood is a timber that could be used for such a plane body, I have a a large Qty of 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 blocks from mapleman which i would like to use to make a coffin style plane, probably using an old mathieson blade and chipbreaker. If you want some blackwood in the sizes listed let me know,
Cheers, Richie

Originally Posted by planemaker

Thanks for the feedback Richie. 5 days work in that plane. Not the easiest traditional tool to make. 1/2 a dozen different angles to negotiate in order for the plane to function correctly. Not too many around still building these the old way.

Ian & Ray have both been very important to this forum on promoting the interest of backsaw making. Kudos to Ian for running this extra workshop session. He's a top bloke as you mentioned. Sounds like Ian has covered the basics steps of saw making well. Now the hard part starts for each of the students. Practice, practice, & more practice. Be prepared to make mistakes. That's an important part of the learning kerb. Always set your goals slightly higher after each saw build. Take whatever time is required to complete each of the steps correctly with each backsaw build. Your goal should always remain the same. "to the best of my ability". There are no bonus points offered for completing a saw build in 1 weekend.

regards; Stewie.

Hi Stewie, I couldn't agree more Ian and Ray are awesome and have provided many hours of Internet reading for me on saws and all sorts of other woodworking related topics. I want to learn how to make saws and planes etc and I reason that our forefathers had to learn the hard way, they learnt from asking questions and just getting on with it, so why cant I. It is a sad shame that all the old traditions are dying off, people have asked me why build a saw when you can go to Bunnings and buy one for $7 bucks or so, Reply, because I can and I want too, simple, I had a ball working with Ian and it was refreshing too work with someone as passionate about everything woodworking as himself. Keep up the great work and pictures, Stewie, it is inspiring to watch,
Cheers, Richie.

Hi Richie. It should be okay. Aust. Blackwood has a low shrinkage, reasonably hard & quite stable to work with. Tas. Blackwood is a bit more weighty and possibly a better option to choose, but I see no reason why you shouldn't proceed with what you have available. Dampen the surface of the timber on each side to raise the wood fibres, as this helps greatly when it comes to working out the grain direction. Take great care to insure you work with the grain, and not against to avoid undue tear-out. Insure you mark each side with a reference arrow. Once you have chosen the face side thats going to become the sole of the plane, make sure the reference arrow points from toe to heel. That way you avoid the grain being raised on the sole as you work the plane in a forward direction. Can you post a couple of pics of the 4x4, so I can get a better idea on the colour of the blackwood you will be working with.

Stewie;

Originally Posted by Richie Rich

Hi Stewie, I couldn't agree more Ian and Ray are awesome and have provided many hours of Internet reading for me on saws and all sorts of other woodworking related topics. I want to learn how to make saws and planes etc and I reason that our forefathers had to learn the hard way, they learnt from asking questions and just getting on with it, so why cant I. It is a sad shame that all the old traditions are dying off, people have asked me why build a saw when you can go to Bunnings and buy one for $7 bucks or so, Reply, because I can and I want too, simple, I had a ball working with Ian and it was refreshing too work with someone as passionate about everything woodworking as himself. Keep up the great work and pictures, Stewie, it is inspiring to watch,
Cheers, Richie.

You may want to consider purchasing a good toothing plane one day Richie. Its makes a difference when dealing with awkward grained timbers.

Stewie;

Awesome work.

Did you get fancy around the mouth area? A different timber?

Cheers,
Paul

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Awesome work.

Did you get fancy around the mouth area? A different timber?

Cheers,
Paul

Hi Paul. Just the 1 species of timber was used. Its the 2 types of grain beside each other that create that illusion.

I can't say the same on the main body of the next toothing plane I just started. Its sole is definitely a different species of wood to the upper body.

Stewie;

Stewie,
Did you tooth that blade yourself?

Originally Posted by Clinton1

Stewie,
Did you tooth that blade yourself?

Hi Clinton. No.

Thanks Stewie.
I find toothed blades very hard to find, so would have been very interested in knowing a technique to tooth one.