Thread: Handplanes - profiled - HOW are they made?

I've looked at historical plane manufacturing myself over the years; for the major manufacturers who churned these out by the bucketload the soles were formed using a series of "mother" planes; the final one being the exact mirror image of the desired profile. The irons were roughed out initially and then hand ground to match the profile.

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This is a good resource

it shows Larry Williams scribing the blade from the planes profile itself then grinding it to match the profile of the sole.Sourcery.

Wouldn’t it be the same process as grinding a set of spindle cutters to match a profile? Just on a smaller scale.

what's a spindle cutter?

Originally Posted by Pac man

what's a spindle cutter?

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They look like this when they are at rest.

Originally Posted by Pac man

what's a spindle cutter?

was a joke seeing we are in unpowered - hand tool but thanks for being a good sport

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Wouldn’t it be the same process as grinding a set of spindle cutters to match a profile? Just on a smaller scale.

And my next question would be "and HOW are spindle cutters made/done/sharpened"


edit - I've found plenty of places that make some really amazing profiles.... but not one of them shows the process. Im now hooked! Must know!

On one of these 1545 Weinig 960-04.jpg or it's various alternatives of which there are many

Rondamat 960 features and maintenance - YouTube

2013 Weinig Rondamat 960 Profile Grinder - YouTube

They come with a attachment to grind individual cutters, of course these day yo just draw it up on a computer. load the blanks and go and have lunch while the CNC does it's thing.

For a single one cutter you just can grind by hand.

Good videos. Seems somewhat heavy duty for my balcony!

... pretty sure the downstairs neighbours might have something to say about that

Found this video which shows the process.... nice! .... Colonial Saw || UTMA P20 CNC Profile Knife Grinder for HSS or Carbide Profile knives

edit - and an even better one: Moulding Knives Video, Moulding Knife Grinding & Moulding Knife Steel - YouTube

I was wondering, this is almost like a key cutter machine like at Bunnings, isn't it.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

And my next question would be "and HOW are spindle cutters made/done/sharpened"

I use a standard bench grinder . Its fixed inside a wooden box that I clamp to a bench. The two discs on it are the pink thin 5mm ones . I use a diamond dresser I made to shape the stones to what ever I need. At the moment one is a half round and the other is a sharp angle to the left side of the wheel . The diamond dresser can re shape to anything in a minute . Diamond dresser was made by cutting teeth of an old concrete cutting saw and brazing to a bolt head . That was mounted on the end of a stick . You can re shape by just using a small diamond cutting disk. The type used on an angle grinder for cutting tiles . It'll loose its shape quickly being so thin but it works .
The reason the grinder is in a box is if a wheel explodes . Their thin and dangerous. The stones are enclosed , cant get knocked . And I can just peek in and see the area I'm grinding . It also means my very basic tool rest easily adjusts to any angle by having a clamp each end . Ill try put the pictures I took up . I'm having trouble with pictures atm though .
This simple set up means I can grind my own spindle moulder cutters and its perfect for my Moulding plane work when I need it .

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I just made an adjustable rest for one of the grinders.It’s quite big. And I’ve got a box of different shaped wheels. Next I’m going to mount it somewhere else and set up a misting spray so it doesn’t have to be quenched every 20 seconds. It is messy but quicker. I’d love a weinig pantograph type copying grinder but I haven’t seen one for sale and I’ve been looking for 25 years.

Used 2000 weinig Profile Grinder Rondamat 960C Profile knife grinder in , - Listed on Machines4u
Used 2003 weinig Profile Grinder Rondamat 960C Tooling & Cutter Grinders in , - Listed on Machines4u

Chief tiff hit it - there are mother planes to make the soles of tehse planes, and the makers made planes of that type at great speed (something we don't have to do now, neither does caleb) and precisely.

The irons would've been marked out of a pattern, ground and then filed *before* they're hardened. Trust me, it's a lot easier that way, and then whatever is ground by a planemaker after heat treatment would've been done on a silica (and later silicon carbide) profiled wet wheel.

But if you want to venture into something like this, mark accurately, grind rough short of the line and then file everything - it doesn't take long - leaving just a small flat left, and heat treat in a small forge. i've heat treated irons with a full bevel and knifes all the way down to paper thin bevels and if you have the quench right beside the forge, you won't suffer the decarburizing that you read about (that's probably more common when no individual attention is given or when tools are induction heated.

I once ventured onto an entire set of maker's mother planes for about $10 each - about a week after they sold!

I think the dealer's assumption was that they were a well used collector's item with little value