Thread: Plane Design

Originally Posted by Brobdingnagian

it feels absolutely great im my hands pitty it is sooo soo ugly.

Flashback to me as a baby.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Well, functionality is the priority, prettiness is secondary. I dunno that it's ugly though - might just be a matter of using the right materials/colours.

The pragmatic approach .

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

There are other things that feel great in the hand, but don't look to flash.

Do you mean like a torch with flat batteries?.

Half a tick...OMG !

Regards
Paul

I know nothing about planes and how they function still to use one really.

I would say you very first blue model reminds me of one of my grandma's shoes sorry but that is what immediately popped into my mind.

I think your basic concept is cool with the infill being timber or casting resin filled. I am sure you will eventually get a balance between form & function that you are happy with as you keep refining and modifying your design.

Only place I may be able to add some value is in the casting process. If you choose to go down the path of sand casting you can use your wood or metal working tools to make your prototype quickly and cheaply out of foam. You can even use the white polystyrene use in packaging. It will not have a great surface finish but is easy to work and basically free. Once cast if the casting is not satisfactory melt it down and recycle.

Disadvantage is you loose your pattern each time. However you can use your cast item as a permanent pattern. There will be a small shrinkage factor depending on the metal used.

Once you want to make a more finished pattern you can still use foam and get some Blue Insulation board this has a styrene structure made from fibres and can be machined in a lathe or mill and get a very good finish. Same can be achieved with hand tools.

Alternatively you can go back to making a repeatable wood pattern from Obechee or jelutong. <---Excuse spelling


Also you will want to use garnet sand around the pattern to get a fine finish and then the less expensive sand to fill the flasks.



I would one day love to make a plane myself. I also save all my off cuts and swarf from the lathe etc of both brass & aluminium, so when I get a bucket full I can cast some bits & pieces.
Best of luck with your project.

Originally Posted by DSEL74

I know nothing about planes and how they function still to use one really.

I would say you very first blue model reminds me of one of my grandma's shoes sorry but that is what immediately popped into my mind.

I think your basic concept is cool with the infill being timber or casting resin filled. I am sure you will eventually get a balance between form & function that you are happy with as you keep refining and modifying your design.

Only place I may be able to add some value is in the casting process. If you choose to go down the path of sand casting you can use your wood or metal working tools to make your prototype quickly and cheaply out of foam. You can even use the white polystyrene use in packaging. It will not have a great surface finish but is easy to work and basically free. Once cast if the casting is not satisfactory melt it down and recycle.

Disadvantage is you loose your pattern each time. However you can use your cast item as a permanent pattern. There will be a small shrinkage factor depending on the metal used.

Once you want to make a more finished pattern you can still use foam and get some Blue Insulation board this has a styrene structure made from fibres and can be machined in a lathe or mill and get a very good finish. Same can be achieved with hand tools.

Alternatively you can go back to making a repeatable wood pattern from Obechee or jelutong. <---Excuse spelling


Also you will want to use garnet sand around the pattern to get a fine finish and then the less expensive sand to fill the flasks.



I would one day love to make a plane myself. I also save all my off cuts and swarf from the lathe etc of both brass & aluminium, so when I get a bucket full I can cast some bits & pieces.
Best of luck with your project.

I have wanted to have a go at lost polystyrene for a while now, it seems like a very fun way to cast aluminium.

I was looking at getting some dense modelling board, and milling, turning and filling the patterns from that. But so far I have not pulled the trigger on doing that until I'm happy with the overall shape, comfort and balance of wood to metal.

One of the reasons I'll be making this plane in particular since I don't need any more, 2 smoothers is plenty for me, is to understand what makes a good one. From an initial study posted a month or two back suggested that torsional rigidity seems to play a role in how predictable a plane would be, weight is another factor that also seems to help by increasing the inertia but where is the best place to put the centre of mass. Blade thickness and bedding angle is another area that has been given a fair amount of credit. One area that is still a little unclear to me is how the geometry of the body and proportion of the length in front of the blade to the length to behind of the blade effects feel and performance, one obvious answers is that the distance between the two longest points and the depth of the cut determine the cord length of the maximum arc that can be formed, all I can guess is that the proportions has more to do with the iterative averaging between the sole and the wood keeping and keeping plane stable, with the area in front being a place to align the rest of the sole with work when starting a cut.
-J