Thread: A split-sole plane (part 1)

Ian,

It’s not like you have given us an easy choice,I’ve been trying to come up with something witty to say.

But I can’t there both beautiful little planes,well done again.

Now regarding you giving up Plane making, I’m not putting any money on that one,you have history if I remember rightfully on that account [emoji6].

I feel for you regarding the Lawn mower, an know exactly how you feel, i hate grease an all that yuck stuff now.
Yet once, like you i wore black hands as a badge of honour.

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Yet once, like you i wore black hands as a badge of honour.

Cheers Matt.

Matt

I didn't know you were a member of the Black Hand.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Simplicity

...... i hate grease an all that yuck stuff now.
Yet once, like you i wore black hands as a badge of honour......

Matt, my best mate was a motor mechanic for 27 years & one day he decided he'd just had enough & had a major career change. He bought a new car a few years ago & told me he had to buy a new toolbox to go with it. I said, "I thought you'd given that stuff up?" He pulled out his mobile phone & said "This is my new toolbox - if this damn thing stops I just call a tow-truck, there's nothing under the bonnet I understand any more!"

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Matt, my best mate was a motor mechanic for 27 years & one day he decided he'd just had enough & had a major career change. He bought a new car a few years ago & told me he had to buy a new toolbox to go with it. I said, "I thought you'd given that stuff up?" He pulled out his mobile phone & said "This is my new toolbox - if this damn thing stops I just call a tow-truck, there's nothing under the bonnet I understand any more!"

Cheers,

Ian, I fully understand your mate [emoji6]

Originally Posted by IanW

I've just re-made my "coffee-can" forge and it needs to dry & cure thoroughly before I fire it up again, but I have one or two more blades to harden when it's ready, & I'll see if I have solved my problem.
Cheers,

Would appreciate a photo or two and brief description of the process when you have it working Ian.

Lovely little plane, by the way. Thanks for taking the trouble to write up
Tony

Great result as always Ian, very nice.
I'm hearing you with both bench clutter and mowers. I've got two mowers out of action atm, so I have pulled one to pieces tonight in an effort to get fuel going into it again. Guess where I was working on it - the back of my ute on top of a tool box.
Oh by the way, I have large hands if you're trying to find someone to pair that plane with.

Originally Posted by IanW

I'll add it to the "manual" shortly.Cheers,

Let us know when you do please Ian because I'm going to put my hand up for that manual soon.

Originally Posted by IanW

But after this one is done & dusted, I'm quitting the plane business for a very long time, if not forever. I neither need nor want another plane (in fact a few will need to find other lodgings!)
Cheers,

Ian

I am struggling to correlate no more planes and the title of this thread "A split-sole Plane (part 1)"

It very much sounds to me that there is more to come.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

....I am struggling to correlate no more planes and the title of this thread "A split-sole Plane (part 1)"

It very much sounds to me that there is more to come. ... l

There was, Paul, the next post is headed "part 2, day 2" .....

No, while I can't be certain some irresistible design idea won't swim into the sludge-pit that passes for my mind, or one of you blokes won't produce something & I'll decide "I gotta have one of those!", I'm packing it in for now.

Apart from too many damn planes anyway, and wanting to put some to serious work, I'm sick of the brass & iron filings everywhere (they have a half-life of about 5 years), my shoulders are wrecked from filing & lapping, I've used up all the bigger bits of left-over brass, and I will need to buy a whole new set of files before starting any more serious metalwork. Your SS is wonderful stuff, but awfully tough on saw blades & files.

But I had a long conversation yesterday, with a very helpful person from one of the jewellery-making supplies companies wrt saw blades. They are sending me some replacement blades for the ones I reckon aren't Glardons. They swear these are straight out of the carton they came in, which is clearly labelled "Glardon", & said to let them know if they are not up to scratch & they'll look into the matter further. I also whinged about not being able to get coarser sizes in the good-quality brands so they are sending me some coarse blades in a couple of other brands that they reckon are good (one German, the other Swiss) that I can try & see how they go. If they are good, I'll add them to my list of recommended brands (& give the company a plug since they were so helpful )

Now to check these blades I only need to make a few short cuts in SS; that sorts the men from the boys in about 2mm (literally). But I'm not that fond of sawing up metal for no material gain. I wonder if there are enough little scraps left to make a (very) small finger-plane.....?

Originally Posted by tony_A

Would appreciate a photo or two and brief description of the process when you have it working ....

Tony - I took the idea from several "coffee can" recipes I've seen on the web. In my case I used an olive-oil can which is not a radical departure.

For my first attempt, I used wood ash as the refractory material. I just mixed it with water to make a paste & tamped it in the can around a wine bottle,(empty, of course ), which I judged to be about the right size for anything I am likely to want to heat. It took a long while to dry out, but worked fine once it did dry, for a while. But after a year or so, the ash started flaking off, particularly around the opening & in the area where the the flame enters from the side.

So I had a re-think. Some recipes call for plaster of paris mixed 50/50 with sand, or plan old backyard dirt. But I liked the ash because it's quite light & is a good insulator & is certainly refractory to more combustion. I have about 10 barrow-loads of lovely fine white ash after burning the rubbish from the pine trees that died in the last drought. I tried a couple of mixes of around 60/40 ash to p of p p. and the test globs set very nicely - firm & not very dense. That seemed perfect for the purpose, so I went ahead & mixed a good batch & re-packed the can. It has set very nicely, but it's taking a long time to dry out inside the can, as you'd expect. I'm reluctant to fire it up too soon in case it cracks badly. It will probably take a couple more weeks before I'm game to use it seriously, but I might try a few short bursts, warming it up just a little to speed things along.

I've got some pics, so I'll put a short WIP together for you after I get it working & confirm it's ok. I think attaching it to D.W.'s post on heat-treating steels might be the best place to put it....
Cheers,
Ian

Originally Posted by IanW

But after this one is done & dusted, I'm quitting the plane business for a very long time, if not forever. I neither need nor want another plane (in fact a few will need to find other lodgings!) Cheers,

Plane #1: I'll take it...
Plane #2: I'll take it...
Plane #3: I'll take it...
...Ad Infinitum...

Originally Posted by IanW

There was, Paul, the next post is headed "part 2, day 2" .....

No, while I can't be certain some irresistible design idea won't swim into the sludge-pit that passes for my mind, or one of you blokes won't produce something & I'll decide "I gotta have one of those!", I'm packing it in for now.

Apart from too many damn planes anyway, and wanting to put some to serious work, I'm sick of the brass & iron filings everywhere (they have a half-life of about 5 years), my shoulders are wrecked from filing & lapping, I've used up all the bigger bits of left-over brass, and I will need to buy a whole new set of files before starting any more serious metalwork. Your SS is wonderful stuff, but awfully tough on saw blades & files.

But I had a long conversation yesterday, with a very helpful person from one of the jewellery-making supplies companies wrt saw blades. They are sending me some replacement blades for the ones I reckon aren't Glardons. They swear these are straight out of the carton they came in, which is clearly labelled "Glardon", & said to let them know if they are not up to scratch & they'll look into the matter further. I also whinged about not being able to get coarser sizes in the good-quality brands so they are sending me some coarse blades in a couple of other brands that they reckon are good (one German, the other Swiss) that I can try & see how they go. If they are good, I'll add them to my list of recommended brands (& give the company a plug since they were so helpful )

Now to check these blades I only need to make a few short cuts in SS; that sorts the men from the boys in about 2mm (literally). But I'm not that fond of sawing up metal for no material gain. I wonder if there are enough little scraps left to make a (very) small finger-plane.....?

Thanks Ian

I missed that. Good to hear of your supplier actually giving customer service. Something of a jewel in this day and age. Perhaps it is their business.

Regards
Paul

Ian,

Just got to say, I’m very happy you have seemed to have covered all your bases, just on the of chance, never really going to happen guys, but you never know scenario, leaving a back door just slightly open.

Cheers Matt,
You had us going for a second [emoji6].

Originally Posted by IanW

I'm packing it in for now.

Why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, it's a bit like this quote from a post on 28th Dec 2017:
"Matt, this is definitely the last of the last for a very long time, if not forever!"

Just sayin'

(Being on this forum is like being married - there's no statute of limitations on past statements being trotted out to be used against you!)