Challenge 2020-2021 Labr@

**labr@** · 22nd May 2021, 02:43 PM

First, an explanation for the late entry that I think of as the "Victim of Circumstance" plane.....

Back when the challenge was announced I had an idea for a shooting plane with a new type of adjuster (that I thought of as the "Barnum and Bailey " because it was based on the Bailey but with enough added complexity to turn it into a bit of a circus).

However, since I was still building a canoe I realised that there would not be enough time to do the plane as well so abandoned the idea.

Then the time extension was announced but by then I'd planned a 3 week caravan trip during that period.
Then on the last day of the trip I wandered into a secondhand shop in a country town and found a wooden coffin smoother with a reasonable blade and chip breaker. The mental gears began to whir.......

So now I have started making a laminated timber bodied skew plane for shooting. There will be no fancy adjuster - just the old wedge system.

The lamination idea is for 2 reasons -
- easier to cut out the internal cavity accurately
- no need to find a piece of good timber large enough

One thing that will be a bit odd is that the blade will initially be set straight in the body blank but will end up skewed 20 degrees when the blank is trimmed so the face that rests on the board will be more like end grain. Not sure if this will be a problem but if it is then I may need to take several mm off and replace it with a hardwood lamination.

Timber is blackwood because I found some shorts going out cheap at a local supplier.

IMG_20210521_152011 [800x600].jpg IMG_20210521_152301 [800x600].jpg IMG_20210521_152112 [800x600].jpg

Will use the internal dimensions from the old plane.
IMG_20210521_152357 [800x600].jpg

Mad scribblings below constitute the mud map of the pieces to glue up.
IMG_20210521_152532 [800x600].jpg

Hopefully 5 weeks will be enough to finish it.

**Cklett** · 22nd May 2021, 04:00 PM

Welcome! Better late than never. Sounds really interesting. Looking forward to this one as well.

Good luck!

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**Mountain Ash** · 22nd May 2021, 04:59 PM

Another woodie. Doubly welcome!

**Bushmiller** · 22nd May 2021, 05:54 PM

Labr@

Welcome to the sprint to the finish.

Regards
Paul

**Picko** · 22nd May 2021, 09:14 PM

Welcome r@. I hope you got plenty of rest while caravaning because you're going to busy. I like you're novel approach to the blade skew, very interesting.

**Chief Tiff** · 22nd May 2021, 11:22 PM

G’donya Labr@; looking forward to seeing this fleshed out over the next few weeks!

**Simplicity** · 23rd May 2021, 09:33 AM

Lab,

Like others have said welcome and please lots of pics.

Cheers Matt.

**labr@** · 24th May 2021, 12:51 PM

Did some cutting last night and ended up with this:
IMG_20210523_221826 [800x600].jpg IMG_20210523_221925 [800x600].jpg

Found that the internal angles did not add up to the original when test fitting the blade and wedge. This is because the shoulders that the wedge pushes against are not in line with the front of the mouth. They are closer to lining up on the old plane but the mouth on that is very large. I want to start with a smaller mouth on mine as opening it will be easier than closing it up if adjustment is needed.
This means I need to adjust the angle by removing material down to about 10mm from the sole.

IMG_20210523_221550 [800x600].jpg

It seems that making tools is a bit like building boats - lots of learning and problem solving. Just the way we like it

.

**labr@** · 25th May 2021, 11:55 AM

Worked on the abutment angle last night and although there is still a bit of tidying up to do I reckon it is right. I'm happy to make minor adjustments on the wedge but don't want to change the wedge angle significantly from something that is known to work.
IMG_20210525_095757 [800x600].jpg

Also had a go at making a small float from an old file using an angle grinder and Ozito rotary tool. It is rough but considering it was all done freehand it's not too bad. I'm sure a bought one would work better but this is helping.
IMG_20210525_100038 [800x600].jpg

**Cklett** · 25th May 2021, 08:24 PM

Wow, going full in. Even making plane making tools.... That's fantastic.

We need a nick name!

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**Aussiephil** · 26th May 2021, 12:33 AM

just another plane that will get started and finished before i get going again

Welcome aboard, may your flight be smooth and the shavings smoother

Cheers
Phil

**labr@** · 26th May 2021, 01:38 AM

Cklett, do you mean a nickname for the plane?

Phil, hang in there, you still have 5 weeks to get it up and running.

Finished the initial cutting of the other side tonight and then just for fun decided to see if I could get the shavings requirement out of the way.

Managed a thin piece of pine OK:
IMG_20210525_230919 [800x600].jpg

But only went about 30mm on this wider piece before the blade moved. Still, not bad for a clamped body and balsa wedges.
IMG_20210525_231325 [800x600].jpg

Now I just need to finish the assembly and take photos

.

**Cklett** · 26th May 2021, 09:56 AM

There you go. Done. All you need now is blades of different width and by replacing the middle planks you can easily adjust the width of cut [emoji16]

But seriously, looks like a good approach.

And yes, we need a nickname for the plane. I suggest "Floatie". I really like that you quickly knocked up a float as well.

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**labr@** · 26th May 2021, 11:03 PM

I was thinking of it as the VOC - victim of circumstance plane - but since it would float without the blade (and possibly with ) then floatie is probably more appropriate on 2 levels.

Cut out a wedge today. I think the abutments may need to be worked on to align them a a little better but they're not too bad.

IMG_20210526_155857 [800x600].jpg

**labr@** · 28th May 2021, 12:27 AM

Found that the abutments were pretty much right but the bed was not flat. After some chisel and float work it all looks close to being right. I expect to have to do some minor adjustment and clean up work after glue up so will leave the internals as they are until after that.

Also made some dowels from the blackwood stock, clamped up the central sections with blade and wedge in place, then drilled holes laterally to take the dowels. I've had cases where the pieces moved during glue up and it is important to avoid that happening on this project because the 2 halves of the bed and mouth need to line up very closely.

Will glue the main pieces together tomorrow unless I think of something else that needs to be done first.

IMG_20210527_215718 [800x600].jpg

Thread: Challenge 2020-2021 Labr@

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