Thread: Challenge 2020 - 2021 Oldgreybeard

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

Haven't been able to do anything in the shed for over a week, so been doing some research on old wooden planes.
AncientRomanPlane.jpg Now this is a challenge



The full article is here

Might be a good challenge for a second plane

Bob,
Fantastic to see your starting your research from practical the being.

Cheers Matt.

Great website Bob. I have seen it before. Read a good article on making a dovetail plane but couldnt see all the drawings.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Great website Bob. I have seen it before. Read a good article on making a dovetail plane but couldnt see all the drawings.

It wasn't easy to see the drawings. I resorted to using Snip and Sketch in Windows 10 and the edited the image in Photoshop 2020.

Cheers
Bob

I am up and running.

Fijian Mahagony billet ripped to approximate size on bandsaw, Cheeks and middle section milled, squared and flattened using Jointer and Planer.
This afternoon's tasks:
Plane cheeks to 10mm thickness
Plane middle sections to 43mm wide x 50mm High and cut to length - Rear section 190mm and forward section 110mm.
Set up table saw for tomorrow to cut the 50 degree angle for the blade pitch and 60 degrees on the forward section

ChallengePlane!.jpg

Cheers
Bob

Here we go.......Love the choice of timber

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

I am up and running.

Fijian Mahagony billet ripped to approximate size on bandsaw, Cheeks and middle section milled, squared and flattened using Jointer and Planer.
This afternoon's tasks:
Plane cheeks to 10mm thickness
Plane middle sections to 43mm wide x 50mm High and cut to length - Rear section 190mm and forward section 110mm.
Set up table saw for tomorrow to cut the 50 degree angle for the blade pitch and 60 degrees on the forward section

ChallengePlane!.jpg

Cheers
Bob

Bob.
Careful you don’t end up producing a family heirloom there.
That’s going to look really nice when your done.

Any thoughts on what you will finish the Fijian Mahagony with ?

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Bob.
Careful you don’t end up producing a family heirloom there.
That’s going to look really nice when your done.

Any thoughts on what you will finish the Fijian Mahagony with ?

Cheers Matt.

Hi Matt,
What type of finish? I think the first question that I am still debating is what type of plane am I building?. Is it a competition piece, a display piece featuring the style of the mid-19th century plane, or a working plane in the style typically used the tradesmen of the day? That will also dictate the "recovery' work which I need resolve as I got more tear out than expected yesterday due a nasty knot in the middle of the billet.

(1) Assume it is to be a competition piece, the recover work is probable going to involve a fair bit of sanding with wet & dry on a float glass backing plate and finished with hand scraping. Oil/wax finish buffed to a high gloss.

(2) Display piece (or as you said 'heirloom'). Run through drum sander to remove tear out, hand sand to 600 grit and 2 coat shellac finish. This would attempt to replicate the commercially 'mass' produced product of the time.

(3) Tradesman's working plane - This likely to have been 'shop made' one-off tool and what we may regard a 'low cost', it may or may not have a 3mm mild steel plate riveted to the sole and would perhaps only be sanded to 240 grit to remove sharp edges and finished with a coat of boiled linseed oil.

Until last night I was pretty certain that the display piece was where I was headed. Looking at the tear out, I am not sure that Mahogany is hard enough for the sole if the end product is to meet the challenge criteria of a 'working plane'. Now I am tossing up between (2) and (3 with a mild steel plate riveted to the sole). Before I make that decision, I think I need help from the experts here about riveting a mild steel sole plate and particularly the implications on the design of the mouth and position of the wedge.

I will post a drawing of how I think the mouth / wedge should be located and the angles involve a little later today.

Cheers
Bob

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

Hi Matt,
What type of finish? I think the first question that I am still debating is what type of plane am I building?. Is it a competition piece, a display piece featuring the style of the mid-19th century plane, or a working plane in the style typically used the tradesmen of the day? That will also dictate the "recovery' work which I need resolve as I got more tear out than expected yesterday due a nasty knot in the middle of the billet.

(1) Assume it is to be a competition piece, the recover work is probable going to involve a fair bit of sanding with wet & dry on a float glass backing plate and finished with hand scraping. Oil/wax finish buffed to a high gloss.

(2) Display piece (or as you said 'heirloom'). Run through drum sander to remove tear out, hand sand to 600 grit and 2 coat shellac finish. This would attempt to replicate the commercially 'mass' produced product of the time.

(3) Tradesman's working plane - This likely to have been 'shop made' one-off tool and what we may regard a 'low cost', it may or may not have a 3mm mild steel plate riveted to the sole and would perhaps only be sanded to 240 grit to remove sharp edges and finished with a coat of boiled linseed oil.

Until last night I was pretty certain that the display piece was where I was headed. Looking at the tear out, I am not sure that Mahogany is hard enough for the sole if the end product is to meet the challenge criteria of a 'working plane'. Now I am tossing up between (2) and (3 with a mild steel plate riveted to the sole). Before I make that decision, I think I need help from the experts here about riveting a mild steel sole plate and particularly the implications on the design of the mouth and position of the wedge.

I will post a drawing of how I think the mouth / wedge should be located and the angles involve a little later today.

Cheers
Bob

Bob,
Definitely number 2
A display piece, we all need some bling bling in our lives.
Maybe you could ask hear about dealing with tear out, I would be trying to scrape it out!

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

Until last night I was pretty certain that the display piece was where I was headed. Looking at the tear out, I am not sure that Mahogany is hard enough for the sole if the end product is to meet the challenge criteria of a 'working plane'. Now I am tossing up between (2) and (3 with a mild steel plate riveted to the sole). Before I make that decision, I think I need help from the experts here about riveting a mild steel sole plate and particularly the implications on the design of the mouth and position of the wedge.

I will post a drawing of how I think the mouth / wedge should be located and the angles involve a little later today.

Cheers
Bob

Here is the drawing - will it work or have I screwed up?
PlaneDetail.jpg

Awww, I started at the top of this page, saw the old Roman-era plane & got all excited! I had visions of Bob chasing an elephant & ripping out one of its tusks....

But it looks like you've dropped that idea? Maybe just as well, 'cos you're getting a bit past wrestling with elephants, & anyway, you'd have to build yourself a new low bench to use it on - apparently the Romans used very low benches compared with our modern benches.

If anyone is interested, a bloke in Britain has started a bit of a career in making replicas of very old planes. He kicked off with the "Silchester plane" back in 2014, and has gone on to make quite a few other replicas, including a copy of a plane found in the "Mary Rose", Henry VIII's flag ship that made a wrong turn & went head over turkey in the Solent in 1545.

I've had a few moments where I've considered having a go at one myself, just for curiosity's sake, but fortunately, such moments have all passed quickly & safely. Got enough on my plate with "modern" planes atm. Maybe in a few more decades I'll find the time.....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

Here is the drawing - will it work or have I screwed up?
PlaneDetail.jpg

Bob,

Is this (In the red circle) your cross pin, for your wedge?
If so I reckon you might want to move that up and too the left a bit.
Looks like it’s right on the lower right edge?


Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by IanW

If anyone is interested, a bloke in Britain has started a bit of a career in making replicas of very old planes. He kicked off with the "Silchester plane" back in 2014, and has gone on to make quite a few other replicas, including a copy of a plane found in the "Mary Rose", Henry VIII's flag ship that made a wrong turn & went head over turkey in the Solent in 1545.

Ian

Interesting that you have linked that. Somewhere I have an illustration of all the planes that were found in the Mary Rose. I had originally thought they were original, but it transpired they too were replicas, not that you could tell by looking at them. I will re-double my efforts to find them.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by IanW

Awww, I started at the top of this page, saw the old Roman-era plane & got all excited! I had visions of Bob chasing an elephant & ripping out one of its tusks....

But it looks like you've dropped that idea? Maybe just as well, 'cos you're getting a bit past wrestling with elephants, & anyway, you'd have to build yourself a new low bench to use it on - apparently the Romans used very low benches compared with our modern benches.

If anyone is interested, a bloke in Britain has started a bit of a career in making replicas of very old planes. He kicked off with the "Silchester plane" back in 2014, and has gone on to make quite a few other replicas, including a copy of a plane found in the "Mary Rose", Henry VIII's flag ship that made a wrong turn & went head over turkey in the Solent in 1545.

I've had a few moments where I've considered having a go at one myself, just for curiosity's sake, but fortunately, such moments have all passed quickly & safely. Got enough on my plate with "modern" planes atm. Maybe in a few more decades I'll find the time.....

Cheers,

Thanks Ian. Love the link and funny to see a name I recognized pop up in the comments, Oraloon gets around!

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Thanks Ian. Love the link and funny to see a name I recognized pop up in the comments, Oraloon gets around!

Yep, there's a few familiar faces on that forum....