Thread: Challenge 2020-2021 Sheets

Originally Posted by Sheets

There's been so much progress by all you other losers - I mean, contestants , I'm feeling the pressure. Just to show that I'm not slacking off, even though we still have six months, here are pics of the current stage of work (and hand-planing purpleheart is work as I'm re-discovering ):
IMG_0057.JPG Still have much more work to do on the top surface. I have about 2 extra mm of thickness as-is, which is good as this wood is very prone to tear-out due to it's weird grain. Hopefully my bag of tricks can cope with smoothing it out well enough to impress the Judges . I also attempted to create the "shelf" (can't remember the Japanese terminology) at the bottom of the dai, where the blade bevel will be. I didn't do so well at it 'cause I don't have the special, little crank-neck chisel (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).
IMG_0056.JPG I still have a couple of mm to go to get the blade fitted, but will wait until the bottom surface is correctly dressed in case "corrections" require removing more wood than anticipated.
IMG_0058.JPG I have drilled/squared the hole for the chip-breaker pin and have the pin ready to go, but I'm hiding it for now, as it is going to be one of my cosmetic embellishments - sure to get me style points.

Sheets,

That’s looking very good, I don’t know much about Japanese planes, and I don’t want to go there, I’ve heard there bad news for the wallet.
So some of the “terminology” is just Greek to me.

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Sheets,

That’s looking very good, I don’t know much about Japanese planes, and I don’t want to go there, I’ve heard there bad news for the wallet.
So some of the “terminology” is just Greek to me.

Cheers Matt.

Hi Matt,

Some Japanese tools do, indeed, command a large (ridiculous) amount of money. Fortunately, there are more affordable options like used tools from eBay (where I got most of mine - chisels, too). I'm not a professional, so mucking about with "lesser" quality is fine for me. With some experience on the buying side, it's relatively easy to pick up very well made tools for much less than "new" pricing. Anyway, price/performance discussion is one of those topics that, once started, never ends - so I'll not say any more.

I'll try to avoid using the Japanese terms and stick to what most people will understand - it would be similar to using English terms with someone who knows little about woodworking - rabbits, dados, frogs, etc. .

Btw, bit of a storm coming our way tomorrow, so will likely lose electricity for a while - so may be off-line until they hook it back up. At least my plane will float!

Originally Posted by Sheets

Btw, bit of a storm coming our way tomorrow, so will likely lose electricity for a while - so may be off-line until they hook it back up. At least my plane will float!

Happy to report that the storm (hurricane Teddy) missed us by enough to not cause any flooding or power outages. So no extension to the contest deadline nor sympathy from the Judges needed.

Back to the grindstone (one way to reduce tear-out).

Originally Posted by Sheets

Happy to report that the storm (hurricane Teddy) missed us by enough to not cause any flooding or power outages. So no extension to the contest deadline nor sympathy from the Judges needed.

Back to the grindstone (one way to reduce tear-out).

Fantastic news Shests,
That the plane build is safe and yourself,

Cheers Matt.

I'm continuing to refine the surfaces - not been easy. I tried to hand-plane (sharp, very fine cut) but suffered some torn grain anyway. Had to resort to the Makita power planer and scraping to get most of the tear-out. Good thing I had extra thickness to absorb the mess (mostly). Note-to-self: purpleheart is not the best wood for a plane body. It will be fine as a mount for the blade, but may not look too pretty. Anyway, things are salvageable, so will continue with the scraper and try wetting the wood to soften the fibres and hopefully the result will be competitive.
IMG_0063.JPGIMG_0064.JPG So much for my little "shelf" . I will tidy up that up with a chisel.
IMG_0065.JPGThis area of he chamfered edge still needs to be widened, so I have room to correct the tear-out.

As an aside, my purpleheart stock is over 40 years old, but still bleeds when cut - not a problem, but curious. Probably one reason it endures out in the weather where its used as timber/lumber.

Hi Sheets. The tear out reminds me of plenty of our native species. Where does Purpleheart come from?

Purpleheart from the wood database Purpleheart | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood)

similar numbers to some of the gums over here

I am sure Sheets has better close hand information.

However, I looked up Purpleheart in Keith Bootle's book Wood in Australia, not really expecting to find it listed because of the title of the book.

First up, it was listed, and interestingly seems to be the Peltogyne group of species rather than one tree. Quite hard and dense and as Phil has mentioned similar in the areas of density and difficulty to work as many of our Aussie species.

The heartwood is brown when freshly cut but quickly develops the characteristic purple colour.

The really funny thing was that as I mentioned above I was surprised to see it listed at all in the book (although many exotic, to Australia, species are listed), but the last entry of all said "Not seen in Australia!"



Regards
Paul

Thanks Paul and great link Phil

Originally Posted by Aussiephil

Purpleheart from the wood database Purpleheart | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood)

similar numbers to some of the gums over here

Yes, thanks for the link. The only contrary observation I would make, in my experience with the stuff I have, it is quite purple when freshly cut (maybe because I use hand tools). Over time (years) it slowly darkens and turns brown with the purple tint basically disappearing unless, as mentioned, it is coated with a durable finish.

An example: IMG_0066.JPG Both of these were made by a turner in exchange for some of my purpleheart stock. The one on the left has no purple colour left, the right one still has some. These stoppers are about ten years old and rarely used (I'm a beer guy) and stored in drawer. Not sure of the finish - maybe just wax.

From the "Judges"

"Hey folks, I hate sounding like a wet blanket, but please ease off on the general chatter in this thread. While the spirit of levity & camaraderie the challenge has generated is great to see, this thread is meant for the reasonably serious business. There may be some genuine questions that need to be asked, and it will all get lost in the general clamour if this keeps up......

Cheers,"



I guess we've had a thick shaving taken off our hides, eh? Pun-ted out of the Stickies - oh the shame .

Of course, the Judges are (always) right.

Originally Posted by Sheets

Of course, the Judges are (always) right.

Crawler

I've decided to make two planes. Same basic idea, but the second, while still using purpleheart, has grain that runs more in the classic way, so I hope will be less trouble than the first with respect to tearout. Also because I have another set of blades that may never get used if I don't take this opportunity to use them (now or never). I'll choose the best of the two to submit for the Challenge. There is certainly plenty of time remaining.

IMG_0068.JPGIMG_0073.JPG Look Ma, purple mulch!DSCF0066.JPG This blade is 70mm wide, so a little larger than No.1. I got this one on eBay as new in the box (2007ish, so hi-time I finally made a body for it).

Originally Posted by Sheets

DSCF0066.JPG This blade is 70mm wide, so a little larger than No.1. I got this one on eBay as new in the box (2007ish, so hi-time I finally made a body for it).

Correction to this: (that's what I get for holding onto something for so many years - I forget stuff ). This blade is actually also 65mm. Imagine how bright I would have looked having cut out a mortice 5mm too wide! Anyway, at least I still remember how to use a ruler. Not a lot of progress to report otherwise - been a bit slack and idle the last few days. Not looking forward to having to work indoors with the colder weather creeping up on us .

Having considered further, I think it is logical to only document the progress on one plane at a time. Should that one fail to be "good enough", then with enough time remaining, officially switch to No.2. Since both my planned planes are essentially identical, I would just be repeating myself if I were to do both simultaneously.