Plane challenge 2020 - 2021. Bushmiller

**Bushmiller** · 6th October 2020, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by IanW

I don't think you'd find the hacksaw all that difficult, Paul, you only want to cut "close enough" to your lines. I'd try both approaches myself & see which gave me the best return of speed vs control. I well know that I can run off the line a lot quicker & a lot further with the cutoff wheel, but I think you've had a lot more practice hacking things up with the wheel than I have. I mostly use it for straight cuts against a guide and only very occasionally attempt 'freehand' cuts.

I've been meaning to have another go at making a plane body from channel, out of curiosity and with a view to adding that technique to my "manual". My first attempt was a bit of a flop, but I did manage a reasonably successful thumb plane using some brass channel, a couple of years ago: Attachment 482316

I meant to show you this last night - it's a precedent for your "channel plane": Attachment 482315
My dad & his cousin made it back in the '30s, and I think it's instructive of what you can do with very limited gear & time on your hands. His cousin worked at the local sugar mill & I presume he had access to the welder to attach the "frog" and nut for the front knob (it's certainly not a professional job!): Attachment 482314

It is hardly a paradigm of the plane-maker's art, but it works in its rough way & would make a good scrub plane. I was once tempted to "fix it up" & try to refine it a bit, but decided it's far better left as-is as a testament to the ingenuity of that generation in tough times...

(Sheesh, you're a tiger, still up & posting at 11:23 after a longish drive - been a few years since I had that sort of stamina!)

Cheers,

Ian

I will probably give all possibilities a go, but I suspect the angle grinder will get the thumbs up: Desperately trying not to be too blinkered here.

I had seen posts of the channel plane your father made and that coupled with my take that "here is a plane body ready made" prompted me down this path.

As to the driving, one of my uncles recounted how my father drove trucks in the army during WW2. Apparently on one occasion he drove for 36 hours straight, had a brief rest and drove 24 hours back the other way. This was all with pin holes in the night time cowlings fixed to headlights so the Luftwaffe didn't spot them and blow them up. I have not inherited anything close to that ability that ability, but I work shiftwork and all too often I still go close to 24 hours without sleep. I think it is starting to take it's toll, and it is certainly not a good time to argue the toss with me

.

Regards
Paul

**IanW** · 6th October 2020, 03:33 PM

Yep, like I said, we're too protected nowadays. What our parents' generation endured in the 1940s makes the covid crisis look like a picnic in the park on a lovely sunny day.....

**Bushmiller** · 8th October 2020, 08:13 PM

I got a little bit done.

Roughly cut with the angle grinder. Mainly angles rather than curves:

P1060563 (Medium).JPG

Smoothed out, a little, with a grinding disc. Next up will be checking sides for profile integrity, work with flap discs and finally files.

P1060564 (Medium).JPG P1060565 (Medium).JPG

I was going to use this fluid for marking out the profile, but

P1060566 (Medium).JPG

When I came to use it I couldn't find where I had put it! So I used a sharpie tracing the outline against a sheet metal template. As it happens, when I checked the description a little closer, this Prussian Blue is described as a machining compound and is more for the fitting of gears and bushes etc than marking out. It is a Loctite product if anybody wishes to investigate it further. However I think IanW has turned up the best option here.

Regards
Paul

**Simplicity** · 8th October 2020, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I got a little bit done.

Roughly cut with the angle grinder. Mainly angles rather than curves:

P1060563 (Medium).JPG

Smoothed out, a little, with a grinding disc. Next up will be checking sides for profile integrity, work with flap discs and finally files.

P1060564 (Medium).JPG P1060565 (Medium).JPG

I was going to use this fluid for marking out the profile, but

P1060566 (Medium).JPG

When I came to use it I couldn't find where I had put it! So I used a sharpie tracing the outline against a sheet metal template. As it happens, when I checked the description a little closer, this Prussian Blue is described as a machining compound and is more for the fitting of gears and bushes etc than marking out. It is a Loctite product if anybody wishes to investigate it further. However I think IanW has turned up the best option here.

Regards
Paul

Fantastic to see some progress Paul,
I won’t bother you with size matters the carry on that I see, being asked from other contestants.

Nice Concrete floor ??.

Cheers Matt.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

**IanW** · 8th October 2020, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

..... However I think IanW has turned up the best option here....

I think Matt has found better value-for-money. Just depends how much you think you'll need!

Cheers,

**Bushmiller** · 8th October 2020, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Fantastic to see some progress Paul,
I won’t bother you with size matters the carry on that I see, being asked from other contestants.

Nice Concrete floor ??.

Cheers Matt.

Matt

It's big: Really big. The biggest you ever saw.

If I had known how interested you would be in the floor I would have taken many more pix as there is a huge expanse, regrettably with little in the way of feature or figure, instead of concentrating on my fore plane. However, I am already planing future posts to include a range of totally irrelevant features. I have realised that they will most likely be of more interest than my plane.

Stand by!

Regards
Paul

**Simplicity** · 8th October 2020, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Matt

It's big: Really big. The biggest you ever saw.

If I had known how interested you would be in the floor I would have taken many more pix as there is a huge expanse, regrettably with little in the way of feature or figure, instead of concentrating on my fore plane. However, I am already planing future posts to include a range of totally irrelevant features. I have realised that they will most likely be of more interest than my plane.

Stand by!

Regards
Paul

Still not being monitored while in front of a keyboard I see .[emoji6]

Cheers Matt.

**Mountain Ash** · 8th October 2020, 09:24 PM

Hi Paul. You do have to be careful about the background and the influence it can have on your project. Just ask Matt about tableclothgate

. Like the idea of using channel too!

**Bushmiller** · 11th October 2020, 06:50 PM

The sides are getting close to symetrical. They are close using the timber template, but I still have to check for square.

This first pic is after some clean up on the profile with a flap disc and then a fibre wheel. The sides have been treated to the fibre wheel too but still need more work to remove the striations. On this side I have only treated half the plane to the fibre disc to show the difference. This pic is expressly for Matt:

P1060568 (Medium).JPG

and these are for the rest of you. Much the same but less scenic.

P1060569 (Medium).JPG P1060570 (Medium).JPG

I weighed the original channel at 2.8Kg. After lopping bits off the sides it is down to 2.1Kg. With blade, cap lever and infills I am hoping to keep it down to <2.5Kg. The length is 460mm. We will see. This is cleaned up along the complete side but is sufficiently shiny (but far from perfect) to reflect anything it sees!

P1060574 (Medium).JPG

The three sets of templates (card, thin sheet steel and mdf) are there too.

Regards
Paul

**Simplicity** · 11th October 2020, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

The sides are getting close to symetrical. They are close using the timber template, but I still have to check for square.

This first pic is after some clean up on the profile with a flap disc and then a fibre wheel. The sides have been treated to the fibre wheel too but still need more work to remove the striations. On this side I have only treated half the plane to the fibre disc to show the difference. This pic is expressly for Matt:

P1060568 (Medium).JPG

and these are for the rest of you. Much the same but less scenic.

P1060569 (Medium).JPG P1060570 (Medium).JPG

I weighed the original channel at 2.8Kg. After lopping bits off the sides it is down to 2.1Kg. With blade, cap lever and infills I am hoping to keep it down to <2.5Kg. The length is 460mm. We will see. This is cleaned up along the complete side but is sufficiently shiny (but far from perfect) to reflect anything it sees!

P1060574 (Medium).JPG

The three sets of templates (card, thin sheet steel and mdf) are there too.

Regards
Paul

Looking very good Paul,

If it makes you feel something, you win at being the biggest so far, the Plane that is.
Have you started to flatten the soul yet?.

At 450 mm you can give up the gym membership,and will be able to hive Arnold a run for his money.

Ps I appreciate the “scenic” picture, I can’t comment on the Judges tho.
But maybe I should start including bottles of red wine I know longer need in my pics ?

Cheers Matt.
How’s it feel being in with the Heavy metal crowd now?.

**IanW** · 11th October 2020, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

.....I weighed the original channel at 2.8Kg. After lopping bits off the sides it is down to 2.1Kg. With blade, cap lever and infills I am hoping to keep it down to <2.5Kg.....

Only 2.5Kg.? That's just for adolescents, my panel plane comes in at a bit over 3.8 Kg. - that's man sized....

Seriously, depending on what you intend its main use will be, your projected weight shouldn't be too much of a problem. I tried to get a weight for a Norris jointer, plenty mentioned on the web, but no-one bothers to give a weight. They were made up to 28" long (that's 711mm for the younger set

) so I reckon they would've weighed in well north of 4 Kg!

Cheers,

**Bushmiller** · 11th October 2020, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Looking very good Paul,

If it makes you feel something, you win at being the biggest so far, the Plane that is.
Have you started to flatten the soul yet?.

At 450 mm you can give up the gym membership,and will be able to hive Arnold a run for his money.

Ps I appreciate the “scenic” picture, I can’t comment on the Judges tho.
But maybe I should start including bottles of red wine I know longer need in my pics ?

Cheers Matt.
How’s it feel being in with the Heavy metal crowd now?.

Thanks Matt

Apparantly, it ain't heavy. (It's not my brother)

No further work done on the sole yet. Plenty needed on the soul. Glad you like the scene. It is SWMBO's new orchid garden.

Regards
Paul

**Bushmiller** · 11th October 2020, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by IanW

Only 2.5Kg.? That's just for adolescents, my panel plane comes in at a bit over 3.8 Kg. - that's man sized....

Seriously, depending on what you intend its main use will be, your projected weight shouldn't be too much of a problem. I tried to get a weight for a Norris jointer, plenty mentioned on the web, but no-one bothers to give a weight. They were made up to 28" long (that's 711mm for the younger set

) so I reckon they would've weighed in well north of 4 Kg!

Cheers,

Thanks Ian

I was a little concerned that it would be unweildy, but you have reassured me. Depending on the blade it could come in closer to 3Kg.

Regards
Paul

**Mountain Ash** · 11th October 2020, 11:39 PM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Thanks Ian

I was a little concerned that it would be unweildy, but you have reassured me. Depending on the blade it could come in closer to 3Kg.

Regards
Paul

I would have thought that with all the handsawing you must do your "guns" would be big enough to handle anything (at least in the dominant arm)

. How fine a finish can you get with a fibre disc? (I'm assuming they are those things that look a bit like a kitchen scourer)

**yvan** · 12th October 2020, 07:41 AM

Originally Posted by IanW

Yep, like I said, we're too protected nowadays. What our parents' generation endured in the 1940s makes the covid crisis look like a picnic in the park on a lovely sunny day.....

Quite so IanW, I never heard them talk about what they were entitled to, except hard work !!!!!

Thread: Plane challenge 2020 - 2021. Bushmiller

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Similar Threads

Challenge 2020 - 2021 Simplicity

Challenge 2020 - 2021 Oldgreybeard

Challenge 2020 -2021 MountainAsh

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions