Handmade infill plane (woodwork)

[lchris21]

Craftsmanship .......nuff said

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Thanks Chris

So I've made a start on the next project, the marking gauge.


I'm very lucky and been given a small amount of Rosewood which is becoming harder to source and costly.
Makes a wonderful smell when cut, reminds me of pistachio nuts for some reason?

Working on the main body on the engineering lathe.

Didn't get much done as I ran out of time this week but hopefully I can have another go next week.

 

[decca]

Struggling to say what I mean.
Fantastic, brilliant, great work doesn’t cut it. The best way I can put it is when people who know what is involved to shape and bring life to metal as you have, that praise means a lot.
Keep it comming mate.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Thanks for the kind comment @decca I really appreciate it



Managed to get a bit more done on the marking gauge, I made a start on the end brass collar for the head section.

I parted off a small section of brass and then fixed it between two nuts on a bolt and secured that into the lathe.
I needed to round both sides of the brass collar.
I'm sure this isn't the ideal way of doing this but I have limited tools and it seemed to work okay.

I needed a way to secure the brass head and collar to the wood as the glue was only temporary while I machined the initial shape and not sufficient to hold the pieces together permanently.

I carefully marked hole positions on the collar and drilled the holes, I then used a bolt to align the two parts and drilled the first hole through the collar into the wood. After the first hole was drilled i inserted a spare drill bit into the hole to keep it aligned and then drilled the second hole.

With the brass collar and Rosewood drilled I then repeated the process to drill the head of the gauge.

I've ordered some m3 stainless bolts that will run through the holes securing it all together, just waiting for them to arrive.
Once its all fixed together i'll mount it back on the lathe and final finish it.

In the meantime I drilled and tapped an m8 hole into the side of the brass head.

and then made the locking thumb screw.

Most of the thumb screws I've seen for marking gauges are short with a larger diameter but I wanted a longer sleeker looking one.
While doing so I found out I could knurl longer pieces of material, I always thought you needed an automatic feed on the lathe to knurl longer pieces but I hand fed this knurl and it turned out great
I still can't get my head round how this works and how manually moving the knurling tool doesn't just leave a mashed up mess but I'm pleased i can do it.

And finally machined a recess in the head for the cutter to sit into when not in use.

That was all for today.
Just waiting for the bolts and the steel rod to come in the post and I can make a start on the shaft of the gauge.....it's not going to be a simple shaft though.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Finally got the stainless steel tube and rod in the post so I could continue with the marking gauge.

I started by threading one end of the steel tube.
Quickly realised Stainless steel is a ****** to work with, it's very hard and can't be rushed.

After that I started on the micro adjuster which I'm making from brass, much nicer to work with!

I knurl a short section and drill out the centre to thread onto the stainless tube.

Then add some chamfers and part them in two ready to work on some more later.

I also made a start on the cutting wheel again from stainless steel.

I bevel the rod and then square off the end to a sharp edge.

And finally drill and counter sink the head to accept a bolt before parting off completely from the rest of the rod.

Going to try and harden the cutting wheel with my map gas torch and quench it in oil, like I do my plane blades but I'm not sure how well this with work with stainless?

I've still got to work on the inner shaft and the main head of the gauge but its getting there.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Slowly working my way through the marking gauge build, it's almost done and I've turned my attention to a box for it.

Totally over the top for a marking gauge but I'm keeping a theme going

Using some American black walnut I Put a 15 degree bevel on some strips then glued it together to make a dodecagon.

Masking tape makes for an excellent clamp to hold it all together while the glue sets.

I glued all but 4 edges so I didn't have to split the box afterwards. I also added some ends to the box which I'm thinking of reinforcing later with some brass fixings, though not totally decided yet.

Next I made some liners for the box out of some lovely birds eye maple veneer.
Using some make shift weights to hold it in position while the glue dries.
And a test fit held in place with some quick cramps to see how it will work.

Once the glue has dried it holds the shape well, Next I'll fit it into the box using some bead to hold it in place.

That's it so far.

I've got to work out a base for it to sit on and a latch to keep it closed but I've got a few ideas on that.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Slowly progressing with box.

I made some inlay for the ends of the birds eye liners. I wrapped it around a circle of MDF so it holds the same diameter as the liner.

I've also made the brass clasps that the marking gauge will sit on inside the box.

Started with some brass round bar that I tapered at both ends.

Then drilled through to make the half rounds that will hold the marking gauge.

After some more shaping with hand files they are nearly finished.

Lastly I drilled and taped the bottoms to accept a bolt and polished them up.

Here they are test fitted to the inside of the box. I still have a lot of work to do sanding and cleaning up the box.

Finally I made a start on adding some decorative dovetail bows to the out side of the box, they will also aid in securing the ends of the box in place.

That's it for now.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Finally got the box finished tonight, I think in the end the box took longer to make than the marking gauge.

Spent the past couple of days polishing and waxing it.

I've got a few more bits to tidy up and I've got to strip the marking gauge down to degrease it all then I'll take some photos of the entire piece which I'm hoping to do over the weekend.

Here's a quick snap I took on my phone.

I've also been working on a short video of the build process. I didn't have time to go into as much detail with this project so it jumps about a bit but hopefully I'll get that finished with the photos.

 

[Sammy7]

Finally got the box finished tonight, I think in the end the box took longer to make than the marking gauge.

Spent the past couple of days polishing and waxing it.

I've got a few more bits to tidy up and I've got to strip the marking gauge down to degrease it all then I'll take some photos of the entire piece which I'm hoping to do over the weekend.

Here's a quick snap I took on my phone.

I've also been working on a short video of the build process. I didn't have time to go into as much detail with this project so it jumps about a bit but hopefully I'll get that finished with the photos.

Absolutely stunning well done

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Thanks Sammy I appreciate the support

 

[slim_boy_fat]

True Craftsmanship there

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Cheers Slim

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

The marking gauge and box and finally done. I've really enjoyed making this piece though it took a little longer than expected.

Managed to get the photo's done yesterday.

The box is made from American black walnut, Maple and Birds eye maple.

Here you can see some of the lovely figuring on the birds eye maple.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

The marking gauge is roughly 200mm long.

It's held in place inside the box by a brass collar which is fix in place by a neodymium magnet.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

I've also been working on a video over the weeks which I finished today.
Thanks for all the support over the last month or so on this project, it's really good to hear your feedback.
I think I'll start on another plane next. I want to try and make something totally original rather than recreating older designs but I'll see how it goes.

Cheers.

 

[Seadog]

An amazing piece of work. My only comment is that there is no means of retaining the gauge on its supports. A box of that shape would have a tendency to roll.

Edit. I take that remark back

 

[Parm]

Fantastic piece of work

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Cheers guys

Indeed I made a bit of a blunder with the clasps. In my head I thought they would be strong enough to hold the gauge still inside the box but of course a round rod in a round hole will spin.
I racked my brains to come up with a method that would hold it still but at the same time be functional and most importantly aesthetically pleasing.
I thought of fabric straps, velco, round disk mounted to the lid of the box, all sorts. In the end I settled with the magnetic collar, I thought it was the most functional and not so obtrusive to look at.

I had also planned to mount the box on a base for the rolling reason you mentioned. In the end I couldn't come up with a design I liked and though it looked bast as is.
I have added some clear rubber feat to the sole of the box which help to stop it from tipping over but alas another design flaw, these things always seem to work better in my head

Thanks again for the comments and likes guys I really appreciate it.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

Hello again all,

It's been a long while since I last posted in this thread and I thought it would be nice to update it with some more of the projects I've been working on.

After the marking gauge build I wanted to have a try at making a hand saw.

Around the middle of last year I discovered Skelton saws and after hours of searching I was blown away by the ingenuity, quality and design of Shanes saws. I've not had the pleasure of seeing one of his saws first hand but I must have watched every video and seen nearly every photo. His work really is exceptional.


In particular I loved the look of his gents saw. A bit rich for my pockets but it sparked a desire to try and make my own, so late last year around October/November I started to make a pair of saws based on his but with my own interpretation. I planned one to be rip cut and the other to be cross cut.


I started with a piece of 300x50x9mm brass which I cut in half. This will form the backs of the saws

Next I had to form the slot for the blade to fit into. Ideally this would be done with a slitting saw on a milling machine but I had neither of those tools.

So next best thing was a set of cheap slitting saws for a Dremel which I used in a pillar drill with a backing fence.

The saws where "about" the same thickness as the saw plate I intended to use. I say "about" because no matter how well you set the pillar drill up it will inevitably make a "wobble" cut when forcing it laterally. More on this later.


After a quick test cut I realised I would need some hold downs to preform the cut

Taking it very slowly and in several passes I got the slit cut, certainly not the best way of doing it but I had to used what I had available and fortunately it came out ok.


With the slit done I could start to taper the backs and add the cove detail.

Tapering was simply done with hand files and the cove detail I did on the over head router which I didn't take any pictures of as I really don't advocate this way of doing it for safety reasons mostly but again I used what I had. (really would like to get my hands on a milling machine)

After a bit of sanding to clean up the machine marks the backs where at a stage that I could start to work on the handles of the saws.

It was a good few days work to this point as like normal I was just doing it in my breaks.


Next up the handles.

With the saw backs partially done I moved onto the handles.

The handles wont follow any traditional form, I had a vision in my mind as to how I wanted them to look and I've tried to stick closely to it.

I chose to use maple and cherry for one handle and ash and wenge for the other, I had these woods available to me at the time but I'm still waiting to get my hands on something really exotic.

I love maple and this piece had a small amount of "pip" which was complemented nicely by the cherry.

The dark and light contrast of ash and wenge goes together nicely too and they have a similar open grain structure.

I used them as I was toying with the idea of using a liming paste to further contrast the open grain but after a quick sample I preferred the natural colour and contrast of the woods.

The woods are simply held together by beech dowels and glue, cramped up and left to cure over night.

After some early shaping and adding a 45 bevel to the handles I made a simple jig for cutting the slot in the upper portion of the handle to accept the brass backs.

Using the over head router, taking shallow passes to reduce chatter I cut the majority of the wood away

And then a lot of trial fitting and refinement with hand chisels. I used blue marker pen on the side of the brass backs when pushing them into position in the handle, this then left a mark of any tight spots in the groove which I could then cut away with the chisel.

This is one of the grooves nearly finished, Rather than coming to abrupt square end I'm attempting to add a detail feature to finish it off

And here is the early stages of transferring that detail over to the brass back. I plan to use a piece of round stock in the hole getting the joint as tight fitting as possible to hopefully leave a near seamless joint.

This will require a lot of careful filing and gouge work.

I also drilled and taped for a bolt in the under side of the brass back. This will be fixed through the bottom of the handle when I come to assemble the saw.

Progressing on with the handles and the vision in my mind I needed to add some brass bows between the contrasting woods.

I mark them out on an off cut of brass from the last plane I made glad I never throw any thing away, I knew that tiny strip would come in useful

After setting several out I start to carefully file them

Delicate work trying to get them as uniform as possible while keeping the edges square.

Once happy with the shape I roughly cut them to length with a junior hacksaw.

Then refined them with needle files to finish off.

Next up was the painstaking task of cutting them into the wood. I used a modified chisel and stanley blade to carefully cut away the wood little by little.

I feared the open grain of the ash and wenge would cause issues cutting such a small detail but fortunately the wood worked in my favour.

Just for a little context the bows are 14mm long and taper down to 1.5mm in the centre

I then fixed the bow in place with epoxy. One down 7 to go...

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

With all the brass bows cut in I could add the last brass detail to the handle which also acts as a counter weight to the brass back.


I cut a piece of brass and flatten one face so it fits tightly to the bottom of the handle.

As the brass backs are heavy this adds some much needed weight back to the grip end of the saw.

I temporarily fit the brass to the handle with super glue then cut the final taper and sand flush with the disc sander.

The brass is then permanently fixed in place with strong set epoxy, threaded inserts and bolts.

Lastly I could dry fit the backs into the handles to feel the weight together and the see how the saws looked.

With the handles partially done I turn my attention to the saw plate.


I picked up some 0.5mm thick spring steel, hardened and tempered to Rockwell 50-52c

I went with a thinner plate as I thought it would suit a gents saw batter and give a really fine cut.


The steel came blue so I used some Harpic to remove the bluing process.

I poured plenty on and let it sit for a few moments before rubbing off with fine wire wool.

After cleaning the plate with WD40 I gave it a very light sanding.

I don't have a proper saw vice so just made a quick one from wood, screwed to the bench and held shut with a variety of cramps.

I bought larger saw plate than needed to give myself plenty of chance to practise on before cutting the real thing.

I wanted to replicate my 22TPI rip cut paxs gent saw on one of my saws and then do a slightly lower 16 TPI cross cut pattern on the other.


I tried several approaches to cutting the teeth after on-line reading and watching tutorials.


While the 16 TPI plate was coming out acceptable after a bit of practise the 22 TPI plate was proving more difficult.



Using a double extra slim saw file I tried cutting the teeth free hand, using a printed paper template and even using wooden guide sticks. After several attempts each one getting progressively better and with more confidence in my filing technique in the end I was unable to attain the accuracy in the teeth spacing I was striving for.


I was finding that with such a high tooth count it was leaving zero room for correction if the teeth spacing was not perfect. A fraction of a mm off in either direction would leave a small out of place tooth. In the grand scheme of things a few miss shaped teeth on a plate wouldn't cause much of an issue but I couldn't let it go, I was aiming for better.


So after a few restless nights trying to come up with ways to improve the accuracy I had a light bulb moment and a very simple idea came into my head.

The next day I made this simple jig from scraps and was amazed by the results.

I don't want to go into to much detail about it at the moment as I'm currently working on a final version of the jig that I'll cover in this thread once it's finished. It probably isn't a unique idea (those are hard to come by) but after some searching I've not seen any thing like it for hand cutting teeth.


With much care and attention I used an old saw set to set the teeth.

too little set and the saw will bind in the cut while too much set will cause the saw to wander.

Being a gents saw I tried to go with as little set as possible. I wrapped masking tape around the plate to stop the saw set from marring it.

A colleague saw what I was up to and came back with this. Not seen a set like this before. He asked if I wanted to give it a try but I passed on the offer

With the teeth set I gave them one last very light sharpen before cutting the blade to size with an angle grinder and hand filing to final dimensions.

lastly I filed a little cupids bow in the handle end of the plate for decoration.

Not much of an update today but with all the parts of the saw partly finished I could start to assemble them


The saw backs are glued into the handles with strong epoxy and securely bolted from underneath the handle with stainless steel bolts.

The brass rod was also glued in place and a cramp pinched the handle up tight.

Once the handles were dry I could fit the saw plate. I used the same epoxy to glue them in place.

The curved front end on the plate is because I didn't want to see the saw plate passing through the front of the saw. Hopefully this won't be detrimental to the blades rigidity as there is still a good amount of the plate inserted into the brass at that point.

After watching the bench talk series with Shane Skelton recently I'd really like to experiment with tensioning a blade in a future saw and have a few ideas in my mind of how I could incorporate it into this design of saw, but that won't be for a while
Like I keep saying he really is a master of his craft.

With the saws assembled there is going to be a lot of cleaning up to do once they are dry. In the meantime I can make a start on the saws sheaths.