Some photos of the No 984 panel plane
No 984 panel plane sides being routed on milling machine – no water jet or laser here. All work in house.
No 984 panel plane milling of blade bed and adjuster recess.
No 984 panel plane. Lever cap, adjuster and bun are easily removed without any tools
No 984 panel plane with acrylic and rosewood ( honduran rosewood) handles
With the sides prepared I can now make a commitment to the sole of the plane. i.e. mouth position and adjuster recess. This is a critical time which I would prefer not to get wrong, in fact it can get scary. The excitement level gets stronger as things progress.
I am making a variation of my No 984 panel plane to use up some components, it will be designated No 984s, there will only be a small number . It would be a shame to waste them especially these thumb screws.
I have said little about this variant of the No 984 panel plane. It is to be designated No 984s.
There will be some differences as well as the decrease in length.
With the bottoms only being half worked they are now shelved until I have completed the sides.
I have deliberated long and hard over the design of these sides. I have now decided not to chamfer them. This is by no means an economy and as you can see from the photos the chamfers could have been completed there and then and that would have been the end of it. I have taken a leap of faith and trusted my instincts because I feel that leaving the edges square will work better with the other changes. The profile looks more sharp finned and streamline than the chamfered version. It is all down to waiting for a finished plane. I know it will be the proverbial ‘brick built shithouse’ but this is what I wanted.
The middle picture shows the stainless steel side being routed with an 8mm ripper which surprisingly went through very quietly with no effort or noise. A single cutter lasted the whole job and still has life left in it. I have left the swarf in for the picture to show the amount of material removed.
Unlike the No 984, with its in situ dowels, I have chosen to screw the No 984s planes. Both systems have their good points.
tapping on the mill with a tapping head never seems to be enough so I have to go over these again by hand. It is important for the fixing bolts to run free. I have to assemble and dis-assemble dry quite a few times. When it comes to the final assembly it is essential that there are no problems as the bolts will be going in with torque control and permanent locking compound.
With all the milling, grinding, forming, drilling and tapping done I am half way with the bottoms. These will now be set aside until I have completed the sides – next job.
This is the start of a new version of the No 984 panel plane. It will be 12 ½” long with a 2″ blade. There will be a slight variation in styling.
Another plane which will be a future rarity. Just a one off as all future projects will be.
This is the last chance to take this kind of picture before I assemble the planes. I cannot possible imagine anyone else ever going down this route. As with all my planes it has to be better than the one that proceeded it. This is the last 10 I am assembling. To quote a maxim – when they’re gone they’re gone.
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No 983 Commentary
I want to go back and take the time to explain the development and design of the No 983. I will be updating the website with this during next week. When I made this plane I only did a limited number which sold out quickly so I had to make another batch. It is very satisfying to complete a design but I am not going there again as the work is far too much. I won’t make the mistake of selling the last one (mine!) again, but I do have two left for sale.