A13 dovetailed infill plane continued (3)
Here I describe some of the work to the bottoms of the planes. This is an area where most of the work of the plane is. It is probably light years ahead of any other infill plane.
Rebate to dovetail
Machining stops to the dovetailing, this adds extra support to the plane sides and also provides a light stop. This is something I currently do to the shoulder planes and it will be a new feature to all my dovetail planes.
Roughing out bed area to mouth.
This area is rough machined prior to the frog fitting to facilitate better access around the mouth.
Milling to the front side of the mouth
This is one of the main reasons for leaving the finishing of the bed until last so that I can access an end mill to the front side of the mouth.
Frogs waiting for riveting
Now that 80% of the work to the mouth area is complete the frogs can now be riveted.
As you can see that most of the surfaces are surface ground and especially the contacting surfaces which will be air tight once the frogs are riveted. This is not achievable with filing.
Frogs after riveting.
All that remains now is for the flushing of rivet heads and the bed machining.
Finishing cut to blade bed
Work holding for bed working
The highest standard of bed working on a true plane with no azimuth error and the bed pitch is exact to 51 degrees to within 1 minute. This might not seem that important but it is to me because I know where everything else goes then. I want to know exactly where the pressure points are when the blade is clamped.
Plane bottoms complete
This is a nice sight for me as it is a milestone in the project. Once this is achieved I am a happy bunny.
Roughing out the dovetails
I usually do these 6 pairs at a time and it takes several pecks especially with brass as it tends to chatter more than steel.
At last the final dovetail cut
Checking for fit.
Now we are starting to look like planes.
Amazing level of quality in your process. A question regarding the frog riveting process. Is the sole of the plane raised a bit from the anvil prior to preening, leaving a raised rivet to peen from the bottom? Or is the whole process one sided?
Comment by Jeremy — July 30, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
Thank you for posting all these views into the inner workings of your plane making process. You do beautiful work, and I hope to one day own one of your planes, though that day is likely far in the future since I am currently attending school to learn the skills of a furniture maker.
Comment by Nathan Beal — July 30, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
Hi Jeremy
Thank you for your comments.
Yes the frog rivets are peened both sides. If I keep turning them over and peening alternatively from one side to the other then packing on the anvil is not necessary.
k
Comment by admin — July 31, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
Hi Nathan
Good luck with your school and it will be nice to see you as a customer in the future.
k
Comment by admin — July 31, 2009 @ 8:37 pm
Incredible work
Two questions, looks like your using a Boss6 or newer cnc, what do you use to create the g-code?
Secondly, do you have seperate machines for wood vs metal work? Whenever I mix the two, the cleanup becomes a major time sink when switching from metal work to wood work & vice-versa.
Your attention to detail and stress control is astounding, I cannot thank you enough for sharing with us the techniques you have developed.
Comment by Al Davies — July 31, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
Hi Al
I know little about CNC equipment except that the system I have is one of the earliest Heidenheim’s. I type in my programmes using a dialogue system – which seems like a very poor description, the extend of its language is ‘tool radius too large’ – a cure all dialogue! It only has four decimal points so I cannot do elipses, I only have my XYZ so I can’t do screw cutting either. It is my first and only experience using CNC. Now I don’t think I could manage without it. Over the years I have become quite fast with it and I can write contours out of my head.
I only have two milling machines and the CNC is a Bridgeport Interact II Mark 2. I work wood on all my engineering machines – yes there is a mess but it is an organised mess (I think). Where there is residue from cutting fluids it can be a bit mucky, but I only use cutting fluids on the CNC. Thorough cleaning between operations is very advisable and I try and keep away from the red line on the spindle speeds.
I am used to being praised for my attention to detail but you are the first to mention stress control. On the later I do sail a little close to the edge at times. Thank you for your observations.
k
Comment by admin — August 1, 2009 @ 11:39 am
on your work holding for bed holding picture you have made a mistake, it reads exact to 51 degrees to within 1 minute (it should be exact to 51 degrees to within 1 SECOND) BLOODY HELL GET IT RIGHT ROITER
Gaz
Comment by Gary Bennett — August 22, 2009 @ 11:34 pm
I pride myself on always publishing every comment, so unfortunately I have to publish this one
As a brief explanation (for those who are interested) Gaz was my gliding instructor – and my instruments are a lot more reliable and accurate than his altimeter with the broken glass.
So Gaz when are you coming to visit me in bonny Scotland?
k
P.S. Roiter is my old nickname acquired by being the fastest cable retriever
Comment by admin — August 23, 2009 @ 2:37 pm