From the Workshop

September 15, 2010

Window to my workshop 43

What about polymer?

 

It is workable.
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August 22, 2010

Window to my Workshop 42

A6 dovetail infill smoother

It was always my intention with this blog to show how much work goes into my planes and I hope that the format I have chosen has been successful as I don’t have much time to talk about my minutiae of everyday life and just stay focused on the work in hand.  I am sorry that my postings are so random but as they are time consuming I cannot afford to put them before my work.  I hope that you can see that my workshop is a serious workplace.  I have difficulty finding time for travelling to tool events.  I know this makes me seem a recluse but I can assure you that plane making to me is more than a full time occupation.

Sorry there has been such a gap since the last posting (and the time before), but any spare time I have had lately has been taken up with visitors and I have had to make some effort in my social life.   If anyone is thinking of visiting you must be prepared to climb a mountain as this is my relaxation.

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The prefix on the smoothing plane is almost irrelevant as the techniques are the same.  I feel that there are a lot of pieces missed out and this post is to try and fill the gaps.  I will also try and fill in any gaps on the No 982 next.  Then I will move on to new projects. 

The A6 is the only overstuffed plane in my range and is one of the main difference to the A13.

Sometimes it is nice to photograph components at this stage as it is an insight into some of the work.  Once everything is assembled it is gone forever.

As you can see here that the rear infill is made up in three parts.  In the second picture you can see the three parts assembled showing the brass rivet spacers/sleeves and the recessing for the sides and adjuster.  Also the adjuster fixing bar and the handle spine.

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June 29, 2010

Window to my workshop 41

As I have mentioned before most of my entries will be piece meal and out of sequence.  On this occasion I have managed to take some pictures whilst making chip breakers.  Apologies for missing the bending and forming of the front edge of the chip breaker but I forgot to take the pictures.

 These chip breakers are standard on all my smoothing planes with 2 ¼” blades.  They are made from gauge plate.

Milling the faceted end of the chip breaker with a rough cutter.

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April 3, 2010

Window to my Workshop 40

Just a couple of pictures that got left off Post no 38 on the A6

A6 dovetailed smoothing plane with brass sides 15

 

A6 dovetailed smoothing plane with brass sides 16

 

A6 dovetailed smoothing plane with brass sides 17

March 6, 2010

A13 Boxwood pictures

Just a few quick pictures of this Boxwood A13 I have just finished

A13 boxwood smoother plane 1

 

A13 boxwood smoother plane 2

 

A13 boxwood smoother plane 3

February 7, 2010

Window to my workshop – 38

A6 Smoothing Plane

At last I have managed to find a little bit more time  for another entry in my blog.  For this entry I have decided use some old pictures of an A6 in the making as I have come across some pictures which could be useful.  As usual there are a lot of gaps in the picture diary and so I will start with the project already under way.  I feel sure that it will still provide some interest.

This A6 is one of the least copied planes around but is one of my personal favourites.  This is the real smoother as this plane is never much more than 7-7 .5 inches in length as its only job was for surface finishing.  This pattern is one of the most traditional, a fully handled infill plane.

I have been congratulated by many for introducing this informative blog as it shows how different my work is from other plane makers either historic or contemporary.  There are good plane makers but I feel that my methods set me apart. 

 “The nicest things about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from “ Andres S Tannenbaum.

 

 A6 dovetailed smoothing plane with brass sides 1

 After all the profiling and dovetailing has been completed (this is the same process as with my other infill planes and has been documented elsewhere in these blogs), I can concentrate on the mouth and the frog.  As you will see from the picture the mouth is slotted and the holes drilled in preparation for the frog riveting.

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December 22, 2009

Skew mouthed mitre plane

Filed under: Specials — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 8:56 am

The person who commissioned this plane is no longer with us and I am not sure who owns this plane now.  I did not stamp my name on it as it was not my design.  With the wedge on runners it works well and is comfortable to use.  Now I have dug the photo out it looks better than I remember and there could be possibilies with this design.

skew mouthed mitre plane

December 20, 2009

Window to my workshop – 30

11-sa dovetailed smoothing / finishing plane

I have discovered a few pictures of work in progress, not the complete sequence, so decided to show what I have here.

 

1 11sa dovetailed smoother finishing plane

 11-sa smoothing plane components before assembly.

 

2 11sa dovetailed smoother finishing plane

Tapping for adjuster bush after boring.

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11-sa Photo Gallery

I have so many nice photos I have decided to put a gallery here for those who are interested.  There is no text just pictures.  It is a shame that the pictures had to be downsized.

24 11sa dovetailed smoother finishing plane

25 11sa dovetailed smoother finishing plane

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November 5, 2009

Window to my workshop 28

Spiers Style Shoulder plane -4

Apologies for the 4 week gap in postings for those of you who have been following my blog.  I have been a bit busy with visitors (though always welcome it does tend to put me behind a bit), and the new project (transitional plane) keeps on snapping at me;  it is coming along quite well if a bit piecemeal.

 As I mentioned in the last posting that I had mislaid some pictures so here I am going to replace them with some from an A7 Norris type shoulder plane as they are very close in construction.

40 Spiers style shoulder plane

The front infill of an adjustable shoulder plane is probably the most complex infill of all my planes; especially as they are part of the adjuster design.  This infill is integral with the bridge and the clamping screw bush.  The clamping screw bush (which is illustrated in a previous posting) is screwed through the bridge. It also has a shoulder which secures the front part of the infill by clamping down on to a counterbore recess in the wood. This arrangement eliminates the need for a rivet here.  

All the boring, counterboring and tapping is done in a set sequence whilst everything is in situ.  After this process the whole plane is disassembled for further work.  This includes the fixing of the infill to the bridge with the brass bush.  With the fixing secure and complete the brass bush on the underside of the bridge can then be flushed off.  By offering the filling back into position in the plane I can scribe the contour lines from the plane sides for reference for the shaping of the horn detail around the brass bush.  

 

41 Spiers style shoulder plane

Here the rear end of the shoulder plane is polished before the blade bed is fitted, otherwise it would be inaccessible.  This is typical of the importance of getting the sequence right throughout the whole project.

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