tooling « From the Workshop

February 20, 2019

Workshop blog 10 – No 985

Filed under: No 985,Window to my workshop — Tags: Classic, hand made, Karl Holtey Designs, stainless steel, tooling — admin @ 9:48 am

Work commences on the stainless sides … you didn’t really think I was going to make it out of green plastic?

After a milling operation is finished everything has to be broken down and set up again for the next stage. This usually means making new fixtures and writing another programme. Always a lot of understated work on every new design.

It is always sad breaking down the machine just when everything seems to be working nicely. I have to be extra careful I haven’t missed out a side (done it before!).

One of the things that makes me different is that this is not just a craft job, this work is precision and takes a lot of planning.

I have decided to try and keep everyone informed as to the detailed work that goes into these planes. A well known manufacturer once said that I always manage to keep my work hidden.

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June 19, 2017

Window to my workshop 114

Filed under: A31 Thumb plane,Window to my workshop — Tags: adjuster, tooling — admin @ 6:17 pm

I want to show off some of the finer detail in the making of my adjuster components and the tooling used to make them.

These are for my low angle planes:

This is a ball turner I made 30 years ago in the days when I was very enthusiastic for making miniature locos. Over time it has been used a lot in the making of my planes.

A fixture I made which is used for making my adjuster bases.

After the threaded stem and body has been ball turned a flat is needed so that it glides freely over the adjuster base and helps to orientate the blade driver. This is the flat after milling.

This is the blade drivers at different stages of their making. Two of which are still attached to their carriers, and one finished.

The last stage in the making of this blade driver is to turn the spigot on to its body. I had to make a special collet which was a little bit fussy because the spigot has to be formed 8 degrees from the perpendicular. Unlike the Norris counterpart it is all in one piece. Norris never went this far.

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