This is a prototype shooting board plane made in the style of a Norris number 11. This configuration is bevel down and the iron is pitched at 38 degrees. This is a design that myself and Jameel Abraham have been kicking around and tweaking for a few months. About two weeks ago while Jameel was here visiting we spent 2 very long days in the shop starting at 8:00 am and usually staying until 10 or 10:30pm both nights and we even worked a half day prior to be taking Jameel back to the airport for his return flight. We of course were not able to finish the plane in that period of time but we made a great amount of progress during those 2 1/2 days. I consulted with Phil Edwards of “Philly Planes” in regards to the geometry for this tool. Phil makes a wooden version of this plane that has similar geometry and he was most helpful in helping us avoid some pitfalls that he encountered while developing his version.
As you can see this tool features an all steel body, when I was lapping this plane I was wishing Jameel had stuck around a few more days. Lapping 3 steel sides on a plane of this size is a lot of work especially when you consider the sides have to be perfectly square to the sole. The lever cap is brass and the cap screw is a silicone bronze beauty made by the “RareBear” himself. The plane weighs 6 lbs. 10 ozs. Hefty, however it is laying on it’s side and quite frankly when you’re cutting end grain you need all the mass you carry to the spot. The other dimensions are 10″ long, 2.437 wide (using a 2″ wide iron) and the sides are 2.312 tall.
We nixed the idea of committing a piece of very expensive piece of ebony to this prototype, however we wanted to see how the plane would appear with ebony so we used walnut for the infill and I applied an ebonized finish.
We tried a couple of different versions of handles on this plane and neither of us cared for a hot dog type handle. At times I even wondered if it really needed a handle, however when you try to shoot the end grain of wider, thicker pieces the knob really helps with the effort required. The Bailey style knob actually worked the best and was the most comfortable to us. It nest between your thumb and first finger nicely allowing you to wrap your hand around the body of the plane very comfortably, not to mention it has such a classic look.
Thanks for looking,
Ron Brese
www.breseplane.com
Replies
Gorgeous plane. Very impressive. Thanks for posting.
roc
Ron,
I absolutely love the contrast between the steel and ebonized walnut. I see that you now have kits available. Tempted, thinking... still thinking...
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
(soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
S-w-e-e-t!
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Would it not wourk to mill or grind the sole and sides instead of lapping them? It seems there must be an eaiser way. I like the plane a lot. It looks like it will be a real workhorse.
Derek
Derek,Lapping out the mill marks could also turn into a lot work, grinding would be an option however you couldn't really grind it until the infills were in place and it would be difficult to protect the infills thru the surface grinding process, beside the look of a lapped plane side is just much nicer than a machine grind.I was actually caught without the proper abrasives when this part of the work came about, I've remedied that and I believe with the proper materials this could have taken at least 30% less time. Once the infills were in one side of the plane was dead on square to the sole and the other side was only out a few thousandths at the top. Getting the squareness dead on was relatively easy, the lapping just to get the sides cosmetically acceptable was where the real work came about.Thanks for the compliments on the plane,Ron Bresehttp://www.breseplane.comIf you're too open minded your brains will fall out.
Ron,
Gorgeous work!! If I didn't already have a LN #9, I'd be reaching for my wallet. I shoot all my miters on my cab doors, so it's used quite frequently.
I'm curious if 38° is the optimal angle, especially since you're shooting end grain most of the time. I'd like to hear your thoughts about why a lower angle wouldn't be better. Obviously, you know why. I'd just like to hear about how the choice came to be.
Beautiful work. Between you and Philip, the droooooool factor just keeps increasing.
Jeff
Jeff,The effective cutting angle of a bevel up plane with a 12 degree bed angle and 25 degree bevel grind on the iron would be 37 degrees in a perfect world. Most tend to take more material off the front edge of the iron when they hone effectively making the angle steeper, so in most cases they are planning with an effective cutting angle that is higher than 37 degrees.With the bevel down configuration and a bed angle of 38 degrees the effective cutting angle will always be 38 degrees. The thing that I like about the bevel down configuration is that the bevel of the iron is close to being in line with the line of the cut and this puts a lot of metal behind the cutting edge which is very desirable when cutting end grain.Those 45s on the doors makes for some enjoyable shooting doesn't it? Much easier than shooting the 90s on the ends of stock.Thanks for asking and thank you for you compliments on this plane,Ron BreseIf you're too open minded your brains will fall out.
Ron,
My apologies for not reading your op intently. I didn't pick up that it was a bevel down plane. I thought you were bedding a bevel up plane at 38°. I'll try and read better next time. Thanks for responding, and once again, nice looking plane!
Jeff
That is insanely beautiful. I know the only reason you post these things is to make us drool.
Rich
Hi Ron,
Seductive looking item there which I am sure works at least as well as it looks.
I am assuming you milled that body with that facing head for your mill drill? If so then I can visualise some boring work in removing the mill marks. That is why one wants a nice heavy MILL like a Bridgeport and is the reason why I only use mine for non ferrous work .
I just want to point out that if you had a surface grinder you could arrive at a squared up body fast, and the remaining work of removing the stone marks is minimal compared to those mill marks, even if you use a coarse stone (60 grit ) on the surface grinder.
The other thing is that you are talking of protecting the infill- I assume you mean protection from the coolant fluid? If so , then I can tell you from experience that it is not necessary to always use the suds pump. Desirable, but not essential, as it keeps that dust away. Contrary to what folk may think, a plane body doesn't even get to blood heat when grinding dry-provided the wheel is properly dressed and one is taking a fine cut with fine feed.
So don't let things like that stop you from getting a surface grinder, and when are you going to reproduce the Stanley shute board like Jim Kingshott did? );)
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