… the continuing story.
Here’s some before and after shots of my shoulder plane project. The rough and rusty casting was part of a treasure trove I bought a month or so ago. I promised it to someone in the US (for the cost of postage – sorry again Mate) then changed my mind and have used it as a training exercise.
Stuffed with lignum vitae, lv wedge, cut-down old cast steel iron (only part polished).
I changed the shape significantly. The casting is not a good one – mouth too wide (and at an odd angle, slightly skewed), sides of different thicknesses, inside surfaces quite rough.
I’m still learning the metalwork – biggest challenge is moving from nice crisp filed edges and surfaces to a fully-polished finish that retains the crispness – sanding dubs over the edges.
There’s also a shot of the iron and the off-cuts. Cut down using an angle grinder held freehand, with a 1mm (3/32) cut-off wheel. No adverse heating (certainly no colour change).
Sorry about poor photo quality – will try to improve in better light later in the weekend!
Malcolm
Edited 10/21/2005 9:44 pm ET by Malcolm
Replies
wow
Malcolm, some intensive hand work there.
I think you can rectify the wide mouth by inlaying a mild steel plate across the sole to make it narrower. Hard to do well without a milling machine-you would have to file very accurately to fit it well-then it could be soft soldered in place. How brave are you?
My plane is coming on at a reasonable pace, as I spent the whole day on it today, and Monday is some sort of holiday-so 2 more days in hand.Looks as though there will be time to make the real thing before your Shepherd is released by customs:)(:
Thanks Philip - I don't think this tool is worth any more work. It has just been a training job - I was interested to see how hard shaping iron could be, and what was possible.
I've still got some way to go ... there's a limit to how far one can go with hand techniques.
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
You can effectively narrow the mouth by adding a thin shim beneath the iron. This will raise the iron but also move it forward.
Malcom,
Nice job!
Even with all the problems you mentioned, it still turned out very well.
And, you learned a lot in the process that you can apply to future planes.
Keep up the good work!
Rick W.
Malcolm,
Nice job,
You can polish using the scary sharp approach for the flat areas, just treat it as a lapping exercise. If you do the champhers first, lapping the side will look 'crisper'
Dave
Thanks guys
I've figured I can get to a mirror finish by working through the grits and then polishing/lapping with cloth/leather/MDF and a buffing compound.
I'm still working on a technique that will preserve the flatness of small, chamfered or faceted surfaces without rounding them over. It's the same issue as polishing the top edge of a chisel or plane iron without rounding it over.
Malcolm
I would make a slide that rides on the wide face and that has a bevel matching the one you are trying to polish. Keep the face of the bevel fairly narrow so it will follow tight curves and then wrap your sandpaper around it and polish away.
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