Hello John:
I am building a colonial Bombe chest and have purchased a Stanley #29 Radius Plane to finish its contours. I added a Hock #3, 1 3/4″ blade, as advised by Ron Hock. After adjusting the frog to allow for the thicker blade, the plane began to cut but leaves a lot to be desired. It skips and wont give me clean cut. Do you have any insights that may help?
Thanks,
MIKE EDWARDS
Replies
Mike,
A radius plane only works on a curve of constant radius where the sole can stay in full contact with the surface of the wood. The serpentine front of the chest with its constantly changing shape, and convex and concave surfaces, make it impossible to keep the full sole of the plane against the wood and the plane will skip and grab as it wobbles around. The plane also won't cut against the grain and the front of a solid wood chest will have several grain reversals.
The tool of choice for working the surfaces of a bombe chest are spoke shaves which are much more maneuverable. If you go to the FWW home page and do a search for a "bombe chest" you will find an early article, from when FWW was all in black and white, that describes how the chest can be shaped with gouges and spoke shaves.
John White
Hi John:
Thank you for your reply, however I was able to make the plane work. It took some time and effort but it has been worth it.
Regards
MIKE EDWARDS
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