Replies

1. 
   jako17 | Dec 05, 2006 05:13pm | #1

    It looks like a home grown mod of a bailey to me not a distant cousin of a #9.If you remove the infill I bet the frog bed has been ground down

1. 
   derekcohen | Dec 05, 2006 05:52pm | #2

   I agree - looks craftsman made. Beautiful job.

   Regards from Perth

   Derek

1. 
   chuckh | Dec 06, 2006 12:59am | #7

   Derek,

   Thanks for compliment.  If no one else, I knew you would appreciate my attempt to resurrect an old clunker:-)

   -Chuck

    

2. 
   Samson | Dec 05, 2006 06:04pm | #3

   Looks like a modified 4.  Out of curiousity, how is the screw that holds the levercap secured to infill wedge?

3. 
   chuckh | Dec 05, 2006 06:51pm | #4

   You see the problem is that I got up at 6:30 AM this morning.  I knew I was going to have to get up a lot earlier than that to get one past you guys here at Knots.  I confess, it's my creation. 

   If I wasn't trying to be so clever I would have titled my post "What do you do with a six dollar Stanley Handyman?".  Here is a picture of its former life.  The blade and chip breaker are original and the levercap is from a #4.  The black knob and infil were inspired from Sauer & Steiner's stainless steel smoother (A5ss) I saw in the gallery at handplanecentral.com.

   It does look pretty good even though I didn't spend a lot of time on it.  I think the photos help a bit.

   Have a good day,

   -Chuck 

   
   

   ---

   Edited 12/5/2006 10:53 am ET by chuckh

   
1. 
   urbman | Dec 05, 2006 10:17pm | #5

   well done
   I might give that a try myself
   Do you have a "field stripped" photo ?

1. 
   chuckh | Dec 06, 2006 01:27am | #8

   Here is a "before" photo of the casting.  I removed everything behind the mouth and flattened the whole area as much as possible.  I even took as much casting draft as possible out of the sides.  That made it easier to stuff. 

   I'll take a stripped down photo tonight. There isn't much to see except the slot for the chip breaker bolt and the threaded insert for the lever cap screw.   

   -Chuck

    

    

   
2. 
   chuckh | Dec 07, 2006 03:03am | #11

   Urbman,

   As promised I took a few more pictures although I must apologize for their quality.  It has been too cold out in the shop so I had to find a good place in the house.  I need to experiment some more.

   In the second photo I tried to show the mouth area.  You'll have to file the frame at the back of the mouth to the 20 Deg bed angle, but the irregularities in the casting still made it difficult for a clean transition to the infil.  As long as the two surfaces are in the same plane a small gap shouldn't matter.  You could build up this area with epoxy.  

   I think Samson was asking about how the lever cap screw was anchored and I accomplished that with a 1/4-20 threaded insert.  The L/C screw was replaced with a Stainless Steel 1/4-20 bolt.

   There is little room on the sides for screws to anchor the infil so I just sat it in a bed of Gorilla glue.  Time will tell how well that works out.  You could run screws up through the sole.

   I wouldn't recommend using the Handyman frame.  It is robust enough but the mouth is significantly wider than the #4 and the bevel up blade only exaggerates it.  This one will require some serious shimming.

   Have fun and be sure to show us what you come up with.

   -Chuck

      

     

   Edited 12/6/2006 7:05 pm ET by chuckh

   
1. 
   urbman | Dec 07, 2006 03:24am | #12

   Thanks !
   Quite inspirational !
   How does it work ?
   Errr How well does it work :-)

1. 
   chuckh | Dec 07, 2006 06:07am | #14

   Urbman,

   To be perfectly honest I haven't had the chance to give it a good workout.  I only finished it last week and with Christmas decorating & activities and the weather turning cold....well you get the picture.  It will make shavings, I proved that much, and it is a little more fussy to adjust than my other adjuster-less planes.  Normally I just sit the plane on a flat surface, drop the blade in until the edge just touches the surface and then tap the wedge tight.  When I do that with this plane I find it is set too strong.  So I have to pull the blade back a little, tighten the lever cap and then tap the blade to the depth I want. 

   As I mentioned in my previous post, as it is the mouth is far too wide.  I could tell that from the start.  The mouth on the Handyman frame is a sixteenth of an inch wider than that of the #4.  I'll have to make a shim to put under the blade to move it forward and tighten the mouth.  I'm not a compete freak about super tight mouths, but it is obvious that the more precise the work, tighter is better than wide.  Of course then I read posts by craftsmen like Rob Millard and he says he rarely pays any attention to it.  So go figure. 

   This is kind of a long-winded reply to say I'll have to get back to you on that.  It remains to be seen if this thing is a user, or just a pretty face:-)  And I've said before that my shop is too small; there is no room for pretty faces.

   -Chuck  

     

2. 
   Samson | Dec 07, 2006 03:47am | #13

   Chuck,

   Thanks for the follow-up and pics. 

   One question: Why a bed of Gorilla Glue and not slow setting epoxy, for example?

1. 
   chuckh | Dec 07, 2006 06:38am | #15

   Samson,

   Actually I had intended to use epoxy but my supply on hand was low and I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to do a good job.  The Gorilla glue was the only other choice at the time.  After a couple of winter-summer cycles in my shop I may be looking for another method.

   This thing was just an experiment.  I was drooling over someone's improved mitre plane one night when it struck me that I might be able to make something similar using a Stanley #4.  The problem was all the 4's I found were in such nice condition I didn't have the heart to take one home and chop it up.  That's when I found the Handyman for $6.  Another $7.50 for the lever cap, some elbow grease and presto! :)

   -Chuck

    

     

4. 
   Midnight | Dec 06, 2006 12:10am | #6

   you're using this as a bevel up...?? dare I ask what it is that the chip breaker lends to the rig...??

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

1. 
   chuckh | Dec 06, 2006 01:34am | #9

   Mike,

   Of course in this configuration the chip breaker no longer serves its intended purpose.  I left it because I thought it would add stiffness to the blade, but most of all to give the lever cap a place to ride.  Otherwise the lever mechanism would sit in the slot in the blade. 

   -Chuck

       

1. 
   Midnight | Dec 06, 2006 02:00am | #10

   yupp... I had a wee dohhh moment right after I hit send...

   I'm blamin the meds.. at my age, no way can it be altzheimers.... surely...??Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

5. 
   chuckh | Dec 07, 2006 07:03am | #16

   On the subject of the "Improved Mitre" plane or "Improved Pattern Mitre" plane, can someone tell me what this is an improvement over?  I assume that it must be an "improvement" over the rectangular box design mitre plane, but IMO, as a dedicated mitre, the box design looks to be the more practical of the two.