With only the help of Larry Williams DVD Making Traditional Side Escapement Planes I made a half set of hollows and rounds. They are profiled, hardened, oiled, stamped and in working order.
They are made out of Cherry. I purchased the iron blanks from Lie-Nielsen. I was concerned about hardening the irons myself. The process went very smoothly. The irons seem to be holding an edge quite nicely.
The most difficult part, by far, was stamping them. Swinging a 3 lb ‘hammer’ accurately against a 2″ stamp being held with pliers against the end of 10″ plane that is only clamped at the bottom 3″ is a skill that I did not have. I probably tested 100-150 swings over a few days before I was comfortable. Endurance certainly came into play. I purchased the stamp from Mazzaglia Tools.
I am currently making a moving fillester (or filletster?) and then a pair of snipes bills.
As for time, I don’t know how long it took me to make the 18 pictured. I think that I could now make a pair in 5-6 hours.
I am happy to answer any questions. Larry’s DVD will answer most, if not all.
Replies
Nice job Matt, Very fulfilling Experience I am sure.
Edited 4/19/2008 10:58 am ET by gofigure57
Wow! Have you been using them very much? I'd like to see some moldings made with these!
-Andy
"I'd like to see some moldings made with these"
So would I, Andy. So would I.
At this point the shoulder of each of the planes is all that I can show you. I need a rabbet or my fillester before I can do anything worth posting.
Very, very nice. Any reason for the use of cherry, I don't believe it is a traditional wood for molding planes?
Chuck
Larry made several suggestions for those of us that can't get quartersawn beech, let alone 8/4 quartersawn beech. Cherry was one of these. I couldn't get anything quartersawn that was on his list so I had to get 16/4 and make my own, cherry was my best option.
Matt,
I presume that the LN blanks for the blades are just pieces of tempered tool steel. What tools did you use to shape the blade? Can you take a picture of an iron?
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.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
The Lie Nielsen irons need to be heat treated, which cost me about $15 in supplies (most of which was a pot that I wouldn't care about). A short trip to the grocery store for the pot and peanut oil.
Shaping the irons was a slightly different story. I had to locate a thin cut-off wheel. I got one that is 1/8" from fastenal for $10. I used this thin wheel to shape the irons for the hollows. the rounds were done on a regular flat wheel (crowned of course Joel--ha ha ha.) The final adjustements were done with chainsaw files and stones. Due to a lack of vanity, I did not polish the insignificant areas of the irons.
(On a side note: I pitched the idea of stocking a few thin widths of Norton grinding wheels to Joel Moskowitz at toolsforworkingwood and I think he may have bit, I got a nibble at least. An email showing interest may help push him over the edge if you're interested. Nobody that I could find sells these.)
The pictures aren't great:
Not to be "naughty" but can you show is a bottom shot ;-)
Now for the Chest to store them.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Bruce,
Are you asking for a picture of the soles?
A sole shot would be great! But Bottoms are so much cuter(;)Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Bruce,
Here's what you asked for. But if your mother catches you with these pictures you better not tell her that you got them from me.
Matt,
How did you shape the soles? And how does one determine the radius of the curve.
Thanks,
Andy
I just had a better description typed up. It got rejected. Let's try this again
1) mark the shape on each end. 2) use a bench plane to make the round. This will leave a faceted sole. I sanded this out lightly by straddling a piece of sandpaper over the plane's sole. Just make sure you're using the whole sheet of paper so you won't leave any low spots. It doesn't take much. 3) Shape, harden, sharpen iron. 4) use the round to make the hollow. 5) Shape, harden and sharpen the hollow's irons.
Here is a link to Lie Nielsen's site, which has the radius of each plane's sole. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/pdf/Sizes_of_Hollows_and_Rounds.pdf The dvd has the dimensions for the entire plane for all planes of a full set, #1-18. What you see is a half set, evens 2-18.
OK, I've gotta get that DVD -- and figure out how to get the quarter-sawn wood, too.
-Andy
Matt
Beautiful job. They look terrific. Congrats. I hope they work equally as well.
Jeff
Andy wrote ........
Matt,And how does one determine the radius of the curve.Thanks,Andy
So, how do you punctuate a question?
Big deal, a typo. The comment about it is off-topic. It's not like I incorrectly spelled "grammar" about 5 or 6 times in a thread in which I complained about the erosion of educational standards. A blunder like that would be ridiculous, especially for one who was properly educated in a "grammer school" {sic}!
-Andy
P.S. Don't bother responding -- I've just made use of the "ignore" feature.
Edited 4/26/2008 10:41 am ET by VTAndy_
I did a typo. So did you. You're very quick to toss crap at others, but you can't take it when someone tosses it back.
All of us make typos, as my post (in the woodworking school thread) and your post (here) show. I come here for exchange and knowledge and friendship: not to derive pleasure from picking on the good folks here.
And if you have indeed placed me on ignore, then I have to at least thank you for that, because you have done me a favor.
Edited 4/26/2008 11:36 am ET by blewcrowe
blew & Andy,
Aw right you two, STOP IT!
Now settle down and view the following. I expect a full report in the morning.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS240&q=cheech+and+chong+class&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&oi=property_suggestions&resnum=0&ct=property-revision&cd=1
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob, I wasn't the one who started taking pot-shots. Hey, to my recollection, I've never even conversed with the guy, so I don't know why the mean treatment.
The crux of it is I made an embarrassing mistake by misspelling a word in a thread dealing with education, and he took pleasure in trying to embarrass me more than I had already embarrassed myself. When I pointed out that he too had made an error in parlance, he blew up and tried a second time to abash me.
Nonetheless, you'll see no more exchange from me unless the attacks begin again. I said my piece, once, and made no further posts to him.
Denny
OK, both youse guys shake hands and put it behind you.
Now, let's get back to havin fun.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
It's off topic, and should not have been brought into this thread to begin with; as I said in my post above, I've made use of the "ignore" feature, which is great, because now I don't have to read reactionary complaints like "public schools use too much money" and "kids these days aren't taught as well as they used to be." If I wanted to hear stuff like that, I would just move out of the People's Republic. ;)
-Andy
Andy,
I hear you folks over ther in the Republic can pass someone on a double yaller line as long as ya don't cause fits with a body comin in the other direction. Is that true?
I live just o'er the river and have occasion to travel in VT to get to my summer place Wallace.
Now back to my anti Ignore Button campaign. :-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
All I can say, Is sweet!
Thanks.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Matt,
Those are very nice. Are you planning to try your hand at marketing and selling these? There seems to be a good deal of interest in sets of these and I believe there is a wait list of a year or two for a set from Larry Williams.
Also, you may want to check over at Woodnet and sift through the classifieds - a while back there was a guy selling quarter sawn beech. In fact, Larry purchased some of it from him for planes.
Good luck with your venture. Again, the planes look beautiful.
Lee
I have no intent of marketing and selling these. I don't have much experience with various molding planes and wouldn't be interested in putting my name on a product line that I'm not 100% familiar with. It's unfair to the customer. I do intend to make several more myself as needed, including a few that are complex.
Mapleman,You are right about the lead time. After seeing these I called Clark & Williams today to order a set and was told it would be 1 to 2 years before delivery. I was told that they made the dvd to try to reduce demand. I'd love to have a good set but don't think I have time to make one.
Matt,
I took Larry and Don's class at Kelly Mehler's recently so I do know what is required to make a pair. I made a pair of #8's and they work fine. Pics later. I wont say it was easy because it wasn't and even though I'm partially disabled I was able to pull it off. But you have really done a great job on the half set. They look great. I'm trying to get enough QS wood to make a half set for myself which will take me considerably longer, but it is extremely enjoyable and hope to get started soon.
Good luck with the fillister. BTW, where did you get the plans from?
Take care,
Michael
Thanks Michael. I would love to see the pair your made. I considered the class but then the dvd came out. The set took a long time, I lost track.
As for the fillester, I bought an antique off of ebay. I gutted it and I am copying it. I will make a few changes along the way, I am sure.
Matt:
I was so impressed that I immediately ordered the DVD Saturday morning. A beautiful job.
Steve
Matt,
Excellent job building the planes. They look great and I'm sure they are all good users as well.
Not that Larry W. needs my endorsement, but I think cherry is an very good choice of material for molding planes, especially for casual usage, and especially for folks in our part of the world (Pa). I've built a few molding planes from cherry wood and they are holding up quite well.
In your investigation of materials, did you consider birch - more specifically yellow birch? I see a lot of old molding planes made from YB and from what I've read it appears that yellow birch would be a better choice than the American variety of beech that everyone seems to covet. I wonder if the beech that many of the old planes were made from isn't the European variety which is supposed to be much more stable that the American variety.
Regards,
Chuck (In PA)
Great job. Where did you get the makers stamp? I have looked into getting one for myself, but can't seem to find a stamp maker that understands what I'm looking for.
I purchased the stamp from Mazzaglia Tools.
Matt,
did you use any floats for the holes? Where did you get them?
very nice job..the planes are inspiring....
Yes, I used floats from Lie Nielsen. And to preemt the next question: 1/8" edge float, push side float, and pull small cheek float.
Nice job Matt. I've made two hollows from Larry's video. I used irons from old planes that were no longer serviceable. Don't have any pictures to share. I've really enjoyed the process of making the planes. My fathers day gift to myself will be some LN blanks. Post some pics of your other plane.
Joe "inPA"
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