Sunday, September 29, 2013

A tool chest for the sea (part 2)

I finally made it home to the family, and after some days of pleasing the talents I found some time to go to the workshop and get started on the tool chest for the sea.

I found an old wooden bodied plane that a friend once gave to me. He is actually working as a deck hand, so it is very fitting that I use his old plane. He actually gave me a box of some old worn planes because he believed that I would be able to find a use for them instead of he having to throw them all out. There were one more plane that was beyond repair, but the iron was of the same size. So I am able to follow my plan by having an iron ground for a scrub plane and an iron ground for a smoothing plane. (the blades have not been cleaned yet as can be seen on the photo)

The mallet is one that I made as an experiment. I have hardly ever used it, probably because I normaly prefer to use a round mallet. But that would be prone to rolling of the bench when the ship is rolling or pitching, so a square mallet makes sense here.

For some reason, I have numerous wooden marking gauges, so I found a decent JPBO to bring along.

I found 3 chisels: 2 Crown and one E.A. Berg. I sharpened them so they are ready for work.

The combination stone that I mentioned in the first blog entry about this tool chest was actually not needed. I found one on board, so instead I will bring a fine oil stone for polishing instead. I think the combination stone is grit: 250/600 or something along those lines, so a little too rough to give a nice edge.

I decided to see if a dozuki could fit in my imaginary tool box, and by the looks of it, it will be possible.

Sandpaper and sanding block are easy to fit in. The small brush is intended for glue. That way I can bring glue in an old glass jar.

So far the content can be contained in a box that is 30 x 40 x 10 cm (12" x 16" x 4") So that is fairly close to my original idea.


The tools as I imagine they should be in the finished chest.

Originally I thought about bringing  rabbet plane, if I had the space, but I am considering to bring a plow plane instead. But I am still a bit uncertain.
So please let me know if you would go with the rabbet plane or a plow plane?

13 comments:

  1. Jonas,

    The metallic plow planes (such as the Record 044) have a recess in their fences so you can use them as a rabbet plane. The straight cutter leaves some tearing, but it is serviceable.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Chris.

      I have one old metal plow plane, but I have never tried it.
      I'll check if it can double as a rabbet plane as well. I will have to check the weight compared to a wooden plow, to make sure I won't have excess load.
      Thanks for commenting
      Jonas

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  2. That is a very powerful kit right there. I would also go for the plow since as Chris points out, it can be pressed into serving as a rabbet but not the other way round. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I've been thinking some sort of modular systainer style system married to the Odate carpenter boxes I've seen several build will be what I build for traveling tools.

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    Replies
    1. I have never seen one of these systainer boxes, so I don't know if the result will end up looking like that. If it does, it will be a coincidence.
      I'll have to check the size of my plow plane, and see if it will fit in the chest.
      Hopefully I get a chance to continue tonight.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. It's still fermenting in my head, but I'm imagining combining the simplicity of dust tight wooden tool storage found here:
      http://etherfarm.com/japanese-box-build/
      With the modularity of this:
      http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=64664&cat=
      Potentially such modularity could be extended to work with some sort of traveling bench.

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    3. I have considered the Japanese type box as well, I really like the simplicity of it.
      I think I need to make some sort of division of the box, I am imagining Studley'esque, each tool has a holder etc. But again I want to keep the weight and volume low.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  3. Jonas, why not both? I mean, your time on the ship is a few weeks? You'll have an idea of what project you'll work on throughout your time aboard. Bring the plane that suits the project (or the one you are most comfortable using) and swap them out when needed while you're home before you leave again. Just a though...

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    Replies
    1. I suppose I could bring both, but I want to keep the kit as small as possible, to make sure that I don't get into any problems with over weight on any airplanes. I also have to make sure that I have adequate room + weight allowance to bring back whatever I choose to make.
      I also plan on taking the kit with me always, to avoid it being stranded on a ship if I get sacked or transferred to another ship.
      The ever present risk of loosing my luggage also urges me to keep the value of the tools to a minimum, so I won't bring any Lie Nielsen planes or irreplaceable tools.
      Brgds Jonas

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    2. No no... I mean bring the one you are going to use, but swap out when you go home and know that you may use the other one on the next trip... that's what I meant. So essentially you have both to choose from, but the choice must be made prior to leaving for 3 weeks on a plane and boat.

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  4. OK, now I get it :-)
    Actually I haven't got an idea of what to make yet, but it will probably be some sort of box or small chest (I am not very imaginative).
    Brgds
    Jonas

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  5. I think a shooting board built into the top of your tools box would be of immense value. You can always use a hand saw to cut parts to length, but to have a way to get the ends square before assembly would be good. The box would serve as a bench with the shooting board as the lid. It is probably even harder to cut a square straight line when on board a ship. While I'm brainstorming about your tool box, I can imagine that the underside of the lid will have a miter box to hold your saw at either a 90 or 45 degree angle.

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    Replies
    1. Doug, a shooting board is a really good idea.
      But to make it work as a bench it need to be fairly sturdy, but I suppose that could be helped with some stiffeners on the inside of the lid, Those could then be transformed into the miter box. Hmm, I guess that I need to do some more sketching before rushing of to build something.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  6. Jonas! See what's on sale on the Japanese Yahoo! Auction site:

    http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n128779892

    Maybe you can get a few ideas from this for your chest!

    Jens

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