Thursday, April 20, 2017

Dutch tool chest build 3, tongues & grooves and assembly.

Having completed the dovetails, I made a dry test fit of them. While the sides and the bottom were assembled, I measured the length of the shelf.
The shelf was cut to the correct length, and the parts were glued up. Oh yes, I made the rabbets for the shelf before I glued it up.

The lower front lip and the upper front each had a bead planed to soften the transition where each part will meet the fall front.
I mounted the parts a bit too long, and when the glue had dried I trimmed them to the correct length.

My Record combination plane has got a blade for making tongues, and I was really anxious to try it.
At first it was a complete and utter failure. I could at best take a shaving that was 7" long before the plane was blocked with shavings and I had to use a screwdriver to pry them out.

I stopped for the say and chatted a bit with Brian Eve instead.  He asked about the plane and did the smart thing: He visited Patrick Leach's Blood and Gore page. I have visited that page numerous times, but I don't know why I didn't think of doing it this time.
It turns out that there is supposed to be a "shaving deflector" that has to be used while planing tongues. Patrick also states that these are very commonly lost.
A bit of Internet searching and I had found some close up pictures of what it should look like. Since it looks a bit complicated, I decided to fabricate one of my own design instead. I think it took me roughly 20 minutes work, and I had a shaving deflector ready for testing.
The deflector was installed and I sort of expected the plane to jam within 5" this time - so I started out with a very short stroke. No blocking.
I got cocky and tried to do a 10" stroke. Still no jamming, Actually it seemed to work as it should. Finally I tried taking a planing the whole length of the 25" board. Two fat shavings ejected perfectly from the plane! I could even take fairly heavy shavings, so in a very short time all the tongues were completed.

On those boards I made the grooves next, and followed with some side beads.
These boards were all installed as the back of the carcase. I used a dab ob glue in the middle of each board, and two nails. so in theory the middle of the narrow boards will be fixed by the glue, and the nails closer to the sides will allow for some wood movement.


Chest assembled with fall front set loose in its place.

After the glue up.

Trimming the ends of the lower lip and the upper front.

Record No 50 combination plane tonguing.

Homemade shaving deflector for Record No 50 or Stanley No 50

10 comments:

  1. The chest is coming along great! I can't wait to see what kind of paint you use. Perhaps you could catch a live octopus and harvest some natural ink tint.

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    1. Hi Brian
      An ink squirting octopus sounds like fun, but I think you will have more luck finding one in the Mediterranean than I will up here.
      A good guess would be grey paint. But who knows?
      Cheers
      Jonas

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  2. How does the shaving deflector attach to the plane? Does it keep the throat clear?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ralph.
      I'll try to take a picture of it while it is mounted in the plane.
      There isn't really a throat like on e.g. a block plane, but 3/8" above the sharp edge of the blade the skate is horizontal. So if you don't put in the deflector, the shaving will fold itself a couple of times and then jam up.
      When the deflector is mounted it will bend the shaving to the left so it can escape between the two skates of the plane.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  3. Jonas, you are the man!!! Not only that, I have that same exact plane and I had no idea what that little part actually did!!!
    On top of that, the tool chest looks great. And I agree with Brian Eve, catch an octopus for the ink. Also, you could catch a swordfish and use it to carve in your initials!!
    Bill

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bill

      Thank you :-)
      It really makes all the difference when using the plane as a tongue plane. The deflector goes into the same hole as the depth stop would normally occupy. But when tonguing, the depth stop is mounted directly on the blade.
      Catching a swordfish sounds like a much better idea than finding an octopus. But I doubt that those species are found locally.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. You're in Norway, right? Maybe a narwhal. That should work, too.

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    3. A narwhal might be a better choice. But they too are further north I think. There is mainly cod and halibut around here. They aren't quite as impressive.. :-)

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  4. Mummm....fish and chips, but then swordfish and octopus ain't too bad. I've never tried narwhal.

    I must be hungry :-).

    BTW the tool chest looks great and you do live up to your tag line "Being old fashioned, the cool way". Good job making the deflector.

    ken

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ken
      I haven't eaten narwhal either, but whale is commonly eaten in Norway. It taste a bit like liver.
      I am not quite sure what species of whale is eaten, but the meat is a nice dark colour and very low on fat. So if you barbecue it, it should only have a very short time - if not it will get really dry..

      Thanks for the nice comment about the chest and my tag line :-)
      I have a feeling that I was lucky in making the deflector, it worked straight away.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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