Saturday, September 30, 2017

Making an infill plane from scratch 9, rear infill.

The front infill had a really nice and tight fit yesterday, but apparently the wood is not completely dry, because it has shrunk a bit since then. Not much, but I can clearly feel a difference in the fit. I hope it won't matter too much, but I usually have problems with wood expanding at our place, so it might just end up perfect at home.

To make the rear infill, I sawed out a piece of Bubinga and flattened one side that would serve as a reference for the lay out. This was the lower side of the infill.
Next one side was squared up and finally the last side was made parallel and square too.

Following this I marked out a 50 degrees angle on the forward part of the infill, which will eventually become the frog or bedding for the blade.
If I had had a protractor out here I would probably have used it, but I dont. So with the help of a bit of math and a tangent function I was able to do the job anyway.
After marking up I sawed close to the line with a hacksaw. The surface was then sanded completely flat going through the grits with the sand paper placed on a flat piece of thick aluminum plate.

The block of wood was placed inside the base of the plane and the contours of the side were marked on the wood with a pencil.
The block was removed and a hacksaw was again used to saw near the lines to remove the bulk of the waste.
After sawing, the block went back in, and the assembly was clamped in the vice and the wood was brought down to be flush with the sides using files and sandpaper.
Just like with the front tote, I left the rear infill a bit long. This will be trimmed of later.
Making a rear tote is the next part of the project.

Rear infill and front tote.

Rear infill seen from above.


6 comments:

  1. Wow does that look nice. It looks like your steel work back in step 6 needed to come out perfectly straight and square to make fitting the wood turn out so well.

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    1. Hi Jeff.
      Thanks for the nice comment.
      The sole is fairly square, but if I loosen the vice, there is a tiny gap along the upper edge. That shouldn't be a problem though, since it will all be riveted together in the end.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  2. Making quick progress, cant wait to see the handle shape.
    Once that Bubinga is oiled, it is going to look nice....

    Bob , much impressed

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bob
      Thanks.
      I think I will wait with the oiling till I get home. I have some Tung oil at home, and I also have some linseed oil. I am a bit undecided about what oil I should use.
      I have started making the handle, so stay tuned :-)

      Brgds
      Jonas

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  3. Looks great Jonas! I meant to ask before, and I apologize if you've already mentioned it, but what angle is the bed? I'm guessing steeper than 45 deg but I cannot say for certain.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bill.

      Thanks.
      I decided to change the angle to 50 degrees to make sure that the plane wouldn't end up looking too much like a regular Bailey plane.
      I didn't want to make it any steeper than that, because I was afraid that it would be very limited in its use if I made it 55 degrees. I don't work much in hardwood, so I rarely need a really steep angle.

      Brgds
      Jonas

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