Feel'n left out

[Leigh Betsch]

I was feeling kind of bad, you guys all have such nice jointer planes and all I have is an old Stanley #7 that's broken in two. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=132022


So I made one. Actually I've been working on it for about a week. I always have trouble adjusting a wedged plane so I made a blade adjuster. Works great! I also made the 2" A2 blade a few years ago. (metal is my second hobby)
22" long, purple heart and beech. I have a few more brass screws to make.
And David Gendron, if you look close you might see a Goldeneye in there someplace!

[Brian Kent]

Leigh,

Fantastic! You are so creative with your plane making. Have you made a lot or did you just start out with a couple of masterpieces :D ?

Brian

[Leigh Betsch]

here's one that wasn't a master piece! Yuk, what was I thinking!

[Dale Sautter]

Hi Leigh, I have been thinking of making a jointer plane too but your's sure looks sweet! Any chance you could offer a closeup of the blade adjuster mechanism? Thanks for posting...

[David Gendron]

Bood looking plane, look way better like that! And you can drop it all day long and it wont break!

[Steve Thomas]

Hi Leigh, I have been thinking of making a jointer plane too but your's sure looks sweet! Any chance you could offer a closeup of the blade adjuster mechanism? Thanks for posting...

2nd that? more pics!

[Joe Cunningham]

That is a neat looking plane. How well does it work? The blade adjustment mechanism sounds interesting, and I am also interested in that plane in the background of the first photo.

[Paul Murphy]

Hi Leigh, I have been thinking of making a jointer plane too but your's sure looks sweet! Any chance you could offer a closeup of the blade adjuster mechanism? Thanks for posting...

Leigh, very nice plane!

I would like to also add a request for more information and pictures of your blade adjustor. I see a line is rapidly forming :D.

[Matt Radtke]

here's one that wasn't a master piece! Yuk, what was I thinking!

I don't really see anything wrong with that one. My only complaint would be how perpendicular the tote seems. Were it canted forward a bit more, I'd say perfect.

[Leigh Betsch]

A couple of shots of the blade adjuster. I use a 1/4 x 28 thread to advance the blade. I use a couple of Teflon thrust washers, one between the stop collar and brass plate and another between the knob and brass plate, so I can fit everything tight to minimize the backlash and not bind. I also use a couple of Teflon strips in the mortise of the frog so the movement is very smooth. The top pic shows three threaded holes in the slide. These are for two set screws that I use to adjust the lateral movement of the blade and square it to the plane sole. The center screw locks the blade to the slide by pinching it between the blade brass pivot pin and set screw after you get the lateral adjustment made. The underside pic shows how the slide, stop collar, screw and brass mounting plate all fit together. The blade bolts to a steel cross pin in the frog. I still need to make a brass lever instead of the screw that bolts the blade down. I use a couple of belvel washers under the screw head to control the lock pressure of the blade screw. This allows me to get the lock tension just right so the blade doesn't move while planning and still be able to adjust the movement with out loosening the screw. Ultimately the planning force is transmitted up the blade and into the slide and screw and into the cross pins.
The original pic is planning some figured cherry. The blade is very sharp, I get no tear out. I also have an adjustable brass mouth insert. I have the mouth opening set at .005 (feeler gauge measurement). The plane sole is purpleheat and it seems to have a hard spot down the middle. I've lapped (sandpaper) the sole twice but both times I get a high spot down the center and the plane rocks. So I flattened it on my edge sander, which works but it still has about .002 (feeler gauge measurement) out of flat. When I adjust the blade to get chips under .002 I get cotton, I think I need to get the sole flatter. So tonight I plan to clamp it in the More Jig Borer and fly cut it dead flat. I know More Jig Borer abuse! but it should be dead flat.
Overall I couldn't be more pleased with the plane. The only thing I will do different on the next one is I will make the adjuster a left handed thread. This one is a bit bassackward in that turning the screw to the right retracts the blade. I knew this would happen but I didn't want to buy a left handed tap until I knew I would like the mechanism.

Brian this is the seventh plane I've made or modified. I've always experimented with different things but I think I'm close to what I've been looking for now. I have about 20 more A2 irons I've made so I think I'll make a few more befor I'm done. I have a freind in Texas sending me a hunk if mesquite off his ranch for my next woodie smoother. Then it might be time to try an infill like yours!
I also built a small prototype smoother last week but I don't like it much. It's too small (~5" long) and it jumps around too much. If the frog wasn't already at 55 degrees I'd make it into a block plane but I think I'll end my frustration and cut it in two tonight!

Joe there are two planes in the background of pic 1. You can read about them here: [/URL] 6 oz fast attack block plane (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/#) and here: [URL="http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=103274"]Henderson Hot Rod (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/#) (if my links pasted correctly.

Actually I experimented with the blade mounting on the woodie and found that it works just fine to cross pin and hold the blade in with a center screw. I don't get any chatter or blade movement with this set up. An adjuster is in the future for the Hot Rod also.

[Logan William]

Well I think that since you're using power tools to true up a precision plane like that you might as well go all out and you don't get much more precision than a well set up Moore Jig Borer! As I come to think about it there are a lot of similarities between your jointer and the Jig Borer(minus the lack of a tail on the plane!) but primarily it comes down to they scare off a lot of young guns because they don't have fancy controls but when properly set up and run by a skilled operator they can rival a brand new CNC mill or Jointer in certain applications!

Nice work on the plane by the way!

[Brian Kent]

That is a neat looking plane. How well does it work? The blade adjustment mechanism sounds interesting, and I am also interested in that plane in the background of the first photo.

He has a photo of it on post #16 of this thread:
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=133617&page=2

[Brian Kent]

here's one that wasn't a master piece! Yuk, what was I thinking!

It is "special", but it makes shavings!


I just looked at the Fast Attack plane. I didn't realize you made that one too. Great job, sir!

[Paul Murphy]

Leigh, thanks for posting the pictures and explaination of your blade adjuster. I love that you tackled that mechanism, added lateral adjustment, and an adjustable mouth to boot.

Have you considered scraping the sole where it is high? I wonder if that might be the simpler solution.

[Leigh Betsch]

I never thought about scraping the sole. I guess I'm not a full Neander yet!
But I did take a cut off the bottom with the old Moore. I took about .007 to clean it up. The plane works about the same though. I guess almost flat and dead flat are about the same in jointer plane world. It does a most excellent job of planing wood so I guess that's about all that matters.
Logan, a 1940ish Moore #1 will cost less these days and still dance circles around a drill press and most mills for precision. The screws are so precise that they aren't even sure how they could have been made back then without temperature compensated CNC grinders and such.