smoothers made by a woodworm

[philip marcou]

Greetings all planeophiles. I am posting some pics of planes recently completed by me , one to order the other made on spec at the sametime.
Both are low angle bevel up smoothers-bed at 15° to take Veritas blades.Non adjustable mouth, but there is another method to decrease the gap if wanted....Woods: Rhodesian Teak, Imbuia and Puriri (New Zealand )
Materials: sole is gauge plate, sides brass 30/70, bronze cap, stainless adjuster stem, stainless fixing screws.
Hefty-no chatters! Backlash on adjustment-minimal, about 5° turn.
I would be glad to hear any questions, suggestions, criticisms from the gallery.
P.S-would also welcome suggestions from those experienced in photography and posting pics to forums-my brain is not on the same wave length and I have just been posting similar pics on Galoot-all new to me- to be sure there is a horrendous confusion now!

[Dan Forman]

Those planes are just beautiful! I have a general idea of how such things go together, the dovetailing process and all, but for someone who would like to make one, how do you cut out the individual pieces? What tools would be required? I would very much like to make an infill plane from scratch, not a kit. Did you cast the...um...what would be the levercaps on a Stanley? Which parts did you make, and which did you buy? I think that will do for starters.

Dan

[philip marcou]

Those planes are just beautiful! I have a general idea of how such things go together, the dovetailing process and all, but for someone who would like to make one, how do you cut out the individual pieces? What tools would be required? I would very much like to make an infill plane from scratch, not a kit. Did you cast the...um...what would be the levercaps on a Stanley? Which parts did you make, and which did you buy? I think that will do for starters.

Dan
Hi Dan, thanks for your interest. Briefly: all parts made by me exceptfor blade and stainless machine screws.band saw (suitably slowed via pulleys and/or reduction gear box)-g/box for cutting the sole which is made from gauge plate.I have an Emco super11 lathe which has a small milling head. Also a SouthBend 9 inch lathe in case I get bored.Cap is made from bronze stock-cut with bandsaw and refine with home made belt grinder(GRINDER not sander).
If you are not confident of your metal working abilityI suggest you get one of those plane kits to start with-another fellow herein N.Z did that and was suitably encouraged.
I am sort of lazy, so tend to find ways of minimising hand work like filing-in fact the only filing done here is the double flare part of the d/tails.
If you are keen to start I will be pleased to "talk you down".

[tod evans]

philip, that`s very impressive, nice work!

[Rob Millard]

Great looking planes.
When I started to sell furniture, I wanted high quality photographs, but my idea of taking photos was to tack up a white sheet and start snapping away. I purchased a roll of paper sold for photography , and a couple of tungsten lights. This made a big improvement with the quality of the photos. Another improvement was to add a polarizing filter to the camera. The filter nearly eliminates the reflections from polished surfaces ( I‘m not sure how it would do with polished metal). With digital cameras being able to compensate for any white balance, I’d buy the inexpensive halogen light stands. For small items like your planes, you can purchase a portable light tent that will provide a way to evenly light your subject. Below is an example available mail order from Adorama, although with a little ingenuity you could make one.
Paterson InterFit Studio Light Tent ( SKU #PALBT24).
To have the entire subject in focus or nearly in focus, you need to have the aperture set very small. This will slow the shutter speed down to the point where hand holding the camera is nearly impossible. Adding the polarizing filter will slow the shutter even more, making a sturdy tripod a necessity. When taking photos, I set the camera on the tripod and use the timer to insure there is no “shake”. Every camera that lacks a mirror lock-up has a range in which a certain shutter speed will induce shake, so you’ll have to experiment. On my Nikon D-70 a 1 second shutter speed will blur, but a 1.3 and 1.6 won’t. You’ll want to make your exposures carefully. Dark areas are especially prone to noise, if the exposure is not right on. I always shoot at the lowest ISO number to keep noise to a minimum.
Rob Millard
http://home.woh.rr.com/federalfurniture/

[mikko issakainen]

Very nice looking planes indeed!

Since I'm new to planes (& WW altogether), I can only comment on photography. Rob Millard's tips will definetly improve your photos. I second him that you should buy or borrow a tripod and try to get a more constant lightsource(s), preferably something close to daylight. The polarizing filter does not work on metal surfaces but I think it should not be a problem as long as you check the setup for unwanted reflections. Soft, indirect light will help. If you have a small/compact camera, I do not recommend using the camera flash because it will very likely remove all the shadows and make the object look flat. (Compare a portrait photo of a face taken with & without a built-in camera flash).

About publishing your photos. The thumbnails are ok in forums but I'd increase the size of the photos behind them to at least 640x480 or more. People who might be interested to make their own planes would appreciate if they could get a lot more detailed phots from different viewpoints. You already have a website, so you might setup a detailed gallery there and then provide only a couple of teaser photos here along with a link. If you're worried about too large images, it is usually a good idea to tell the file size beside the thumbnail.

Cheers,
Mikko

[Mark Singer]

Beautiful work! Too nice to use!

[Alan DuBoff]

Beautiful work! Too nice to use!Impossible, I say! (no tool can be too nice to use;-)

Beautiful work!

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Wow. Purely based upon the pictures posted here, I would say that your plane is significantly nicer looking than any of Karl Holtey's. Amazing work. Thank you for sharing it with us. Peter

[philip marcou]

Rob, thanks for your advice. I have seen some of your photos, so on that basis , and armed with a copy of your message, I will be visiting the camera shop here.
Meanwhile I am tackling the 220page manual that goes with this camera-Olympus.

[philip marcou]

Thanks Mikko.In fact I have stored the masters in my computer in huge format-then made them (too) small for the forum.
I also need to learn how to amend my own web site.....

[philip marcou]

Wow. Purely based upon the pictures posted here, I would say that your plane is significantly nicer looking than any of Karl Holtey's. Amazing work. Thank you for sharing it with us. Peter

Peter, that is high praise indeed-not sure that I deserve it yet-am working on it.
Meanwhile I have improved my camera technique a little, I think.
What I don't understand is how do I reduce a file to the allowed limit without losing a lot of detail?
Have just tried to post a couple of improved photos-but they are over the limit.
And a cat has pressed a key here resulting in this italic script-I have to find how to turn it off.....

[philip marcou]

Mikko, now I have reduced this pic to fit the stated limit-and it lookd nowhwere near sa nice as the one that was 100+ kb's-what am i not grasping here?

[Matthew Dworman]

Philip - those are Stunning and I bet they work like a dream. Out of curiosity (if I have to ask then I can't afford...) how much do you sell them for?
Matthew

[John Miliunas]

Philip, first off: That has absolutely GOT to be one of the most beautiful planes I've laid eyes on! If it works half as good as it looks, that's awesome!!! :D :)

[philip marcou]

Philip - those are Stunning and I bet they work like a dream. Out of curiosity (if I have to ask then I can't afford...) how much do you sell them for?
Matthew
Matthew, I am not sure that it is permissable to advertise prices here so I will reply to your web contact.
Great workshop! I see you have a GriggioPF330-just the same as mine-did you fabricate the guard? Mine came with a clumsy thing which I binned and then made the same type as I see onyours.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Philip,

As a point of clarification about mentioning prices. You can't advertise or say you have something for sale on SMC if it's a commercial venture. If you have some tool you have decided is surplus and want to sell it, you can list it on the Classifieds forum. If you post something you make and sell just to show your work and don't mention it as for sale, you can state the price in response to a direct question from a forum member. Generally however, it is better to handle this type of thing via Private Message or via email.

I appreciate your willingness to play by the rules.

Thank you.

Dave

[philip marcou]

Thanks Dave-good to know where one stands.

[philip marcou]

Philip, first off: That has absolutely GOT to be one of the most beautiful planes I've laid eyes on! If it works half as good as it looks, that's awesome!!! :D :) Thanks, John. I can answer that question but it may be biased(;)(:)
The plan is to have a certain well known tool personality test one and write a review, in due course.

[James Owen]

.....And a cat has pressed a key here resulting in this italic script-I have to find how to turn it off.....
[/I]

Philip,

That is one superb-looking plane; I'm looking forward to the report from the "certain well known tool personality." If you need additional testers....I volunteer!!!!! LOL

It would appear that your cat has other talents than just having "dat wascally wabbit for bweakfast......"

James

[philip marcou]

James, I am in the process of organising the review-Have to finish this run of planes currently in progress.
As for the cat- he is a special rogue, and in fact does hunt rabbits-see the pic!

[Jim Dunn]

Philip having look at your plane all I can say is Simply Beautiful!!!

By the way welcome to the Creek and your cat too.

Jim

[Bob Smalser]

Lovely work.

I like the Siamese, too. ;)

[Derek Cohen]

Here is another rendition of an earlier picture, courtesy of Photoshop and my secret resizing method.

<div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/Philip3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

Philip, what wood have you used for the tote and knob?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[philip marcou]

Here is another rendition of an earlier picture, courtesy of Photoshop and my secret resizing method.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/Philip3.jpg


Philip, what wood have you used for the tote and knob?

Regards from Perth

Derek
Derek, the wood is Rhodesian Teak (Bakia Plurijuga). My spelling of the botanical name is open to correction.I have some other little seen stuff suitable for this application-and these Kiwis did not cut all the timber here-they left some pretty wierd and wonderful stuff .
Good result with the re-size.All I have to do is use my newly acquired tripod....And make a lght tent.... and set up some lights.

[James Owen]

Derek, the wood is Rhodesian Teak (Bakia Plurijuga). My spelling of the botanical name is open to correction.I have some other little seen stuff suitable for this application-and these Kiwis did not cut all the timber here-they left some pretty wierd and wonderful stuff .
Good result with the re-size.All I have to do is use my newly acquired tripod....And make a lght tent.... and set up some lights.

Philip,

That's very attractive wood; it compliments the bronze/brass quite nicely. I like the idea of including set screws to maintain the lateral angle of the iron; nice feature! One question: what is the thickness of the plate used for the sides and sole? It looks to be about 1/4 inch. Thanks.

James

[philip marcou]

Philip,

That's very attractive wood; it compliments the bronze/brass quite nicely. I like the idea of including set screws to maintain the lateral angle of the iron; nice feature! One question: what is the thickness of the plate used for the sides and sole? It looks to be about 1/4 inch. Thanks.

James
I think it is suitable for this application- strong , hard and stable- it goes darker with age, although this will be minimised because I always use shellac as a sealer.
Yes, materials are 6mm steel and brass. Subsequent ones to have an adjustable mouth will have 8mm soles-hefty.

[philip marcou]

Philip,

That's very attractive wood; it compliments the bronze/brass quite nicely. I like the idea of including set screws to maintain the lateral angle of the iron; nice feature! One question: what is the thickness of the plate used for the sides and sole? It looks to be about 1/4 inch. Thanks.

James
James, here are some other woods I have used- mostly African, but the board on the left is Imbuia-a superb timber indeed.
Here in New Zealand I am finding some exotic stuff as well-one has to save it from being burnt or grabbed by the BOWLFANATICS.