Lie Neilson Butt Mortise Plane Re-Visit (with PICS!)

[Richard Keller]

Well, at the risk of repeating myself, here's some more detail on the LN BM Plane. There seemed to be some interest in it last time, so I took some more detailed pictures. Also, I know at heart you guys never tire of this stuff :)

So here's a finished photo of what we're trying to do:
http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0115.jpg
The hardware is knockdown hardware for a craftsman style bed I'm building. Here's the finished footboard (An update from my last post)
http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0116.jpg
Sorry, there is a ton of crap in my shop in the way of really good photos.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0117.jpg
Here we are looking down inside the plane (Sorry, I'm not a photographer, and my cell phone isn't the best camera either) But basically, this differs from a normal plane in that the throat is much longer, and there is no chip breaker. I have ground the factory blade narrower here in order to mortise the hardware I have.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0119.jpg
You can see the blade projecting out the bottom of the plane quite a bit. We are going to cut full depth here - about 3/16 of an inch.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0120.jpg
The most important part of this is the layout. The layout must be done accurately because, as the directions of the plane point out "this is the only part of your work that shows". This is done using a SHARP utility knife - I use a brand new blade in a disposable knife holder. This must be done to full depth, or close to it.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0121.jpg
Knife outline complete, pencil center line for contrast in the middle.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0122.jpg
There is a tremendous amount of force required here, so clamping the work down is a must, unless you want to push it off the bench... :)

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0123.jpg
In order to set the depth of the blade, I simply set the plane on two pieces of hardware and then lower the blade down. Done on a flat surface such as the TS of course.

continued...

[Richard Keller]

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0124.jpg
To start the cut, we place the blade on the end knife mark, paying attention to grain direction. Obviously, if we cut with the grain - disaster. Across the grain - we are OK.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0125.jpg
Starting to take the chip ...

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0126.jpg
In full depth now.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0127.jpg
Yes, we take out a big chip... about four inches long.

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0128.jpg
Cleaning the end of the mortise, I didn't knife deep enough during layout...

http://www.execulink.com/~boxcar/SSPX0129.jpg
The plane is turned around to cleanup the starting end. When I did the first two morts. I found that this worked fine with no chipout. Third time (in photo) there was a little chipout. I'm guessing the blade wasn't quite so sharp by now.

Hopefully this has helped y'all to understand better. I will post more pics of the bed as work progresses. There's a bit of a stand-still right now as we're very busy at work...


Richard.

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for the pictures and the tutorial. What's the advantage of using the LN plane over something like the Stanley 71 (or 71 1/2)? It seems to me that you could set the depth of the 71 blade in the same fashion. The cutter would not be full width but that just means that you would make several cuts.

Or is the LN for someone who doesn't have a 71?

Mike

[Richard Keller]

Thanks for the pictures and the tutorial. What's the advantage of using the LN plane over something like the Stanley 71 (or 71 1/2)? It seems to me that you could set the depth of the 71 blade in the same fashion. The cutter would not be full width but that just means that you would make several cuts.

Or is the LN for someone who doesn't have a 71?

Mike

Uh, well, pretty much. :) I had to clean the sides, as my ground down LN blade was a little narrow too.

Richard.

[Dave Ray]

Really appreciate the pic's and tutorial, thank you.

[Pam Niedermayer]

....

Or is the LN for someone who doesn't have a 71?

Well, no, it's not. The LN is specifically for doing hinge mortises. It's fast and sure at this task. In fact, I'm very surprised that it cuts at the depth Richard showed. Now you can do hinges with a 71, but there's a lot of rigging and jigging required.

Pam

[Alan Turner]

Interesting. I generally perform such tasks with either a trim router, freehand, and finish with a chisel, or with a No. 71. On the 71, I take a number of light cuts to achieve full depth, and a smooth bottom. To make the 71 work, I just screw it to a flat base with a drilled hole. A series of cross grain chops with a chisel eases the task quite a bit.

Taking a number of light cuts with the BM plane seems a possible strategy as well. I can't imagine making an accurage cut in white oak (or most any other wood) at a depth of 3/16".