Mike K Wenzloff
03-08-2007, 11:11 AM
Hi Everyone,
I was asked this morning about my experience of building one of these planes from the "kits" that Paul Hamler [http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Hamler.htm, hamlertools@hotmail.com] recently made available. Paul is a great craftsman--take a look at the link above!
Paul fully made about 400 of these planes and sold them for $800...and even though I thought them beautiful, a bit over what I could part with. So when he made available 80 of them as so-called kits for $400, well, I broke open a couple piggy banks and bought one.
They are assembled for shipping, here's what I received:
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/miller_0001.jpg
What needs to happen to take one from this state to a completed state varies from person to person as to how much effort one desires to expend. First task is to disassemble it. Remove the skate thumbscrews and remove the skate. Pull off the Rosewood knob. Remove the depth stop on the far side. Pull out the two long brass pins which hold the chip deflector on and the thumb lever for the blade lock. Unscrew the bolt you can see at the end of the iron. Then on to the work.
For me, it was to first file off the small seams from the mold. To get into the smaller areas, I used some small needle files, but I didn't go after the areas really difficult to get to. The seams are still there, but hardly noticable.
Next it was to file off where the bit of casting at the top of the handle where the pour of bronze was made into the casting. You can see it in the above picture on the top of the handle. This needs filed carefully if you want or care that it blends in to the shape of the horn.
There are a few other places on the removable parts which need filed. Then the whole thing was sanded. On the areas I filed, I started with 120 grit sandpaper. Once those areas were sanded to 220 grit, I took the Dremel with a polishing wheel and went over the entire plane. I also used a bolt the same diameter as the skate rods to slide through the knob and mout it into the chuck on my drill press to sand the knob. I didn't think what little it needed required digging out the lathe.
Then steel wool, being careful to not go all the way into the textured areas. Then wax was applied to the whole thing.
Next task will be to make a couple irons for it. The kit comes with a single 1/4" O1 iron which will need hardened and tempered. So that will await my making a couple other sizes. But, if you don't want to do your own blades, Jim Reed [if interested PM me for his contact info] is making ready-to-go irons for a good price.
I did not do as perfect a job as some people I know who have done these kits. The entire process above took about 3 hours of work.
And this is the result:
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/plow/miller_0003.jpg
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/plow/miller_0004.jpg
Take care, Mike
I was asked this morning about my experience of building one of these planes from the "kits" that Paul Hamler [http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Hamler.htm, hamlertools@hotmail.com] recently made available. Paul is a great craftsman--take a look at the link above!
Paul fully made about 400 of these planes and sold them for $800...and even though I thought them beautiful, a bit over what I could part with. So when he made available 80 of them as so-called kits for $400, well, I broke open a couple piggy banks and bought one.
They are assembled for shipping, here's what I received:
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/miller_0001.jpg
What needs to happen to take one from this state to a completed state varies from person to person as to how much effort one desires to expend. First task is to disassemble it. Remove the skate thumbscrews and remove the skate. Pull off the Rosewood knob. Remove the depth stop on the far side. Pull out the two long brass pins which hold the chip deflector on and the thumb lever for the blade lock. Unscrew the bolt you can see at the end of the iron. Then on to the work.
For me, it was to first file off the small seams from the mold. To get into the smaller areas, I used some small needle files, but I didn't go after the areas really difficult to get to. The seams are still there, but hardly noticable.
Next it was to file off where the bit of casting at the top of the handle where the pour of bronze was made into the casting. You can see it in the above picture on the top of the handle. This needs filed carefully if you want or care that it blends in to the shape of the horn.
There are a few other places on the removable parts which need filed. Then the whole thing was sanded. On the areas I filed, I started with 120 grit sandpaper. Once those areas were sanded to 220 grit, I took the Dremel with a polishing wheel and went over the entire plane. I also used a bolt the same diameter as the skate rods to slide through the knob and mout it into the chuck on my drill press to sand the knob. I didn't think what little it needed required digging out the lathe.
Then steel wool, being careful to not go all the way into the textured areas. Then wax was applied to the whole thing.
Next task will be to make a couple irons for it. The kit comes with a single 1/4" O1 iron which will need hardened and tempered. So that will await my making a couple other sizes. But, if you don't want to do your own blades, Jim Reed [if interested PM me for his contact info] is making ready-to-go irons for a good price.
I did not do as perfect a job as some people I know who have done these kits. The entire process above took about 3 hours of work.
And this is the result:
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/plow/miller_0003.jpg
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/plow/miller_0004.jpg
Take care, Mike