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Ron Brese
03-10-2007, 12:01 PM
Lever caps done. One for this plane one for the 55 degree pitch plane coming behind this one. I'm real close to a working plane at this point. The lever cap is one of the more daunting task in making a plane. It has to made quite acurrately if the plane is to work at all well. The pivot points have to be drilled right on or the end that contacts the back of the iron will not fit well and it must. It also must provide enough leverage to hold the iron tight against the stresses of planing. This one is made from .375 tk brass and is drill and tapped for a 5/16-18 lever cap screw. Next pictures will hopefully be a working plane.

Ron
nic obie
03-10-2007, 7:58 PM
Pretty stuff

:)
Matt Chantry
03-10-2007, 8:27 PM
Ron,

The work is beautiful so far. A couple of questions...

1. Did you start with a kit for the base? I saw a photo of what looked like u-channel brass.

2. What tool set up do you have for the work? I'm wondering if this sort of work can be done by someone without a milling machine, etc.

Looking forward to seeing the finished item.

Thanks,

Matt
Matt Chantry
03-10-2007, 8:39 PM
Sorry Ron, I just found the tutorial.

Beautiful work.

Matt
Ron Brese
03-10-2007, 11:51 PM
Matt I have adapted a lot of machines to help do this work, and yes one can do this work without a milling machine but accuracy would be affected or harder to achieve. It can be achieved it's just harder and more time consuming to get there. Whether you have a milling machine or not the most time consuming part of this work is building jigs to hold the work. A piece of metal can hurt you quick when it comes loose and is swinging around under a drill press so a good drill press vise and well thought out processes go a long way in this work. Accuracy is paramount to plane making. Some inconsistencies can be fettled out at the end but some things have to be done accurately to start with or you just end up with a real nice looking paper weight for your desk. What would be the point of having a beautiful plane if the performance was not exceptional also? Once I figured out the processes sequence became the thing that was most critical to sort out.

Ron