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Thread: Ploughing non-standard grooves

  1. #1

    Ploughing non-standard grooves

    I have a Record 44 plough plane that I enjoy using, however it seems I often have to plough a groove that is a little wider than the cutters provided. This sometimes happens when I'm making sliding lid boxes. Anyway rather than re-set the fence for each groove, is there another strategy for dealing with non-standard grooves in general? I guess one can always re-set the fence but it does become a little tiresome if you making several boxes and you have to keep coming back to holding the workpiece and adjusting the fence on each side of the box.

  2. #2
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    You could try a spacer stick for the fence to register against.

  3. #3
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    There's side rabbets: Stanley 79 or 98/99 and the Record, Sargent, Lee Valley, etc., versions.

  4. #4
    Just set up one of your other plows instead of adjusting that one. Or, um, you dont really just have ONE plow?! Really?

  5. #5
    Thanks for the quick replies!
    David thought about some sort of spacer but would need to make a few. Would one simply hold the stick against the fence or would it be mounted with double-sided tape or something else, also the stick would be fairly thin as it's often a matter of 1 mm or 1.5 mm that the groove needs extending by.
    Bill, will explore the side rabbet planes but have to move soon and I've already accumulated enough junk, I mean equipment.
    Darrell, yep only got the one but it's very nice, I value quality over quantity, I tell my wife the same thing when she asks about women.

  6. #6
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    I may not be picturing the situation correctly, but I thought the traditional solution was a rabbet on the panel to fit into an undersized groove.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by David Bassett View Post
    I may not be picturing the situation correctly, but I thought the traditional solution was a rabbet on the panel to fit into an undersized groove.
    I would do it this way but I have a few to make and I have plenty of thin MDF and Plywood so am hoping to use them.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Caro View Post
    I would do it this way but I have a few to make and I have plenty of thin MDF and Plywood so am hoping to use them.
    My only other thoughts have been mentioned. Move the fence, shim the fence, or grind down a larger iron to the size you want. (I don't know how available irons are, or how many thicknesses you're talking about, but for lots of a single size groove grinding one down to size seems easiest to *use*.)

  9. #9
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    A side rabbet plane may be the simplest solution for this. Especially since you only need to remove a millimeter or so.

    Do you know if your cutters are metric or imperial sizes?

    It may be a combination of sets would give more sizes to match your material.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  10. #10
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    Maybe get a few spare cutters....trim a larger/wider cutter down a bit, to match what sizes you need. Label that size on each cutter.

    Grooves I have been making to house plywood panels and raised panels, I use a #12 size Stanley cutter in my Stanley 45. It also has an adjustable fence, where I can "micro adjust" how close or far away the fence is set.

  11. #11
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    The one solution that has not been mentioned, and what I would do, is just make a new cutter. O-1 oil hardening steel is cheap and plentiful. Get yourself some in 1/8" thick and as wide as you want. I'd personally get it like 4" wide so I could cut any width I wanted over the years.

    It comes in an annealed state. Just cut a piece off with a hacksaw a bit oversized. Using a mill file, get it down to the exact width you want. Then put a slight side bevel on the edges, like 10 degrees. This is an extravagance, but will reduce friction in the groove you are cutting. Last, file the cutting bevel, but leave a scant 1/16" of thickness on the cutting edge. Thin cross sections burn up their carbon easily. You are just removing some stock with a file that will make it easier to finish grind when you sharpen it up.

    for a small cutter like this, you don't need any fancy equipment for hardening. I like to use MAPP gas because it burns much hotter. Heat the cutting edge up to cherry red and get the bottom 1 1/2" or so cherry red. If you do this in your garage with the door down, it will be easier to see. Once you have it cherry red, dunk it in a quart of motor oil in an old soup can. IMPORTANT! Use welder gloves and have a fire extinguisher handy. When you douse the red hot cutter in the oil, it will flash a bit and sputter. Move it up and down vigorously in the oil, inserting the cutting edge first. Do this for about a minute, but all the hardening is likely complete in the first second.

    When you take it out of the oil, try to file the bevel with a file. It should skate off. The steel is now as hard as it can get.

    Next, using whatever sandpaper or stones you like, flatten the back and remove the scale from the rest of the cutter. Polish it like you would a regular cutter you just got for the first time. Don't grind the finish bevel yet. You want the back as shiny as you can get it, brilliant even. When this is all done, the last step is to temper it. You could look up the tempering range for the hardness you want and just put it in your oven, but I always like to do what the old timers did. This is a small iron, and it has a small cross section. Either way will work, but essentially you are drawing some of the hardness out of the steel to make it much less brittle and tough enough to use.

    Holding the edge away from the cutting bevel with some pliers or tongs, using the same MAPP torch set on a lower amount of flame, start heating up the iron just below where you are holding it with the tongs. You want to concentrate the heat there, and watch the color of the steel where you polished it near the cutting edge. When you see the slightest hint of straw yellow, you are in the sweet spot. Dunk immediately in oil. You are done. There shouldn't be any scale on the back from the tempering dunk. Just finish grind the bevel and start using your new custom width iron.

    It sounds complicated, but it really isn't, and it doesn't cost that much. A mill file, a canister of MAPP from Home Depot for the propane torch you probably already have and that's it. If you want to get fancy, while you are ordering the steel from MSC, get a can of Dykem which is blue layout die. I have some, but I typically use a thin Mr Sharpy. You will also need a micrometer to make sure you have it the width you want.

    This is an invaluable skill that is easily learned and will serve you well over the years. I just checked MSC's website. A 4" wide peice of O-1 steel 1/8" thick 18" long costs $38.80. a 4 oz bottle of Dykem is $9.57.

  12. #12
    Thanks and I appreciate the responses. My set are imperial Jim, the plywood/MDF is approx 3.5 mm. The ability to micro adjust would be great on these planes, I do have a 45 that gets very little use so I’ll check that out.
    Pete, thanks for the detailed explanation, you make it sound easy! I’ll explore the easier options first but long term your suggestion would be the way to go.

  13. #13
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    In sliding box lids, I usually put a small rabbet on the edges of the lids to trim them to the size of the groove. This is a lot easier that changing the width of the groove...

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