Veritas Box-Maker’s Plow Plane

[Chuck Hill]

I just checked my LH version is it the same with a bit of play on the rear rod. It looks like this may be by design.

[Rob Lee]

Hi -

The front rod hole is sized at .3175 +.005", -0.0 .
The rear rod hole is sized at .3375 +.005", -0.0 .

To understand how we arrived there.... a tiny confession is necessary. When we first designed the plane, we thought we could get away with a single rod (the front one). Once we'd made one that way - the fence would rotate too much in use - so we put the second rod in. Its primary function is to stop the fence from rotating - secondary function is to hold the plane skate parallel to the fence. If you tighten the front first - you should be parallel - tightening the rear locks it in place.

Cheers -

Rob
(who expects the single rod prototypes to be valuable collectors items in about 200 years.....)

SMPLOW.JPG

[John Keeton]

Rob
(who expects the single rod prototypes to be valuable collectors items in about 200 years.....)

SMPLOW.JPG

And, who also OWNS the prototypes!! Rob, they will gain no value with your ownership. You should ship them to me so they will have a chance of gaining value. My great grandkids would appreciate it!

[Kevin Adams]

Thanks, Rob, figured this was by design. The plane works wonderfully btw and is a great compliment to my regular plow plane.

Kevin

[John Northowl]

The front rod hole is sized at .3175 +.005", -0.0 .
The rear rod hole is sized at .3375 +.005", -0.0 .

Thank you for the reply Rob. I dont really understand why making the rear hole larger is of any benefit, being not a machinest, businessman, nor even fully evolved neanderthal mind.

I have never had an issue with the double rodded fences on my: plows, combo, skew rebates, large rebate, or even custom plane fence. etc. so I was very surprised by the change in hole size. (Please no one comment on the excessiveness of owning these planes).

[John Keeton]

I couldn’t resist any longer - mine has been shipped!

[Gary Cunningham]

Mine arrived yesterday. Getting the fence parallel to the skate is not easy. As in it’s rather frustrating.
There is considerable play in the rear fence rod.

A 3/32 ball tip driver is way better than the supplied Allen wrench.

[Jim Koepke]

Mine arrived yesterday. Getting the fence parallel to the skate is not easy. As in it’s rather frustrating.
There is considerable play in the rear fence rod.
A 3/32 ball tip driver is way better than the supplied Allen wrench.

Getting the fence set parallel to the skate has been frustrating folks since fenced planes were first made.

I have made an assortment of wooden gauges for setting my fences:

Wood Gauge Blocks.jpg

They are kept on a shelf with a 1 or a 3 on the end. There is also a 7 that is 7/16" X 7/8". I have other spacers for 1/4". Usually my #50 is set up for 1/4" from the edge with a 1/4" blade.

These make fence set up easy.

I also use this one sometimes:

Anti-Rack Spacer Stack.jpg

This is my anti-rack spacer stack for my vises. It has 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 & 1" blades so it can make up steps by 1/8" up to 1-7/8". I also have a 1/16" blade but it isn't strong enough to be in the stack and hold the others in place.

There have been changes to this over the years.

The original is posted here > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?183743 < there is a link to the upgrade. The upgrade post didn't have thumbnails of the images but clicking on the attachement numbers opened them up.

jtk

[Talbert McMullin]

Received mine yesterday. Works like a charm! Incredibly fine workmanship! Perfect for the small boxes I build.