Book (Trimming) Plough

[Kerry Burton]

For many years, my wife has wanted a good way to take a bound stack of papers and trim it smooth on the edge.

Over time I have run across various approaches, one being a "book plough" from the traditional bookbinding world. Here is a DIY version built by the lady who runs the YouTube channel "Darbin Orvar" (this image from https://www.darbinorvar.com/misc/book-vise-cutting-plough-building-plan):

The underside (the "business end") looks like this (image from https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Achieve-Precision-Paper-Cutting-With-a-Book/):

Very cool, but somewhat overkill for my situation. (Besides needing a large tap & die to make the thing, you have to advance the cutter on each pass by giving the handle a partial twist, etc.)

More recently, I ran across a different version that was made and sold in the 20th century by a company called "Dryad" - a supporter of *multiple* crafts.

The press itself would be a pretty decent project on its own, but I think I can forego that luxury and just use a couple woodworking clamps and a pair of 2-by-Xs resting on stacks of books or something. (See YouTube channel "DAS Bookbinding" / video "Book Edge Trimming Without... // Adventures In Bookbinding" ... search YouTube for VxEjNoBptX8 and start at 9:02)

Anyway, the item of most interest to me is the plough - the part with the cutting blade. Darryn Schneider - of the YouTube channel just mentioned - wrote a blog post about the Dryad Junior Book Plough (see https://dasbookbinding.com/2021/07/30/dryad-junior-book-plough/) with links to videos and other web pages. It includes an image of an actual Dryad unit that he had the opportunity to "rescue":

His video "Dryad Junior Book Plough Rescue // Adventures in Bookbinding" (search YouTube for 82htGKctNlc) includes this image of the plough in use at 9:53

After watching Darryn's video, a person named Carl made his own "junior book plough" from scratch. (See https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...k-plough-for-bookbinding.132053/#post-1495234)

I bought a Buck Bros. block plane blade at Home Depot some years ago with the intention of using it for something like this, but didn't know where to start with a design. But now, I think some version of a Junior Book Plough will be just the ticket!

The first thing I gotta do is countersink a hole or two in the blade, so the mounting screw(s) can be flush with the bottom of the wooden handle ... or at least with the bottom of the blade itself.

The thing is, even after heating my blade around the advancement holes (using MAPP gas!) I still had a terrible time with the countersink. I tried 3 different bits in my drill press (with everything clamped down, using cutting oil, etc) ...

... but this is as far as I got:

Now, maybe that's a deep-enough countersink. I kinda hope so, because none of my bits want to remove anything more at this point. They all took quite a beating to get this far, so maybe they're just too dull to continue.

Or, maybe I need to get a "real" metalworking countersink bit?

Or, maybe I need to reheat the blade and try again?

I may be able to get away with a single mounting screw, assuming that I make the dado (that the blade rests in) with precision. But I'd rather have 2 mounting points than 1.

Any ideas?

 

[Toni Ciuraneta]

My grand dad was a smith, I remember him mentioning that when wanting to anneal the tang of a knife blade (for instance) he just dug the blade into a big potato leaving outside it the part to be anealed, then heat it red and let it cool down. In this way the temper of the blade is not lost due to the water content of the potato. As per the countersink I would try a titanium coated countersink bit, or a small conical grinding stone from dremel.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

TlDr; I'd get either a carbide countersink to finish the job or a fine carbide burr for a dremel to carve it out.

How to (and if you can) soften the blade depends a lot on the metallurgy. The short version is that hard steel and soft steel have different crystal structures with harder steel being cooled faster and softer steel being cooled slower. The problem is that the temperature and time for hard vs soft varies wildly depending on the type of steel. For instance if it's an air hardening steel like A2 & friends it will actually form the "hard steel" structures at room temperature. Even if it's a more accessible steel like 1095/O1/W2 you still have to heat it to cherry red (at which temperature it looses it's crystalline structure) and then cool it very slowly to actually anneal it. If it's something like A2 it's basically impossible at home without having an annealing oven that can run very high precisely controlled temperatures.

The other problem you have now is that with the hole you partially drilled you've work hardened the steel as well. This MIGHT require an an abrasive burr to get through but looking a the deformation I'd place good bets it's still soft enough for a carbide countersink to get through easily enough.

I'm pretty sure the countersinks you show there are just high carbon not carbide or even HSS so you were swimming uphill pretty hard to try to get them to work in steel

 

[Kerry Burton]

My grand dad was a smith [...] he just dug the blade into a big potato [...]

That's awesome!

I would try a titanium coated countersink bit, or a small conical grinding stone from dremel.

TlDr; I'd get either a carbide countersink to finish the job or a fine carbide burr for a dremel to carve it out.

OK - sounds like there *are* more appropriate bits. Good to know! I'll start looking.

Now - why didn't I think of grinding in conjunction with drilling? Thanks!

How to (and if you can) soften the blade depends a lot on the metallurgy.

I could almost swear that I ran across a mention of the actual steel type used for this blade, but now I can't find it. :^(


Meanwhile, it looks like a #6 wood screw fits the current countersink OK, but feels a little loose in the "winged" hole. I can get a #8 in the hole too, but the head doesn't sink in far enough.

I'll try to report back on any progress (or additional questions) I have.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

I could almost swear that I ran across a mention of the actual steel type used for this blade, but now I can't find it. :^(

Yeah, it probably doesn't hugely matter because heat treating is a whole art form that takes a ton of effort and practice to get right.. the easy way is just to brute force it and use something definitely harder (either carbide or an abrasive cone) to make the hole

Meanwhile, it looks like a #6 wood screw fits the current countersink OK,

I'd vote for either a bugle or flat head machine bolt and either a countersunk hidden nut or a wingnut on top. Both for points of style and more practically for ease of removal for sharpening. My experience with paper is that it's fairly hard on edged tools and also likes them to be SUPER sharp.. so making it easy to assemble/disassemble for that seems like a feature and I'd worry about the wood screw eventually becoming loose.. although the wood screw is also almost certainly good enough for testing the theory out and making a new plough body seems like the easier part of this project.

Either way I'm definitely interested in how this works out. I've made a few poor and uninformed forays into book binding and although I can't say much about my efforts it's been fun and it is interesting