Home-Made Shoulder Plane Contines

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Well I after replying to another post about this plane, I felt maybe an update was needed. I started this hand plane quite awhile ago, but its a work in progress. I pick it up and fuss with it from time to time in my effort to make it flawless. I am starting to come to terms that this hand plane will never be that, but nonetheless it must work, and work right. The woodworker/ machinist in me dictates that.

So far I have made a few minor improvements. I have turned down a chunk of stainless steel for the adjuster knob. This is just to make the adjuster work and to keep as much parts on it out of stainless steel as I can. I will need to polish up the adjuster nut now too so that it has the same high luster as the plane body. That means a lot of sanding, filing and buffing, but its just something that has to be done.Other improvements were drilling and tapping holes in the sides of the plane to accept set screws. This is to help hold the blade from sideways movement and to prevent chatter. Finally I polished up the plane again just to give it more of its high-luster character!!

As for what needs to be done...well a lot really. I was thinking about drilling shallow holes in the wedge and epoxying two 2007 pennies into the holes; one on each side. This would act as finger holds and also date the plane. Now how do you guys feel about that; is it a foolish idea or does that have merit?

Another problem I have is with the current finger holes in the body. I placed the dimples there, but our ball mill was extremely dull and unfortunately we don't have a better one or a new one on the way. We just don't use ball end mills much at work and they are VERY expensive toolisng. Still I got to improve that dimple somehow.

On the knob, I thought about changing the knob from brass to stainless, but I have my reservations. I kind of like how the plane is made of silvery stainless, yellowish brass, brownish apple (wedge) and reddish Padoak. (infill wood). What says the panel of judges? Change the knob to stainless or keep it as brass?

Another thing I am on the fence about, is redoing two rivets. You can see in the picture I got a dimple in the small rivet located in the picture towards the back of the plane. I would like to redo this, but I am afraid all the pounding will do damage on the plane somewhere else if I am not careful about it. Its easier said then done so I am thinking maybe living with a slightly imperfect plane would be better then trying to get a perfect plane and make it worse!!

The last thing I got to do is lap the bottom of the sole. That is straight forward, I just know its going to be tedious work so I have been putting it off. Anyway that is how this project now stands...a lot of work left to be done, but its getting there. Here is a picture anyway as it now looks...

PS: I placed the quarter in the picture so you can see that this plane does shine like a mirror...

Shoulder_Plane.JPG
 
Talk about shined to a mirror finish! :thumb:

I'd vote for the brass knob, since it compliments the brass rivets. Is there a way to polish the top of the knob to better match the rivets? (Well, I know there's a way...I guess the question is: Are you interested in polishing the top of the knob?) :D On the dinged rivet, the woodworker in me says accept it as a bit of character, and move on to the next one. The machinist in you might be sayin' something different. ;)
 
I have been thinking about putting a "How to get a good polish" kind of thing on my website. I have the ability to get a pretty good shine on things. I was thinking about doing it in 3 parts.

1. An all out high luster shine
2. A decent shine but takes less time
3. Decent shine, but minimal amount of time

I just finished a plate for work that took me most of 2 days to get it polished. It was in rough shape and so I started with 100 grit and went up to 4000 grit, then I put the buffing wheel to it. That piece of steel makes this plane look cruddy. Oh that thing is perfect, but its a major part of the yacht and thus will be seen.
 
Wow, nice stuff! I've been pondering how to make some planes myself, but it's not on my immediate needs, saws have a priority.:rolleyes:
 
I did not have a lot of time yesterday, but I did get some shop time in. In thinking about this hand plane I decided to make a case for it, just to keep it out of the dust and whatnot, and of course to protect that wonderful shine!! I will attach a picture...the case opens up by pivoting the whole upper part of the case (mohogany wood) off the base (Basswood).

I got some left over stainless steel trim from a job I am doing on a yacht. I thought I would let this stainless trim (.500 wide by .135 thick with rounded edges) onto the case in places to marry the stainless steel of the plane to the case it now sits in. A good cross use of materials of metal and wood I think.

I also got some finish applied to the wedge and infill wood, as well as polishing up the brass knob as Vaughn suggested. The brass knob was knurled so that help up the polishing for awhile. That was until I realized that the knurl could easily be filed off and a more appropriate type finish applied. So I turned down the knob via the drill press and file, then sanded it to a bright luster while I was there.

Okay so that is a pathetic amount of time spent in the shop, but hopefully it will set this plane apart from the others when its done.

Plane_Case.JPG
 
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Thanks Ned, I always appreciate kind words especially since this is my first hand plane. I think I might do things different next time. Actually it just so happens that I have some stainless steel set aside for another plane in case I want to build another :)

Now a harder question, I know I could never charge for all the time that went into this plane, but lets say I was willing to part with it. What do you think this plane and case would be worth?

Don't get me wrong, I am not sure I would sell it, but I would be curious what it would fetch for a price. As I said the case would come with it, and on the bottom of the case I have a plaque that reads when it was made, by who, when and where. That would truly make it a one-of-a-kind plane. At the same time, this hand plane works and works well. It was built to work, not just look pretty.

Any guesses as to what it would be worth?
 
I like the shiny knob, Travis. And if you find you need the knurling for a better grip, it'll still look cool with the concave center of the knob all polished up.

Dunno what to suggest pricing-wise, since I really don't know the hand plane market at all. :dunno: Looks like a million bucks to me, though. :thumb:
 
I don't know about a million bucks, but that would be nice to help pay for my new home addition!!

Surprisingly it's coming out good, but I expected better. My worst enemy sometimes is myself. I am pretty hard on myself and really hope for perfect projects. Still if you shoot for 100% but take 90%, you still come out ahead.

The more I work with this plane however, the more I like it. It does work well, is very sharp and can easily cut shavings in just the right places. For a first try at making a handplane, that is the goal..or should be the goal. The blade is a bit hard to adjust, but someone said that these wedge/adjuster planes are hard to adjust, but once you get them set, they stay that way for quite some time. I don't know, I have never had one before..until now :) :thumb:
 
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