Making a Wooden Plane
Advanced Topics
Adjustable Mouth
One of the more useful things you can do is fit it with a seperate mouthpiece. Making it an adjustable one addresses several problems that I mentioned earlier: namely, keeping the mouth size to a minimum as the sole wears, and making the fitting of the mouth much easier.
I have had good success with this plane. From gnarly bubinga, to mega-figured maple. Birdseye maple presents no problem. Even dense, ribbon-striped, interlocking grain tropical hardwoods. While I haven't tried wenge, I suspect that I would have pretty good results. The performance is really amazing, and I'm able to take shavings that you can easily see through.
I won't go into great detail, but the process starts before you have glued up the sandwich. While still in 3 pieces, mark out and remove a small rectangular piece of wood in the area that will sit in front of the blade. I make the insert 1/2" thick, and approx 2" long. I remove the wood using my bandsaw. If you do this by hand, you'll need to spend time with a chisel cleaning up and smoothing the area that the insert will touch.
The key thing here is to keep the main cut parallel to the sole of the plane. If it isn't parallel, then the adjustment mechanism won't work properly.
It's possible to remove this material afterwards by using Forstner bits in a drill press, by hand w/chisels, or by using a router. I find removing it earlier to be easier. By making two precise cuts, you can save yourself a lot of work later.
I glue up the plane, and perform the rest of the work after I have a 1 piece body to work with.
The fitting is probably self-explanatory. The insert is as wide as the "meat" of the sandwich, minus a couple of shavings to allow it to slide. I drill holes to accept screws, and make two shallow mortises to "sink" the head of the screw. I then make two through mortises to allow the insert to move. A screw with a flat head is preferable to the countersunk variety.
Overall, I find this a great addition to the plane. I've attached inserts via a bolt and captured nut, but that's more work, and I like the fact that there's no visible hardware when you look at the plane. The late, great planemaker Cecil Pierce inspired me to try this method, and I won't go back.
Give it a try, you'll like it.
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Steve Spodaryk
Medford, MA
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article
12.10.2008
- Making a Wooden Plane
Introduction
Tools
The Iron
The Chipbreaker
Wood
Marking Out the Blank 1
Marking Out the Blank 2
Forming the Plane Bed
Drilling the Pin Holes
Making the Pin
Test Fit
Glue Up
Post Glue Cleanup
Adjusting the Mouth
Making the Wedge
Test Run
Shaping the Plane Body
Troubleshooting
Advanced Topics
- Making a Wooden Plane
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