More Workbench Materials

I went out and bought some construction lumber for the base today. I really wanted the 12'' x 16' pieces, but the wouldn't fit on the car. They're mostly 8" wide, and 10' long. One is 10" wide. I 'll find a better place for them and let them acclimate while I work on the top. I also cut about 2" out of the leg vise screw. To splice the screw, I drilled matching holes and used a dowel as a floating tenon. I then pegged the dowel so it wouldn't break. On the left is the piece I cut out. It has no threads on it at all.

Plane Restoration

To begin, I disassembled everything, and cleaned out any dirt I could get to. I sanded the levercap, starting at 220 grit. If the cap is not too bad, I'll use a higher grit to begin with, as it makes less work later. With that done, I move on to the circular parts. Here is the setup I used for everything circular. The adjustment wheel is fastened to a piece of threaded rod. With all the cosmetic work done, I started on the performance enhancers. The frog's face must be flat. I lapped it on the edge of sand paper on glass, in order to work around the lateral adjustment lever. The bottom of the frog and its mating surface on the body must be flat as well. I then worked on the body, lapping the bottom and sides. The blade that came with the plane was not square ground, so I reground it and sharpened it. The last thing that must be dealt with is the chipbreaker. The front must be an airtight fit with the back of the blade. To ensure this, I sanded the leading end at an angle.


I then took it for a test run. Not bad for 1 1/2 hours.

Latest Purchases

Here are some things I just got. The first is a large bench screw, it's 24" long, has a 2" diameter and is 2 tpi. As you can see in the photo, it's threads are very chipped, but I plan on cutting the worst bit out. To fill the large cracks, I used epoxy. I'll use it for a leg vise. Because the screw isn't extremely smooth, the parallel guide will be on rollers, as stolen from Jameel Abraham. The plane is a #4, type 8(I think). I bought it off ebay, and it isn't quite what I expected. I planned an buying a plane with all the parts, just really crappy, so I could overhaul it and not feel bad. This one has about 95% japanning, and it's handles are really nice, therefore I will only touch the metal, and electrolysis is ruled out(it will bubble the jappanning).

I will post my progress with it.

Secret Project

I apologize for not blogging more about this, but I figured that I would do a really nice job the next time, and I wasn't sure how this would turn out. Here it is, a Stanley #3 Handyman. It was my grandfather's. All the parts are clean or polished, except for the lever cap. There isn't much I can do for it. For any eagle-eyed readers who have already noticed, yes, there is no lateral adjuster. That is because I made one, but I haven't installed it yet.
In use, the Handyman is lighter than my Groz #4(which is even heavier than my Miller Falls #5). Its frog does not have alot of contact area, so under certain circumstances, I got slight chatter. Otherwise, I really like it, the handles had been painted, I scraped that off and exposed the beech handles underneath, and what I really like is that the tote is about 1/2" taller than my #4, which make it much more suited for my hand.



RexMill Handplanes 101

Blue Phase

The case is all painted up, now all I have to do is install the hinges, and the tool-holders. I actually went out and bought a bunch of nice screws, but they are either too short or too long for what I need them for. Darn.

Roubo in Sketch-up

This was my first project I have modeled on sketch-up. In this model I have left out the crochet, but on the real thing I will add one. all the dark gray parts will be ash. the 4 top pieces will be held together with nine blocks that will be like large floating tenons. They will be pinned through. The wagon vise uses 4 ash rails that the traveler moves on. On the facing sides of the traveler, I will have two blocks of ash slightly below the surface. I hope this will allow me to clamp some pieces there. I made the legs dovetail/tenon into the top so the bench can be disassembled. The lower front stretchers also will be bolted into the legs.

Sketchup for Woodworkers