I had an old wooden skewed rabbet plane and, taking a cue from Derek Cohen's excellent write-up, decided to convert it into a dovetail plane. As in his example, this was a 1 1/2" rabbet plane which I planed down to about 1 3/8" wide, then redid the chamfers. I cut the plane bed to angle and laminated some new beech on to the sole. Cherry was used to create the newly made extension, fence and depth stop. A groove was cut so I could move the existing nicker to the other side of the plane body; the iron was reshaped and sharpened up.
When all was said and done, it was a hodgepodge of newly planed surfaces and new and old wood so I antiqued the whole thing. The only original finish left is on the top of the plane body. The rest is freshly done with stains/shellac/sandpaper/more stain, etc.. I always like the look of my old woodies and wanted this to match. What is still missing are the appropriate screws holding the fence. Does anyone know a source for those old thick-headed screws? I pulled one off an old fillester plane for the depth stop but need a few more - about 1/4" diameter, 1" long or so. I've looked around and can't find out if these are even made any more.
As things rarely happen in my little workshop, this was a big success. The plane worked extremely well with smooth and accurate cuts in poplar, cherry and walnut. I'm now wondering if it would be possible to get hold of an old, handled jack plane (or other) to create a panel raiser. Has anyone given that a try?
Dovetail front.jpgDovetail back.jpgDovetail sole.jpgDovetail screw.jpgDovetail rear.jpg
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