AARRRGGGH! Screwed up on a plane build

[Allan Speers]

HNT Gordon sells brass cheeks. you could also make a brass lever cap like in infill planes.

A brass levercap would be my choice, too, if only I knew how to make them! - Or at least where to buy them pre-made. I think Johnny Kleso (rarebear) used to sell them, but he retired many years ago.


Heck, a brass levercap + a Norris adjuster. Then you're really cooking. - And Norris adjusters ARE available online. Which begs an important question:

Do we have any members here could could, and would, makes some nice brass levercaps to sell, complete with knurled adjusters and the brass pin that goes across the mouth? I'd definitely buy a few.

[Stewie Simpson]

http://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/cultur...s-de-bois.html

[george wilson]

Just drill all the way through the escapement and install a cross pin. Makes a Roman style plane. I'd think that sooner or later,(mostly sooner),glued in cheeks would come loose. At the very least,they make it obvious that you fouled up. The Roman cross pin will look like you meant to make it that way,and the plane will look fine.

P.S.,IF it would fit the width of the escapement,doesn't Jamestown Tools sell cast brass levers?

pps: Now,I can't seem to find them.

[Ryan Baker]

How far down have you already chopped? It's hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't look like you have gone all that deep down yet. If it isn't that deep yet, there may still be enough material there to make the cheeks even if they don't come all the way to the top. (This is a big plane, there may be enough depth to still get adequate cheeks.) Or you could still glue on some extra material for the top part and salvage what's farther down.

I'm not a big fan of the cross-pin design for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they tend to just jamb up with shavings.

[Stewie Simpson]

You still have plenty of scope to form your wedge abutments further back.

[Allan Speers]

Christian, here's another way to go, although it would be one heckuva' challenge:

Find yourself a 6' length of lignum vitae. Then make your current top the bottom. Mill off an inch, dovetail on the L.V., then start your escapement over on the other side.

If you're actually going to USE this beast, and not just display it, then 6' of lignum will likely slide a whole lot easier than 6' of Maple. Plus, dovetailed wood-on-wood bottoms look so cool. - So even if this is only to be a showpiece, it would be worth considering.

[Allan Speers]

It reminds me of a "true" story I once read: ("true" in the Coen Brothers sense of the word. )


Some guy rented a large box truck to haul lumber home from the mill. On the way home he passed under an overhead train tressle, and not being an experienced trucker, slammed the top of the truck into the overpass, getting hopelessly stuck.

Traffic backed up for miles, and soon the site was overrun with police, civil engineers, train officials, firemen, etc etc etc. No one could decide the best & safest way to get the truck unstuck. They couldn't just pull it out with a tow truck, as it might damage the train system.

One engineer wanted to cut-away the top of the truck with a torch, but oil was dripping from the tracks, so that was risky, plus the lumber inside was of extremely high quality & might burn. Another engineer wanted to jig 2 cranes, to pull up both sides of the tressel evenly. A fireman suggested flowing a foam solution over the truck for lubrication, then pulling gently. Someone else suggested digging out from underneath the truck. Traffic kept piling up....


Then a little 5 year old girl came walking up with her mother. She turned to her mother and said,
"Momma, why don't they just let the air out of the tires?"

[Stewie Simpson]

Christian, here's another way to go, although it would be one heckuva' challenge:

Find yourself a 6' length of lignum vitae. Then make your current top the bottom. Mill off an inch, dovetail on the L.V., then start your escapement over on the other side.

If you're actually going to USE this beast, and not just display it, then 6' of lignum will likely slide a whole lot easier than 6' of Maple. Plus, dovetailed wood-on-wood bottoms look so cool. - So even if this is only to be a showpiece, it would be worth considering.

http://www.exoticwood.biz/lignumvitae.htm

[george wilson]

It would be nice if the above link mostly did not only sell pen blanks !!!

[Christian Thompson]

How far down have you already chopped? It's hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't look like you have gone all that deep down yet. If it isn't that deep yet, there may still be enough material there to make the cheeks even if they don't come all the way to the top. (This is a big plane, there may be enough depth to still get adequate cheeks.) Or you could still glue on some extra material for the top part and salvage what's farther down.

I'm not a big fan of the cross-pin design for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they tend to just jamb up with shavings.

I considered this as well. I've only gone down about an inch but I only have a little less than 3 inches of thickness and the cap iron starts curving a half inch from the tip. So that doesn't leave a whole lot for the abutments. As far as the cross pin jamming up, I think this plane being used upside down takes care of that problem - stuff just falls out before it has a chance to get wedged in. I took a coopering class recently where we used laminated planes with cross pins and they worked well.

You still have plenty of scope to form your wedge abutments further back.

I spent a bunch of time looking at this and can't figure out how I could salvage it. I guess you are saying I would just leave a really big space in front of the abutments where I've already cut out? Now that I think about it this might work. I could just step down the throat front. Might look a little odd, but would allow me to go with my original plan.

Christian, here's another way to go, although it would be one heckuva' challenge:

...
Then a little 5 year old girl came walking up with her mother. She turned to her mother and said,
"Momma, why don't they just let the air out of the tires?"

So - what's the "air out of the tires" solution?

[Christian Thompson]

Christian, here's another way to go, although it would be one heckuva' challenge:

Find yourself a 6' length of lignum vitae. Then make your current top the bottom. Mill off an inch, dovetail on the L.V., then start your escapement over on the other side.

If you're actually going to USE this beast, and not just display it, then 6' of lignum will likely slide a whole lot easier than 6' of Maple. Plus, dovetailed wood-on-wood bottoms look so cool. - So even if this is only to be a showpiece, it would be worth considering.

This would be really cool, but definitely more time and effort than I was looking to put in :-). I was aiming for a solid user and am hoping to get it done pretty soon so I can start using it.

[Darrell LaRue]

It reminds me of a "true" story I once read: ("true" in the Coen Brothers sense of the word. )
Some guy rented a large box truck to haul lumber home from the mill. On the way home he passed under an overhead train tressle, and not being an experienced trucker, slammed the top of the truck into the overpass, getting hopelessly stuck.

I saw a similar incident, when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Little town of Smiths Falls, near Old Sly's Lock, there was a rail overpass. We were playing in the field next to the locks and a truck load of logs came along. It was a big truck, and the wood was piled high. We stopped and watched it go by, and as it headed for the overpass my friend asked if it was gonna fit. Nope. There was a huge BANG, the chains snapped, logs spilled off the truck, and the rail bridge jumped. Gravel from the bridge rained down. The truck was not stuck, but the rail bridge was unusable until they made some repairs to it. Quite exciting to watch all the activity on what was otherwise just another day.

As for the plane, you could just make shorter abutments. There is probably enough there to hold the iron. And if it turns out that the short abutments don't work, pare them off and install a cross-pin later on.

Darrell

[Stewie Simpson]

It would be nice if the above link mostly did not only sell pen blanks !!!

Hi George, There is a good reason the supplier can only offer pen blank size true lignum vitae.

Genuine lignum vitae is now nearly impossible to get, but we keep finding small amounts that were imported before the current import ban, or under a strictly controlled permit process.

[george wilson]

I know true lignum is nearly impossible to get. Back in the 70's or 80's at a woodworking show I saw a piece of lignum that was just about 1 board foot. The price was $150.00. Probably double or triple that cost today. You won't be finding a six foot piece,unless it is an old piece forgotten in some one's wood pile.

I had a few pieces in the shop,but they got left there when I retired.

Stewie,there is no reason to SHOUT your opinion. We all can read. What is the use of posting a link to a place that only sells mostly pen blanks,and a few pieces maybe 2"x2" x12" for $150.00,and of only a few species ?

[Allan Speers]

Wow, the price for lignum has really skyrocketed!


So maybe use some other species for a new sole. (Yeah I know, he doesn't want to put that much work into it, but it's still a thought.)

Heck, just use another piece of Maple.

Or maybe 1/2" of UHMW plastic. (I know, but it sure would slide nice.)