your christmas present

[mick_allen]

ok here's something for all us builders this christmas. A cool low angle plane to die for:

another view of both plain (sp??, heh heh) and 'fancy':

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=61963&cat=51&ap=1

only 300 bucks, so start your sweet talkin' right now!

ps - get one for me while you're doing the persuading.


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[andreas]

Sweet! To bad I can't justify spending that much money on a hand tool for my company...


I'm having this one on the top of my "wish list":
http://www.festoolusa.com/products/...ks-120-sliding-compound-miter-saw-561287.html

 

[Stumpy]

Wow! the "standard is under $190.00! is that Canadian or US?
Something I never could understand, though. A "standard" block plane blade is set at 35 degrees from the base, with the bevel on the bottom. The "low angle plane is set at 12degrees, plus the blade is bevel up, and sharpened at 25 degrees, making the blade to base angle 37 degrees, making the "standard" block plane blade 2 degrees lower angle than the "low angle" plane. Hmmm, what's that smell??? Do I smell BS?

 

[mick_allen]

interesting point - i often wondered if there was a difference, thanks. It seems crazy that the low is actually higher!

i wonder if then the low angle advantage is just the possibility of it's low profile like this one. maybe other advantages are that the edge is closer to the support and that the edge can be shaped at multi angles vs the standard.

hmm, i bet slimness is the main advantage.

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[Stumpy]

I'm not sure... I have 3 low profiles and 3 standards, and use them both interchangeably, which ever is handier, or sharper, at the time. The important thing is to have them very, very sharp. I learned from the old school, as an aprentice, the first thing I learned was how to sharpen and maintain the tools, before we were allowed to use them. These are the prettiest block planes I've seen, but the premium is so finely polished, it seems like it might be slippery to use in the summertime, when you get a bit of sweat on your hands.

 

[andreas]

Good point about the sweaty hands...

A little bit of advertising on the side: (moderators please delete if not ok!)
http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/7665098

 

[derekja]

Ooh, tool envy. I used that router in school and it was wonderful. Someday!

Festool makes the best power tools I've ever used.

 

[mick_allen]

So just playing around with the idea of a super low angle plane . . .

I wonder if the following concept would work. The idea is to fix and have the iron as part of the bed and then only adjust the throat opening in front. You could then put as thin a bevel on it as you would dare to want - say a 20deg bevel:

I guess most important factor would be how absolutely rigid you could make the bottom of the plane.


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[Stumpy]

Mick, the most important point is to learn how to sharpen the blade, and maintain it at a razor sharpness. If you reduce the angle below 25 degrees, you usually end up with a very fragile edge, that will nick or bend with the slightest provocation, i.e. a knot, nail (heaven forbid), or even a bullet shard from a hunter in the past (yes, I have found them, and could not figure out why any hunter would be using fmj's) most of my planes are old, collected from garage sales and flea markets, and have old iron blades, made when the iron ore that was being mined was full of impurities, like trace elements of chromuim and molybdenum and such, that smelters are now having to put back in to harden steel. I use diamond sharpening stones, and have gotten used to sharpening by hand and eye, but there exist numerous tools and jigs to get a perfect angle/edge on almost any blade. the bevel should be twice as long as the thickness, and give the back of your hand a clean shave with no nicks, and have a polished appearance. If you need a finer cut than that, try a cabinet scraper, or a wide mortice or firming chisel, held flat to the surface. One of my favorite block planes is a Stanley#131, which I think went out of production in 1962, and is reversable, standard block plane on one end, bullnose on the other.

 

[andreas]

So just playing around with the idea of a super low angle plane . . .

I wonder if the following concept would work. The idea is to fix and have the iron as part of the bed and then only adjust the throat opening in front. You could then put as thin a bevel on it as you would dare to want - say a 20deg bevel:

I guess most important factor would be how absolutely rigid you could make the bottom of the plane.


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Mick, it looks like you are having way too much fun on the computer again
I somehow like the idea of the adjustable throat plate... But I'm a bit concerned about the screws. For my experience, you want a flat bottom without any scratches, gauges etc... as these could catch on corners or slivers and therefore damage your workpiece. Would it be possible to have the screws coming in from the top?

 

[mick_allen]

you want a flat bottom without any scratches, gauges etc... as these could catch on corners or slivers and therefore damage your workpiece. Would it be possible to have the screws coming in from the top?

the bolts would have to be inset and the inset hole would have to be chamfered to reduce catching - but it is not an ideal solution.
A more difficult, but possible solution would be if the blade was pinched into place by the over hanging sidewalls. Grabbing it from the top would be very difficult unless a few mini vac grabs were used - like those for clamping onto big planes of glass.

If you reduce the angle below 25 degrees, you usually end up with a very fragile edge

ok, lets say the plane blade is sharpened to 25 degrees - the idea is to eliminate the support angle that a low angle plane has to lower the resultant blade angle by 10 or 12 degrees.

i think the real(and very difficult) problem with the sketch that i show is that there is no way to drop or change the blade height - it is always dead even with the plane bottom.

or a wide mortice or firming chisel, held flat to the surface

that's essentially what the sketch is - a wide short (no long handle to get in the way) chisel held flat in a holder - with a throat in front to align the initial presentation.

Hey, hey, hey! that's it - adjust the throat input height!

possibly one could do that 3 ways
- tiny adjustments parallel to the bottom ie like a step approach or
- have the tool hinge at the throat so that the input shelf can be set at varying tiny tiny angles to the main body - the blade is under so there is lots of scope doing this in this body.
- or maybe have a wheel like roller out in front that can adjust near and far and very slightly upward


(shucks more projects - as if i needed them.)

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[Stumpy]

how about sliding the blade in from the front, in a sliding dovetail or rabbeted groove, and locking it in place with pressure screws from the top? Then having a two- part body, with the front adjustable in hieght with a tapered connection to the rear section? Throat adjustment would then be accomplished by sliding the blade in or out. you could then make the blade full width as in a rabbeting plane, sliding in from the front, with the depth adjusment opened up all the way. A super low angle, rabbeting block plane? I'd buy one.

 

[mick_allen]

how about sliding the blade in from the front, in a sliding dovetail or rabbeted groove,

the blade would be a little more complex, but it would work - makes more sense to me to slide in from the back. I prefer the idea of the rabbetted groove rather than the dovetail (i showed the 3 bolts as i thought it was easier to perform than the exactitude required (on the flat) for bevelled iron edges), as it would be more definitive tolerances. Full width would be a little too complex, i think.

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