[terryR]

Feeling Froggy

Here's where we left off.

Mouth opening has been cut and worked to final dimension. Now it's time to get the frog to fit.

A transitional frog has the little bump out on the bottom where the lever cap screw attaches. On an original body, there's a pocket for that part, we just need to recreate it.

Easiest way to mark it out is to first use a small square to mark a line perpendicular to the bed intersecting the line on the face of the bed. This will be the edge of the frog. Then lay the frog face down and mark the bump out location. Finally, use the frog to determine depth in both directions.

Once this area is marked out, the waste can be chiseled out. You'll need to remove the depth adjuster to check fit, as it extends below the base of the frog.

Once you have a good fit and are satisfied, mark the back of the frog.

With whatever tools you have and are comfortable with, you'll need to create a channel so that the depth adjuster can operate freely. I used a couple of gouges and did this by hand, working from the edge of the blank and stopping at the line that marks the back of the frog. There are several other possible ways to accomplish the same thing, only limited by your skills and available tools. If you have a good idea on how to do this easily and cleanly, please share.

Next up: Hit the gym for some body shaping

agreed!

As a nurse, I was always taught, If you didn't document it, you didn't do it. Glad to see builds like this documented!

 

[duckmilk]

Feeling Froggy

Here's where we left off.

Mouth opening has been cut and worked to final dimension. Now it's time to get the frog to fit.

A transitional frog has the little bump out on the bottom where the lever cap screw attaches. On an original body, there's a pocket for that part, we just need to recreate it.

Easiest way to mark it out is to first use a small square to mark a line perpendicular to the bed intersecting the line on the face of the bed. This will be the edge of the frog. Then lay the frog face down and mark the bump out location. Finally, use the frog to determine depth in both directions.

Once this area is marked out, the waste can be chiseled out. You'll need to remove the depth adjuster to check fit, as it extends below the base of the frog.

Once you have a good fit and are satisfied, mark the back of the frog.

With whatever tools you have and are comfortable with, you'll need to create a channel so that the depth adjuster can operate freely. I used a couple of gouges and did this by hand, working from the edge of the blank and stopping at the line that marks the back of the frog. There are several other possible ways to accomplish the same thing, only limited by your skills and available tools. If you have a good idea on how to do this easily and cleanly, please share.

Next up: Hit the gym for some body shaping

This is so interesting Jay. Thanks!

Hmmm, I'm trying to think of another way to create the channel for the depth adjuster since I don't have a gouge. May have to acquire one.

 

[JayT]

Feeling Froggy

Here's where we left off.

Mouth opening has been cut and worked to final dimension. Now it's time to get the frog to fit.

A transitional frog has the little bump out on the bottom where the lever cap screw attaches. On an original body, there's a pocket for that part, we just need to recreate it.

Easiest way to mark it out is to first use a small square to mark a line perpendicular to the bed intersecting the line on the face of the bed. This will be the edge of the frog. Then lay the frog face down and mark the bump out location. Finally, use the frog to determine depth in both directions.

Once this area is marked out, the waste can be chiseled out. You'll need to remove the depth adjuster to check fit, as it extends below the base of the frog.

Once you have a good fit and are satisfied, mark the back of the frog.

With whatever tools you have and are comfortable with, you'll need to create a channel so that the depth adjuster can operate freely. I used a couple of gouges and did this by hand, working from the edge of the blank and stopping at the line that marks the back of the frog. There are several other possible ways to accomplish the same thing, only limited by your skills and available tools. If you have a good idea on how to do this easily and cleanly, please share.

Next up: Hit the gym for some body shaping

Hmmm, I m trying to think of another way to create the channel for the depth adjuster since I don t have a gouge. May have to acquire one.

- duckmilk

No reason it can't be a flat bottomed channel, or a V shaped one. Either of which could be done with bench chisels. A flat bottomed channel could also be made with a router or router plane. You could also possibly create it with a careful cove cut on the table saw or use a router with a bowl bit. Lots of possibilities, limited only by what you have available and are comfortable with.

Then again, any excuse to get a new tool, right? ;-)

 

[ColonelTravis]

Feeling Froggy

Here's where we left off.

Mouth opening has been cut and worked to final dimension. Now it's time to get the frog to fit.

A transitional frog has the little bump out on the bottom where the lever cap screw attaches. On an original body, there's a pocket for that part, we just need to recreate it.

Easiest way to mark it out is to first use a small square to mark a line perpendicular to the bed intersecting the line on the face of the bed. This will be the edge of the frog. Then lay the frog face down and mark the bump out location. Finally, use the frog to determine depth in both directions.

Once this area is marked out, the waste can be chiseled out. You'll need to remove the depth adjuster to check fit, as it extends below the base of the frog.

Once you have a good fit and are satisfied, mark the back of the frog.

With whatever tools you have and are comfortable with, you'll need to create a channel so that the depth adjuster can operate freely. I used a couple of gouges and did this by hand, working from the edge of the blank and stopping at the line that marks the back of the frog. There are several other possible ways to accomplish the same thing, only limited by your skills and available tools. If you have a good idea on how to do this easily and cleanly, please share.

Next up: Hit the gym for some body shaping

JayT I just ran across this today - awesome series. Thanks.
I've got the right sized frog, ready to build!

 

[JayT]

Start some Body Shaping

With everything ready for the frog to be installed, it's time to start adjusting to some final dimensions.

First thing is body depth. If your blank started at 1-3/4, you should be close to the correct depth, as most transitional bodies are 1-1/2 thick and there is about 1/4in of cast iron frame on top of that. Here's the best way I've found check thickness.

Adjust the depth adjuster knob to about 1/2 way from front to back and set the frog on the body. With the iron and cap iron locked together, set it on the frog and check to see where the leading edge of the iron is. Do NOT attach the frog. If there is a depth problem, the fix could cause the holes to be in the wrong location.

You do not want to use the lever cap, as any tension there will throw off everything setting flat.

Go ahead and use the depth adjustment and see if the iron will be able to extend through the mouth. The iron and especially the cap iron may not actually fit through the mouth at this point. That's OK. All you need to do is be able to check that the leading edge will be able to extend far enough.

If the body depth is fine, skip the next part.

If it is too thick, you have a decision to make. The only possibilities, of course, are to remove stock from the top or the bottom. Both have pros and cons and I advise reading through both before determining a course of action.

First choice is removing stock from the bottom. This probably seems the easier route, but will open up the mouth and cause you to have to go back and readjust everything from the width of the channel that has been cut to the location of the frog. That said, if you only need to remove 1/16 or so, it might be the better route.

Second choice is removing stock from the top. This will mean redoing some the work of chiseling out the notch for the bump out in the frog and the channel for the depth adjuster, but everything else will remain the same. If needing to remove very much, this is probably the better route.

It seems like extra work, but I've never figured out a really accurate way to find the correct thickness before cutting into the blank, other than doing all the work on a piece of scrap. I tried on the first two and ended up with one blank a little too thick and one that had to be scrapped because it was too thin and I felt shimming up the frog would look silly. Thinking it through, this was the best I came up with and it worked well for this build. Once again, if someone comes up with a better method, feel free to share.

Once you have the correct thickness, we can start working on the infill look.

Note:

Let me pause here to say that if you don't want to do the metal work, here is where you could just leave the wood blank as you've got it, glue on a wooden base plate, flatten, shape and use it that way. You would lose all the advantages that the steel brings (mass and wear resistance being the biggest two) but would have a usable shooting plane with a lot less work.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming:

Part of the design of this plane involves getting a bit of an overstuffed look. It gives a really clean look and gets rid of some possible sharp edges. This means insetting the 1/8 thick piece of steel into the body. Set the 3/8 piece of steel on the bench, the wood body on top of that and the 1/8 piece on the side. Clamp the body to the 1/8 piece.

With this done, mark on the wood the line that is the top of the steel. Pull the steel and check to see where the line hits in relationship to the mouth. Ideally, they should be approximately even. If not, now is the time to make any adjustments and remark the line. If the mouth extends past the width of metal you have, it's really not an issue.

Now you'll need to remove the wood in that area to a depth of 1/8 or just over. (I'd pick just over. It's easier to remove a bit of wood to get them even later than a lot of metal) Do it however is comfortable-table saw, rabbeting plane (such as a #78) or router. I used a router table.

Next installment: Time to start some metal work.

 

[JayT]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

 

[KelleyCrafts]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Thanks Jay.

 

[KelleyCrafts]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

If my mouth is a little wider than I would like it to be, is it best to cut the steel flush with the frog side enough for the blade to fit through and have extra steel showing on the chip collection side or should they just be cut to the hole regardless? I'm thinking the smallest cut in that metal the better for thin shavings unless I'm not thinking it through?

 

[JayT]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

You can do either way. The very first one I built as a prototype has a wide open mouth with steel flush to the wood. The second one that was sent to Terry also had the mouth too wide, so I just let the extra steel show. You can see it in this pic:

In the end, it really doesn't matter for use on end grain, which is the primary purpose of a shooting plane. A tight mouth on a smoother helps to hold the wood fiber down as it is being cut to prevent tear out. On end grain, however, since you are severing the end of the fibers, if the mouth is wider than a single wood fiber, it's not really providing any support to what is being cut. My shooting plane with a wide mouth still performs very well.

Go with what looks better to your eye. Personally, of the two, I like look of the exposed steel on Terry's plane better than the wide gap on mine, but either one will work just fine.

 

[KelleyCrafts]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Thanks for clearing that up Jay.

 

[duckmilk]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Jay, in the previous installment, you talked of getting the body the correct thickness.

1) How much leeway/tolerance is there? It seems to me like 1/16" would probably not make that much difference, but wanted to get your input.

2) Are there any aspects of the different transitional plane makers that would affect the thickness of the blank you start with? Ie: when the frog is removed from the metal base and put on the wood blank, are there any special considerations from one brand to another?

 

[JayT]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Jay, in the previous installment, you talked of getting the body the correct thickness.

1) How much leeway/tolerance is there? It seems to me like 1/16" would probably not make that much difference, but wanted to get your input.

There's actually quite a bit of leeway. As long as you can retract the iron fully and extend it to cut, then you'll be good. Since it's a shooting plane, you'll never be taking a heavy cut and so shouldn't ever need to have the iron extend very far. If that 1/16 is the difference between the iron being able to extend out the mouth or not, then it's important. Otherwise, not so much. The point of the 1/16 is that if you need to take off more than that to get the right thickness, I'd probably remove it from the top. If too much stock is removed from the bottom, you end up with the dilemma I had on the first two planes and that Dave is experiencing.

Because of how the body is shaped and lack of a tote, my goal is to end up with as thick of a blank as possible. This will make it far more comfortable to use later on.

2) Are there any aspects of the different transitional plane makers that would affect the thickness of the blank you start with? Ie: when the frog is removed from the metal base and put on the wood blank, are there any special considerations from one brand to another?

- duckmilk

I don't know. From what I've run across, the transitional bodies and frame thickness are pretty similar from the different brands. On the ones done so far, there's been more to deal with regarding the variation of the cap iron and adjuster (how much backlash and how worn they are) and that can vary plane to plane more than manufacturer to manufacturer. What I'd love to find is a Union X series tranny where the body is trashed. That mechanism might be perfect for this use.

 

[duckmilk]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Ahemmm….tap, tap, tap…

Actually, I have another question. What did you use to cut the mouth opening to give such a mice 45 deg. bevel and follow the skew?

 

[JayT]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Duck, are you tapping your webbed foot at me? :^)

Should have the next installments of the blog up tonight. Had very little shop time last weekend and none at all during the week. Finally got back to working on it today.

The mouth was cut in Part 3 of the blog. Started with a sliding compound miter saw and finished with a handsaw and chisels.

 

[KelleyCrafts]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

Duck, I don't have a compound miter saw, just a regular one. I started the cut with the miter saw since the angles are a little wacky with a thick blank then finished with a tenon saw. Honestly that was all I could do but not the best. My kerf was different so it made the walls pretty wavy. So I chiseled my wall dead flat that holds the frog. The other side is ok, could use more for beautification but it would work fine as is. I'm using wenge and paudok so it's definitely splintery and tough. Hopefully it turns out well in the final sanding and finish.

Just my thoughts.

 

[duckmilk]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

I was asking about cutting the metal portion of the mouth. How do you get the angles close enough? About all I have is a hacksaw and was wondering.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away. And, yes, I was tapping my webbed foot, a little. ;-P

 

[KelleyCrafts]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

I used a jig saw but ended trimming with a file more than anything. It is a little wider it the open end but it should still work fine. It's not pretty but neither is Jay's. By pretty I mean sanded to a polish it's still rough. Could sand It I suppose. Overall you could clamp a block to it and put it in a vice and use the block as a guide to saw straight. Should work ok. Just my thoughts, I'm on the journey right next to you.

 

[JayT]

Mouth to Mouth

With the body rabbeted out to accept the side plate, it's time to cut the actual mouth.

If you haven't yet, now would be a good time to cut the metal pieces to final length. Since the O1 hasn't been hardened, it cuts pretty easily. I did the first two planes with just a hacksaw. For this one, I used a hacksaw on the 3/8 and a jigsaw on the 1/8.

Lay the piece of 1/8 steel on the bench and the wood blank on top and tightly nestled in the rabbet. I hope your wood blank is still a bit overlong. If so, let the wood overhang the steel just a bit on the front. Add the 3/8 steel standing up tight against the wood blank and use a sharpie or similar to mark out the mouth opening.

Pull the steel and you should have marks ending 3/8 of an inch from one edge of the plate and extending to nearly the other edge. With a combo square or other 45 degree tool, mark the opening on this edge as well.

Using your metal cutting tool, cut out the mouth. I used the jigsaw again and am much happier with the results than the first two planes that were done with a hacksaw. It worked fine, but the cuts were very rough and required a lot of filing to clean them up. The cleaner the cut, the less cleanup will be needed later, but always better to leave some of the line and sneak up on a good fit later than to over cut and have to scramble.

Set the wood body back on the steel and check your fit.

Now is also a good time to double check the body thickness and make any adjustments.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, the frog can be attached. If you still have the screws from disassembling the transitional plane, those should work great. If not, round head wood screws can be purchased and used.

Next installment: Tap, tap, tap away.

I was asking about cutting the metal portion of the mouth. How do you get the angles close enough? About all I have is a hacksaw and was wondering.

- duckmilk

Used a jigsaw this time. The first two were done with a hacksaw. Either way, the mouth will end up needing smoothed down with files &/or a dremel. The ones done with a hacksaw took a lot more time because the cut was rougher, but still ended up OK. You could also try a grinder and cutoff wheel or a cutoff saw. I haven't used that method, but it should work.

 

[JayT]

Time to Tap

With the mouth cut, it's time to start the metal work.

First step is to connect the two pieces of steel. Now, I don't claim to be a machinist and there are likely better ways to do some of these steps. But I'll post what worked best for me and you can change and adapt as your skills and available tools allow.

At the end of the piece of 1/8 steel, mark where you want to install the first machine screw. If you have layout fluid, that would be best. In place of that, I just marked over the area with a marker and scratched the lines through the black. Worked just fine.

I went about 3/4 in from the end and 3/16 up from the bottom in order to center the hole in the 3/8 base plate, scratched the lines with a marking gauge and knife and marked the point with an automatic center punch.

After that, both pieces were clamped to a squared up piece of scrap every which way I could and taken to the drill press with the appropriate sized drill bit (#25 for a 10-24 tap). If you haven't drilled much steel, the best way I've found is to create a dimple using the drill bit dry, add a drop of light oil or cutting fluid to the dimple and drill some more.

Go ahead and drill through the 1/8 plate and dimple the 3/8. Using a squared up block clamped to the steel really helps stabilize it while you drill.

Then the 1/8 can be removed, a drop of oil added and drill down into the 3/8. Every 1/8-3/16, pull the drill bit up to clear chips and add another drop of oil. You'll need to drill deeper than the length of the machine screw to allow enough room for the tap to work correctly and for chips to accumulate. While I'm sure there's a standard formula for this, I just add 1/2 inch to the length of the machine screw and drill to that depth.

Note: When doing this, I decided that 3/4 machine screws were probably more than necessary and got some 1/2 inch ones instead. I've updated the first post of the series. You can certainly use the 3/4, it just means drilling and tapping more metal, along with the increased risk of breaking a tap.

So for my 1/2in machine screws, there is a 7/8 deep hole drilled into the 3/8 steel.

Now that hole can be tapped. As mentioned before, make sure to use good quality taps. Those you can buy at the big box or hardware store are fine for cleaning up existing threads or working with mild steel, but not the best choice for cutting new ones in tool steel. Take your time and go slow. Use plenty of cutting fluid, make sure to start the tap straight (make an alignment block if that will help) and reverse the tap frequently to break off the shavings. All tapping operations are time for patience-think tortoise over the hare. Impatience will probably result in a broken tap, followed by lots of cursing. (In case you haven't figured out, breaking a tap sucks. I've done it three times and it's a sinking feeling every time.)

I like to use a plug tap to start. It has a longer taper on the end that helps to get started straight. Every 1/8 to 1/4 turn, the tap gets reversed. When I feel it binding, it's time to back the tap out and add some cutting fluid. Once the hole is well started, I switch to a bottoming tap. It allows cutting closer to the bottom of the hole, but with the sharper taper, is not the best choice for starting a hole.

Note: I had very good success this time switching back and forth between the plug tap and the bottoming tap. When the plug tap started to bind a bit, switching to the bottoming tap allowed it to cut the tapered threads to full depth without starting new ones. Once it started to get difficult, going back to the plug tap allowed it to just cut on the taper. This meant that both types were cutting less length at a time and therefore had less stress and were less likely to break.

Check frequently to see when you are at correct depth. Some people have feeler gauges for this, I just used one of the steel machine screws. When it goes all the way in, the hole is good.

Now the hole in the 1/8 plate can be enlarged at the drill press so that the machine screw passes through freely (for the 10-24, a 13/64 bit was the perfect size). Fasten the two pieces of steel together with the one machine screw and repeat the process at the other end. Mark, drill, tap, enlarge and fasten. Then the middle screws can be marked out . . . .

. . . . and drilled. With machine screws installed on both ends, you can drill through both pieces of steel at once. Here I have the steel clamped to two squared up pieces of scrap to help keep things lined up. The one in the back that cannot be seen is tall enough to support the side and base pieces.

Tapped and machine screws installed. Note that we're still using the steel machine screws, as they will go in and out several more times, so you don't want to mess up the softer brass ones. Save those for final assembly.

Again, go SLOW! I cannot emphasize this enough. While the earlier blog post about laying out for cuts took much longer to write than to actually do, this is the opposite. I'm sure someone with machine shop skills and tools could do this much faster and better, but this what I had to work with.

Now a very small countersink can be put on the holes-it doesn't take much.

The best way to check is to use one of the brass screws and make sure that the bottom of the slot stays above the steel.

Once proper depth of cut is established, it can be set and transferred to the other holes. Reinstall the steel machine screws.

Next installment: Add some body to your work.

 

[donwilwol]

Time to Tap

With the mouth cut, it's time to start the metal work.

First step is to connect the two pieces of steel. Now, I don't claim to be a machinist and there are likely better ways to do some of these steps. But I'll post what worked best for me and you can change and adapt as your skills and available tools allow.

At the end of the piece of 1/8 steel, mark where you want to install the first machine screw. If you have layout fluid, that would be best. In place of that, I just marked over the area with a marker and scratched the lines through the black. Worked just fine.

I went about 3/4 in from the end and 3/16 up from the bottom in order to center the hole in the 3/8 base plate, scratched the lines with a marking gauge and knife and marked the point with an automatic center punch.

After that, both pieces were clamped to a squared up piece of scrap every which way I could and taken to the drill press with the appropriate sized drill bit (#25 for a 10-24 tap). If you haven't drilled much steel, the best way I've found is to create a dimple using the drill bit dry, add a drop of light oil or cutting fluid to the dimple and drill some more.

Go ahead and drill through the 1/8 plate and dimple the 3/8. Using a squared up block clamped to the steel really helps stabilize it while you drill.

Then the 1/8 can be removed, a drop of oil added and drill down into the 3/8. Every 1/8-3/16, pull the drill bit up to clear chips and add another drop of oil. You'll need to drill deeper than the length of the machine screw to allow enough room for the tap to work correctly and for chips to accumulate. While I'm sure there's a standard formula for this, I just add 1/2 inch to the length of the machine screw and drill to that depth.

Note: When doing this, I decided that 3/4 machine screws were probably more than necessary and got some 1/2 inch ones instead. I've updated the first post of the series. You can certainly use the 3/4, it just means drilling and tapping more metal, along with the increased risk of breaking a tap.

So for my 1/2in machine screws, there is a 7/8 deep hole drilled into the 3/8 steel.

Now that hole can be tapped. As mentioned before, make sure to use good quality taps. Those you can buy at the big box or hardware store are fine for cleaning up existing threads or working with mild steel, but not the best choice for cutting new ones in tool steel. Take your time and go slow. Use plenty of cutting fluid, make sure to start the tap straight (make an alignment block if that will help) and reverse the tap frequently to break off the shavings. All tapping operations are time for patience-think tortoise over the hare. Impatience will probably result in a broken tap, followed by lots of cursing. (In case you haven't figured out, breaking a tap sucks. I've done it three times and it's a sinking feeling every time.)

I like to use a plug tap to start. It has a longer taper on the end that helps to get started straight. Every 1/8 to 1/4 turn, the tap gets reversed. When I feel it binding, it's time to back the tap out and add some cutting fluid. Once the hole is well started, I switch to a bottoming tap. It allows cutting closer to the bottom of the hole, but with the sharper taper, is not the best choice for starting a hole.

Note: I had very good success this time switching back and forth between the plug tap and the bottoming tap. When the plug tap started to bind a bit, switching to the bottoming tap allowed it to cut the tapered threads to full depth without starting new ones. Once it started to get difficult, going back to the plug tap allowed it to just cut on the taper. This meant that both types were cutting less length at a time and therefore had less stress and were less likely to break.

Check frequently to see when you are at correct depth. Some people have feeler gauges for this, I just used one of the steel machine screws. When it goes all the way in, the hole is good.

Now the hole in the 1/8 plate can be enlarged at the drill press so that the machine screw passes through freely (for the 10-24, a 13/64 bit was the perfect size). Fasten the two pieces of steel together with the one machine screw and repeat the process at the other end. Mark, drill, tap, enlarge and fasten. Then the middle screws can be marked out . . . .

. . . . and drilled. With machine screws installed on both ends, you can drill through both pieces of steel at once. Here I have the steel clamped to two squared up pieces of scrap to help keep things lined up. The one in the back that cannot be seen is tall enough to support the side and base pieces.

Tapped and machine screws installed. Note that we're still using the steel machine screws, as they will go in and out several more times, so you don't want to mess up the softer brass ones. Save those for final assembly.

Again, go SLOW! I cannot emphasize this enough. While the earlier blog post about laying out for cuts took much longer to write than to actually do, this is the opposite. I'm sure someone with machine shop skills and tools could do this much faster and better, but this what I had to work with.

Now a very small countersink can be put on the holes-it doesn't take much.

The best way to check is to use one of the brass screws and make sure that the bottom of the slot stays above the steel.

Once proper depth of cut is established, it can be set and transferred to the other holes. Reinstall the steel machine screws.

Next installment: Add some body to your work.

Some more nice work JayT