Australian Wood Review - June 2018

http://www.woodreview.com.au 45

PROJECT

flat, solid surface like a tablesaw top.
Begin with 120 grit, and the rivet
heads should start disappearing quite
quickly (photo 11).

File any projecting bits of core flush
and square with the sides, and clean
up the throat and mouth. I tidied up
the sides with fine files (round, flat,
and triangular), using them as you
would a spokeshave, holding the files
straight across the edges and pushing
them away in a straight line.

Take special care smoothing the
sides to the blade-bed, this is the
heart of your plane and it needs
to be perfectly flat, and square to
the sole if you want your plane to
function well.

All filed surfaces can be further
refined with sandpaper wrapped
around a small stick (or a bit of
dowel for the inside curves). Sanding
to 1500 grit will give you a very
nice matte finish, or you can buff
it to a high shine if you wish. Add
any detailing as you see fit – I used
varying width chamfers and some
‘lambs-tongues’ to give my edges a
bit of interest.

Timber infill and wedge

Mulga was used for the infill and

wedge, but any dense, dry wood

should be suitable. I made a cardboard

template off my drawing, cut it slightly

oversize, then sanded and pared for

a tight fit. Having the wood stand

proud of the brass is traditional, so

the visible edges were shaped and

sanded (photo 12) before assembly.

I then I glued it in place with epoxy,

wiping off any squeeze-out with a rag

soaked in methylated spirits.

The final steps are lapping the sole

flat and square to the sides and

opening the mouth. Don’t forget

to have the blade in firmly (but not

projecting) while you are lapping the

sole, so the bed is tensioned as it will

be in use.

Cut and file the mouth

A very fine mouth is desirable, so

proceed very carefully with this step.

I cut a small amount off (a bit more

than a 1mm) the sharp end of the

blade bed, then made a clean cut

across the back of the toe-piece and

checked if the blade would come

through. It didn’t quite, so I used a

very thin, flat file and filed a little at

a time off the front of the mouth until

the blade would project with a gap of

around 0.25–0.5mm.

Take it slowly, because if you over

cut the opening you cannot ‘fix’ it

by using a thicker blade as you can

with a bevel-up configuration. Don’t

despair if it ends up a bit wide, the

plane will still cut endgrain very well,

but with a wide mouth, the edge of he

blade is a bit more likely to catch on

the corner at the start of a cut.

Time for a test-run (photo 13). You

may have to tweak the edge of the

blade a little (mine was a degree or

two off square as it came), but with

a little fettling, your plane should be

capable of taking full-width shavings

of 0.025mm (0.01") (photo 14).

Finally, apply your favourite finish

to the woodwork (I used Shellawax

buffed with a cloth wheel), and the

job is done...

Photos: Ian Wilkie

Ian Wilkie is a Brisbane based

woodworker and toolmaker.

Email [email protected]

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