Ugly Stick© Molding Plane Concept

So after stepping through my design considerations in my previous posts,

Concept
Bodies
Irons

I came to the task of essentially designing everything around using a small, easy to manufacture iron. After my usual sketching on random napkins for a couple of days, I had 2 promising concepts that utilized a short iron.

• First, the one shown, relies on inexpensive hardware for securing and adjusting the iron 
• Originally I planned on using barrel nuts and 1/4" holes for the 1/4-20 eyebolts which are easily grasped (and easier to come by than 4" thumbscrews) even if they are gouge-out-my-eyes pretty. After drilling the holes with my only long "1/4" drill bit did I realize that it was actually 15/64" (covered in grime) which meant I could thread the wood directly with the screw (and a bit of wax) and avoid the barrel nuts (further simplification
• Second concept uses wedged methods which I hope to get to soon (thanks also to Brian Eve who suggested looking at the Galbert shave horse for another potential wedge design)

The concept for this plane was not so much to get a working model so much as to slap something together that I could talk about with some pros at Handworks 2015.

(Insert raving about how great Handworks2015 was here, see some pics below)

While there, I was able to speak to Brian Eve , Larry Williams, Phil Edwards, & Chris Vesper about this plane. They each provided valuable information. Below are random points of discussion on the topic:

• I'm not saying it won't work, but it's a complete departure from how we do things and I'm not sure where the fitting challenges will even present themselves
• The escapment will need more room to clear the chip
• Need a blind side wall to provide repeatable registration of the iron and "yaw" control.
• Wow, that thing is ugly! You've got to do something with the eyebolts.
• Give it a try, I don't see why it inherently won't work.
• Way too much iron thickness, 1/8-3/16 max (I was using random chunk of metal in shop)
• Holding the iron during grinding and heat treat will present challenges, can't get it hot like you can with tang
• There may be a potential chip clog point where the iron meets the escapement

Many of these comments confirmed what my gut was already telling me, still it was really good to have input from experienced makers, and to actually feel like I have my toe in the door of the illustrious tool making community.

So I didn't waste any time once I got home. I ordered some O1 3/16"x2"x18" steel to take it to the next level of working beta prototype (and also provide steel for other planes). Now I just need to find a way to sneak in time on this project when I should be remodeling 50% of my house...

Searching For an Escape

I recently read an interesting post from Bill Lattanzio regarding traditional side escapement planes where he brought up a point that I too have wondered about for years, namely "Where are the "user" Hollows and Rounds?" I must preface this topic with the caveat that I haven't really used these planes, though mostly it is due to the point I am bringing up, the high cost of entry*.

Now before anyone takes me for being a cheapskate* (which I probably am) I'm not talking about tools made in low labor cost countries, though I am sort of surprised someone hasn't filled that niche yet. What I'm talking about is a wholesale look at what makes a good molding plane designed and manufactured for use by today's wood workers.

The easy answer is that it looks exactly as it did in the 18th century*. I have the excellent Larry William's DVD as I hope to make some side escapement planes someday. I believe these are amazing tools every bit as refined cultured and beautiful as infills. The amount of materials and labor involved means that they are time intensive and expensive to make, again just like infill planes. This means they cost more than peanuts, and given multiples are needed (yes I know you probably only need a couple), it gets to fairly large numbers quick. Custom plane makers aren't rolling in cash, despite what a set of their tools cost. It only makes sense that a skilled craftsman ought to live somewhere above the poverty line, divide that cost by the planes you can make in a year, and that's how much they must cost, simple economics. The facts that most H&R plane makers have a backlog (sometimes measured in years) and that there isn't a glut of makers proves that this isn't a get rich scheme. Now you can try to address this by finding skilled workers in low cost of living areas, or you can figure out a way to simplify or accelerate production with the end result being more quantity & less expensive tools made.

This doesn't mean making products that aren't good. Again take infill planes. I doubt many would say that a Bailey pattern plane can't do good work. It certainly could be made in far less time with less expense in craftsman labor. This is why infill plane makers were largely supplanted by "good-enough" Baileys. Thankfully, today there is enough interest in woodworking to allow infill makers to thrive again despite increasingly better (more than) "good-enough" mass produced planes like Lie-Nielsen, Veritas, and others. I believe a line of such H&R will not take away the niche of the small number of makers of traditional side escapement planes (Old Street, MS Bickford, Caleb James, Philly Planes) (and not to leave out the non-traditional Time Warp Tool Works) In fact, I'd suspect that as more folks use these planes, even more people would desire "Premium" versions.

My intent here is to start a discussion on an open source design for 21st century molding planes. I have thoughts to share on materials and manufacturing, but invite as many opinions as possible, hopefully driving toward a design that is relatively economical to make, just as the originals were in their time. I realize that there is an amount of hubris here as a thus far sideline molder*, and I welcome even disparaging comments on the challenges ahead with such a project.

*I should add that I recently acquired a nice RH half-set from Hackney Tools, whom I can heartily recommend and will be trying out and reporting on more here.

Interruptions

I've not been working on the Midwestern Oak Roubo Bench Project (MORBP). Besides the normal causes, (it's cold out there, laziness, Netflix) I have a few good reasons that this project has sat idle for far longer than expected. While I expect no reprieve from the harsh blog reading taskmasters, hopefully this provides an interesting diversion from you getting out in your shop...

#1 Injury

Who knew that intensely working with heavy timbers when you normally work at a desk isn't a good idea? Evidently not me. While I thought I had been careful, all that lifting, shoulder shrugging and mortise chopping caused a fairly debilitating injury in my left shoulder/back, I'd wake with tingling in my fingers. Without an MRI, I believe I partially tore the muscle where it attaches to my shoulder blade, and had a lot of inflammation in my left shoulder causing a pinched nerve. Because of interruption #3 I immediately moth-balled this project (and all heavy lifting) til at least mid Feb. (I have since fully recovered.)

Life Lesson: You aren't 25 forever.

#2 Small Projects

My son had recently expressed an interest in starting a project. I had figured that cutting boards would allow me to use up scrap and be an easier project than a box or something, and allow him to make a nice wedding present for a young couple that was getting married. Given the shared interest in video games, we settled on an 8-Bit design. I ripped all my small scraps into squares and then to short enough lengths that we could make the enormous number of components required. Then we glued them up in layers and then resawed into 3 pieces and sanded. This consumed a lot of my time since he couldn't run the requisite power tools; and while simple, there was a ton of tedious repetitive cuts to get the stock prepared. Still, it was a lot of fun to do something with the boy and the end results are pretty cool, and the folks that have received them as gifts have really liked them. We might make more of these in the future, but I would probably work with 2'-3' pieces and make a loaf of 30-40 boards at a time. 

Life Lesson: Father/Son projects are never a fair work split, but the rewards more than make up for it.

#3 Trip

My wife (who is at least as passionate about travel as I am woodworking) took me on a trip down under for a few weeks Feb-Mar. Our primary objective was New Zealand & Fiji (both incredible), but due to flight scheduling we ended up with a day layover in Melbourne, Australia. Somehow I realized this was the town that Vesper Tools calls home, so I began email pestering for a visit. Chris was a gracious host and quite generous with his time. He is very passionate about woodworking & tools. He makes some absolutely spectacular stuff in his shop and has a very nice collection of tools and books. It was nice to visit with Chris and meet a fellow hand tool zealot face-to-face, to see that we are more the same than different regardless of the continent. I must also say that the souvenirs I picked up in Melbourne that day blow the kitschy shops out of the water, and given that I'll use these tools often, will remind me of the entire trip every time I use them. Also I'm realizing that I under-bought (a 10" bevel in Tasmanian blackwood in particular), Thankfully Vesper will be at Handworks 2015.

I had also arranged with Philip Marcou for a tour of his planemaking shop, but due to weather changing our hiking days in New Zealand, it was not to be, Probably for the best, as his souvenirs add up quick. Still in my interactions with him, Philip seems like another nice guy, making high quality tools.

While in the past I've always enjoyed seeing the woodworking cultures of the places we've visited, moving forward, I'll dedicate a portion of each trip to woodworking or tools.

Life Lesson: Any trip that includes woodworking goes to 11.

Woodworking in the Stone Age

This is the follow up I had promised on the making and usage of the plane design I spoke of in the previous post. (better late than never)

Bottom line: I count this a successful design, experiment & tool, but don't think I'll be making/using solid surface material again for a plane. I just don't enjoy the process. I'd like to make the same body in wood sometime though.

If a potential planemaker was already tooled up for working the stuff with a CNC router per the cabinet shop norm, they could come up with some straightforward paths and offer a nice line of smoothers with their scraps, with a pretty minimal investment of effort. The material is very dense, and feels nice.

I'm not planning on detailing the process, but have included photos of steps along the way. If you have a specific question, just leave a comment. Most everything was done using 4 tools table saw, pattern cutting router bit, stationary belt sander, and drill mounted drum sander.

Prior to this build, I made a prototype in a block of Cyprus. I really like the two halves method of plane making. I think this has a lot of potential.

Lessons Learned:

• Geometric Design. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. All-in-all it handles well (perhaps a bit toe heavy) and looks good to me. 
• Cross pin. I sort of trivialized that I could make this fit around the other parameters like wall profile and mouth opening later on. This was a mistake, and meant that in the end I had to place it a little closer to the iron than desired, making the wedge thinner than I would have preferred. 
• Wedge Shape, I sort of thought this would be simple to design on the fly as well. It wasn't. getting the shape that fit the body and could still be tapped in the directions needed etc.
• Planing angle. I bedded this plane ~55° It makes it a bit harder to push, but cuts well in anything I've thrown it's way (in most any direction)

Challenges:

Materials

This project was 80% about the materials, so it's no surprise that this is where I have the most to say.

1. I didn't have true Corian® but some knock-off solid surface product (my source was leftovers from an auction). The main differences being that it has tiny bubbles (not as good as the Don Ho version) that come through when you work into it. I also suspect that Corian® is more uniform in thickness.
2. The stuff I had, wasn't parallel and/or flat, which didn't become apparent until I went to glue up, this left a line. If I had used matching epoxy it would've blended nicely.
3. "Corian" machines very nicely with carbide tools, like routing MDF I suppose. That said, I had quite a bit of chipout in the mouth area from the table saw, this was filled with epoxy, so no impact on function, but again visible.
4. While not cold as steel, it's not quite as warm as wood. This might again be an issue with the non-genuine Corian®
5. Its got a really nice heft to it.



Routing Template

6. Corian is messy...like 5 8yr old boys at a sleepover messy.
7. Even though I know it's less dulling than my cast iron baileys, I feel apprehension installing/removing the iron. Feels like working without a net over concrete.

Maintaining symmetry 

Since only the bed and sole are flat in the end, careful layout and operation sequencing was important to make sure that the needed work could be done to keep things symmetric.