Open Source Hollows and Rounds: Ironing out the Details

Continuing in the saga for a method for making "user" grade side escapement molding planes. This time I chase the gorilla in the room, the iron.

The irons in a traditional set of H&R planes are pretty intimidating to any wannabe non-blacksmith plane "enthusiast" like myself. Think about the processing required for traditional English H&R (18X):

Material selection

Beyond the O1 A2, PMV-11, R2D2 metallurgy stuff, there's the sizes. 1/8"- 3/16" is typical thickness, check. Since the name of this game is "frugal" To me it sure seems like you'd want to minimize waste and the amount of pieces of tool steel purchased. This leads to going after a very wide bar as a blank like this McMaster #9516K517 and then nesting your irons by rotating H&R 180° as opposed to many varying widths of steel strips.

Nested, still some waste in the centers

Cutting out Blanks

Ideally these could be done with a CNC laser or water jet cutter. (If you have one laying around.) This is a de-facto production method at the corporation I work for (but I don't have access, and side-job personal work is frowned on there #fired) I always thought if I were making a traditional set, I'd source the blanks laser cut with the size and shape marked decoratively in the corner for easier visibility and extra cool factor. (I have so many ideas, eventually one will be good.)

Given "users" don't typically have lasers available, that means hacksaw or angle grinder with cutting wheel. Now remember, this is not a simple cut to length/width job, but instead a wide bit and narrow tang. (Ideally both varying by plane width). Sounds like work.

Taper

To me this seems like the scariest part, though in reality, most of the material removal is at the narrower tang portion. I suspect a magnetic jig that would register off the inside corner could be used to coarsely (and medium-ly and finely) linish them on a common bench top sander. 

This isn't absolutely necessary (for instance Philly planes doesn't currently do this) but there are good reasons to do so:

• Why Tapered Irons from Joel@TFWW
• Excellent old discussion of tapered irons @Handplane Forum

Shaping Profile

This is another laborious part to match the sole. Not really any way around this one. More grinding.

Heat Treating

Scary, but it involves fire and possibly baking Ghiradelli double chocolate brownies (tempering)  so sign me up.

Sharpening

Not your average 1/2" chisel. I don't have a dog in the sharpening race, let's just leave it at that. 

Skipping Ahead

There are a couple of sources to acquire them "ready to go":

• L-N
• Philly
• Corradi

But you still are going to be doing the shaping, heat treating and sharpening on your own. These are certainly not crazy priced given the pre-work already done, but it's still a decent chunk of change for soft tool steel, and raises the expectations for the planes made, at which point you might as well go whole hog with the traditional methods in my mind.

So the design targets for the plane should revolve around the constraints of the "ideal" irons which would be something like:

Parallel in thickness (as they come from the steel mills)

Parallel in width to make them require less processing with limited metalworking tools

Much shorter in length to reduce material usage. 

• Less material and complication in a Krenov vs Stanley iron, despite the thick iron goodness.
• Use a common width of steel for bit length so the whole set can be made from one piece of tool steel.
• Stanley #45 uses shorter, simpler irons
• Bridge City Toolworks has a unique solution with its hp-6v2 irons

In my next post, I'll show my first frankenplane concept(s) that attempts to accomplish these goals. 

To get there, I've turned to an antique panel gauges, lifting devices and IKEA... I'm hopeful to get something usable slapped together to do some recon with the master plane makers at Handworks (next week!), but I'm also supposed to be demolishing my kitchen this week too.

Open-Source Hollows and Rounds: Bodies

In the quest for a modern user set of hollows and rounds, the desire is to jump in and address the body. Likely, most of the opportunity lies in the iron. Still, it doesn't hurt to start thinking about bodies that might work well. To that end, I'm excerpting some images from a pretty good book I picked up when I was fortunate enough to visit a Lee Valley store.

Also if you haven't already read everything at http://www.planemaker.com and seen the Larry Williams video, that's solid baseline information.

One example from this book ends up with similar geometry as English planes, but creates the mortise by laminating strips on the outside.

In the next example (opening bouvet image) from Roubo we see the construction even more simplified, with the mortise being completely open on the side. (Dig the horn and the side facing wedge too.) I do wonder how bulky this style would need to be on wider molding planes, or if there is a tendency to warp away from the open side causing tracking issues.

The next 2 show construction that is quite different, in that they have a mechanism built-in that allows the toe & heel to move relative to each other. Neither are side escapement planes, but it's not a stretch to see such implementation.

The first shows using this motion to restrain the iron, replacing the wedge with a simple inexpensive carriage bolt. Dowel pins of a sort are used to keep the 2 parts aligned. 

In the second, the wedge secures the iron as typical, and the heel-toe motion allows mouth adjustment (much less important in molders) The alignment is controlled via the simply created dados in the toe and laminated construction.

In all these examples, you see that the iron continues all the way through the body or you'd have no way of reaching it for proper setup. As I look at these, I see some opportunity to simplify without sacrificing usability, of course I'm not a plane making expert by any stretch of the imagination so feel free to add to the discussion and/or tell me I'm on the wrong track.

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.

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.

 

What's Going on in there?

A while back (actually records indicate 5/30/14) I received a tapered iron by way of a giveaway from "Nice Planes" (which regrettably has since has joined the list of "no longer in production" planemakers) I want to share with you the process of how I often design projects. If you don't like to see how sausage is made, feel free to move along, in the next couple days I'll have a post sharing the build of this project (and after action report for Brian).

Like most projects, I start out shoehorning something new into the massive list of items I desire to make, usually under the premise of "It'll only take a couple days." Also per the norm, I rarely have clarity and just jump in, even though at some point that happens after my design process reaches full fermentation. I really enjoy the design process and since it always overlaps working or finishing another project, there isn't any time when I'm twiddling my thumbs.

My first thoughts were that in the spirit of the kit received, I should knock out a Krenov style laminated plane and put it to use. The only real problem being that I didn't NEED another bench plane (want?...always) Another problem is of course that I don't generally do simple and that's when my mind starts to wander and dream of possibilities. I want to show my random thoughts along the way, many will be left, never to be explored, while others may morphs into other projects. Some of the planes "not made" could have been better than what I ended up with, and who knows maybe someday I'll get the opportunity to explore them. If anyone desires to take one of these further, please do; and let me know, I'd like to see how they turned out. (or of course commission one)

*Warning: there are some images I have lifted from the web that are not mine, hopefully they are obvious, and I am not claiming them as my own work, but want to illustrate my design process

Layered lamination pattern?

• Started out with Nice® iron (3-1/2 long, 1-1/2 wide, 1/4 thick)
• Decided laminated plane ideal
• Thought about stacked layered plane with scroll work filigree or Marrakesh patterns
• Each layer could be CNC cut and stacked 



Great Wave or comfy rear tote?

• (use dowel pins for ease of alignment)
• Curved wave rear tote came to mind, followed by Hokusai "Great Wave" print (one of my favorite works of all time)
• See that someone in Dresden has similar idea on a larger scale...
• This could look good with dyed maple laminations
• What wood can I easily get that is white enough, Maple? Holly?



In Dresden

• Corian! It's Heavy, stable, colorful, machinable, warm to the touch too
• Thought about thin layering blues & white corian for 3D print wave plane
• Wedge for plane would be wood and In shape of boat from print
• Research the type of boat in print (oshiokuri-bune)
• Think to self: Self, it will be a lot of work to make CAD models for this plane and tool paths for many layers.
• Found local makerspace
• Stumbled across white corian without looking, should look for blue
• Consider epoxy inlay for wave design
• Considered what some ivory white planes might look like
• Considered scrimshaw And inked carvings



Boxwood not ivory, but white with "ink"

• Remember my visit to the Sindelar Tool Museum and his ivory plow planes and "scroll" planes



the Beautiful K4



Krenov Plane

• Reference other inspirational design touchstone planes, Krenov, S&S K4, DaedTool Index planes, SMT loopy, Macpherson's Art Deco etc. I admire



Some more sketching including Braun and porcelain paths

• Think about porcelain & China delicate rolled edges



Eve from wall-e inspired by Apple and "the future"

• Given solid white material, think "Apple" Or Eve from Wall-e
• Research Johnny Ives, Dieter Rams, Bauhaus, Braun



The clean, modern, textured Braun SK2

• See Braun SK2 Radio think about texture and minimalist future shape
• Interesting the statement a "modern" plane makes given it's ancient nature



Ovalia chair (it seemed cooler in my head)

• Look at the Ovalia chair
• Nail down some realistic sizes for this plane
• 2-2-1/4 wide For 1-1/2 iron
• ~7" long
• higher angle ~55°
• No more than 2-1/2 tall to adjust iron
• Saw documentary "Dear Mr Waterson" think about simple shape and inlaying a daily Calvin & Hobbes strip on the side



My "final" sketch

• Decide I need to flip through  my compilation and find an appropriate one
• Can't decide if it is aspirational for Watterson's  Incredible art or derivative and not what the artist would want…
• More sketching "inside the box" determined by plane size leads me ultimately to this. I decide that I can probably knock it out in a couple of days (and stall on the shop redux), and if it doesn't turn out, then it'll make an interesting paperweight and I still have the components for a Krenov plane to pursue some other direction. Hopefully in the finished  piece you can see some of my influences and thinking.

  

  End result, laying in some walnut test shavings
  Woodworking in the Stone Age ... or ... Introducing the iPlane 7