New Videos for the Joints Series

I have filmed some demonstration videos for housing joints, which should soon be available on my YouTube channel.

Look out for:

• Through Housing
• Stopped Housing
• Dovetail Housing
• Stopped Dovetail Housing

All should be on YouTube by mid-November

Plane Anatomy Series - And What Next

Plane Anatomy Series:

Feedback about my recent plane anatomy posts and videos has been very positive.

The information is second nature to me now, after years of woodworking, but of course it is invaluable to those starting out. Indeed, it should help new woodworkers to progress more rapidly, without so much trial and error.

It's a bug-bear of mine, how a lot of experienced craftsmen like to keep secret the techniques they have developed over years of working. I get great pleasure passing on what I know, and the response to this series has been wonderful - big thank you to all that have left messages.

What Next:

There are a couple more plane anatomy titles underway, after which I shall be taking a break from the series to consentrate on some small projects that would make great Christmas presents.

The door wedges were the start of these gift ideas, and I've now got a good supply for family and friends (just don't let on!).

Some other ideas include Bat Boxes, Solitary Bee Hotels, Bird Boxes, Gardener's Dibbers, Tee-Light Holders, Drinks Coasters, Cutting Boards, and Desk Tidys.

Please, please, please, let me know which of these you would be interested in - there's not many weeks until Christmas, so they may not all get done.

Anatomy of Shoulder Planes

Stanley No.93 and Lie-Nielsen No.73, disassembled, explained, and reassembled, ready to make shavings

Let me demystify the anatomy of the metal bodied shoulder plane. This time I use my Stanley No.93 and Lie-Nielsen No.73.

The video shows all the main points:



Commonly used to fit tenons, and clean out housings, the shoulder plane, with it's iron extending right through to the sides of the body, is also useful for any number of planing tasks which require planing along an inside corner. They come in a variety of sizes, but unless there is restricted width access, the larger planes, with their inherently greater mass, are easier to use.
Both fixed and adjustable mouth planes are available. Some, like the No.93, can be used as chisel planes, with the entire front demounted.

Main considerations for good performance:

• A flat sole
  Prepared, with an iron installed and set at working tension, by lapping on a surface plate, hand scraping, or sanding on top of a flat reference surface.

• Squared sides
  Prepared in the same way as the sole, but using an engineer's try square and uneven pressure to correct inaccuracies.
  
• If the plane has an adjustable mouth, then it is essential that the contact tracks are parallel to the sole. Otherwise adjusting the mouth will throw the sole out of flat.

• Well prepared blade
  Since the blade is installed bevel up, the bevel angle will directly affect the angle of attack during a cut, and therefore you can tailor the angle to suit the work in hand. In practice, you would have two or three blades ground at different angles, and install the appropriate one for each task.

• All sharp edges eased (not the blade edge!) - to prevent injury to either work or user

In Use:
The shoulder plane is designed to be used against two reference surfaces at the same time, and doing so will produce the most consistent results.
The over-wide blade should be set in line with whichever side of the plane body is being used, so that the cut reaches, but does not exceed the corner.
Since the blade is wider than the mouth, take care not cut yourself.

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Anatomy of a Router Plane - The Stanley No.71

Stanley No.71, disassembled, explained, and reassembled, ready to make shavings

Let my demystify the anatomy of the metal bodied router plane. I'll use my Stanley No.71 - an open throat router plane. The No.71½ is a closed throat version, the same in all other respects (as far as I can recall). Veritas and Lie Nielsen both make similar router planes, arguably to a better standard, but my fettled Stanley works just fine for me.

The video shows all the main points:



Main considerations for good performance:

• A flat sole
  Prepared by lapping on a surface plate, hand scraping, or sanding on top of a flat reference surface.
• For open throat router planes, the accessory throat closure should lie in the same plane as the main sole.
• Well prepared iron
  Since the iron is bevel up, the bevel angle will directly affect the angle of attack during a cut, and therefore you can tailor the angle to suit the work in hand.
  My video, Sharpening a Router Plane Iron, shows how I achieve a consistently honed iron.
• Blade parallel to sole
  Essential to achieve a level depth of cut. Inaccuracy can be corrected by either working on the tool post or the blade. Since this is a multi-blade tool, the tool post faces should be filed perpendicular to the sole, and then all irons ground so that their edges fall parallel to the sole.
• All sharp corners and edges eased - to prevent injury to either work or user

In Use:
More passes, taking thinner shavings, will achieve the best results, rather than struggling to control the plane because the cut is too deep to make comfortably.
Because of thread backlash and coupling gaps, adjustment of iron height can be counter intuative to begin with. Rather than forcing the iron down with the screw adjuster, it should be held back by the adjuster. Having released the clamping collar, the iron is advanced by applying pressure on it's top, whilst letting it down in a controlled way with the adjuster. After a little time, this becomes second nature.
With grain planing should be in the direction that causes least tearout. Cross grain planing is best achieved with the 'snow plough' shaped iron, or by skewing the plane (in which case one direction of skew is likely to be better than the other).
To work further from a reference face, attach a ridgid sub-base that extends far enough for good support.
Attaching a sub-base with a long fence will give much better control for straight cuts than the standard fence.
To achieve an angled bottom in a groove, attach a suitably angled sub-base to the plane.

Anatomy of a Block Plane

Block Planes, disassembled, explained, and reassembled, ready to make shavings

Let my demystify the anatomy of these popular 'apron' planes.

The video shows all the main points:


Record No.60½



The 60½ is a low-angle block plane, where the bed angle is 12 degrees. It has an adjustable mouth, and blade advancement mechanism. It has the main features of all metal block planes:

• Palm sized (the No.60½ is 6½" (165.1mm) in length, 2-1/8" (53.97mm) wide)
• Bevel Up - that is, the iron is used with it's bevel upper most
• Fixed bed - the iron rests on a slope milled directly on body casting (standard bed angle of around 21 degrees, low-angle around 12 degrees)
• Lever cap shaped to fit the palm comfortably, and tightened with either a lever, knurled knob, or spin wheel.

And the additional features that can be found on some models:

• Advancement mechanism for the iron - usually engaging in a slot on the blade iron
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Adjustable mouth - locked by front knob, and moved with the lever below the knob
  
  
  

Some block planes also have:

• Mechanical means of lateral adjustment for the iron
• Skewed blade
• Fence

Main considerations for good performance:

• A flat sole
  Prepared, with an iron installed and set at working tension, by lapping on a surface plate, hand scraping, or sanding on top of a flat reference surface.
  If the plane has an adjustable mouth, then it is essential that the contact tracks are parallel to the sole. Otherwise adjusting the mouth will throw the sole out of flat.
• Well prepared blade
  Since the blade is installed bevel up, the bevel angle will directly affect the angle of attack during a cut, and therefore you can tailor the angle to suit the work in hand. In practice, you would have two or three blades ground at different angles, and install the appropriate one for each task.
• Squared sides
  Prepared in the same way as the sole, but using an engineer's try square and uneven pressure to correct inaccuracies.
• All sharp corners eased - to prevent injury to either work or user

In Use:
Although the block plane is a comfortable grip in one hand, best results are usually achieved by using both. In many instances, skewing the plane will yeild a smoother cut, as this lowers the effective angle of attack and reduces the width of cut. Wrapping the thumb and/or fingers under the plane can provide a 'fence' or stabaliser to lock in an angle when making chamfers. If chamfering the end grain of a component, skew the plane to avoid the mouth droping over the edge and the iron digging in deep.