Hand made Infill plane (woodwork)

[famas]

With all the brass bows cut in I could add the last brass detail to the handle which also acts as a counter weight to the brass back.


I cut a piece of brass and flatten one face so it fits tightly to the bottom of the handle.





As the brass backs are heavy this adds some much needed weight back to the grip end of the saw.





I temporarily fit the brass to the handle with super glue then cut the final taper and sand flush with the disc sander.





The brass is then permanently fixed in place with strong set epoxy, threaded inserts and bolts.





Lastly I could dry fit the backs into the handles to feel the weight together and the see how the saws looked.

 

[vanpeebles]

Such quality and skilled work. I need to show my Granda this thread, he was a joiner and lock smith from the days of wooden box planes etc. They even used to rough cut huge bits of wood before the proper cuts etc.

 

[famas]

Thanks Vanpeebles. I've used a fair few wooden moulding planes over the years when needing to mould a small piece, sometimes its quicker to do it by hand than set up the spindle moulder.
My old boss collected wooden planes and had thousands of them so we had lots to choose from

 

[famas]

With the handles partially done I turn my attention to the saw plate.


I picked up some 0.5mm thick spring steel, hardened and tempered to Rockwell 50-52c

I went with a thinner plate as I thought it would suit a gents saw batter and give a really fine cut.


The steel came blue so I used some Harpic to remove the bluing process.

I poured plenty on and let it sit for a few moments before rubbing off with fine wire wool.





After cleaning the plate with WD40 I gave it a very light sanding.





I don't have a proper saw vice so just made a quick one from wood, screwed to the bench and held shut with a variety of cramps.





I bought larger saw plate than needed to give myself plenty of chance to practise on before cutting the real thing.

I wanted to replicate my 22TPI rip cut paxs gent saw on one of my saws and then do a slightly lower 16 TPI cross cut pattern on the other.


I tried several approaches to cutting the teeth after on-line reading and watching tutorials.


While the 16 TPI plate was coming out acceptable after a bit of practise the 22 TPI plate was proving more difficult.



Using a double extra slim saw file I tried cutting the teeth free hand, using a printed paper template and even using wooden guide sticks. After several attempts each one getting progressively better and with more confidence in my filing technique in the end I was unable to attain the accuracy in the teeth spacing I was striving for.


I was finding that with such a high tooth count it was leaving zero room for correction if the teeth spacing was not perfect. A fraction of a mm off in either direction would leave a small out of place tooth. In the grand scheme of things a few miss shaped teeth on a plate wouldn't cause much of an issue but I couldn't let it go, I was aiming for better.


So after a few restless nights trying to come up with ways to improve the accuracy I had a light bulb moment and a very simple idea came into my head.

The next day I made this simple jig from scraps and was amazed by the results.

I don't want to go into to much detail about it at the moment as I'm currently working on a final version of the jig that I'll cover in this thread once it's finished. It probably isn't a unique idea (those are hard to come by) but after some searching I've not seen any thing like it for hand cutting teeth.


With much care and attention I used an old saw set to set the teeth.

too little set and the saw will bind in the cut while too much set will cause the saw to wander.

Being a gents saw I tried to go with as little set as possible. I wrapped masking tape around the plate to stop the saw set from marring it.





A colleague saw what I was up to and came back with this. Not seen a set like this before. He asked if I wanted to give it a try but I passed on the offer





With the teeth set I gave them one last very light sharpen before cutting the blade to size with an angle grinder and hand filing to final dimensions.





lastly I filed a little cupids bow in the handle end of the plate for decoration.

 

[Efour]

Very cool and very insane at the same time

 

[famas]

Cheers Efour

 

[famas]

Not much of an update today but with all the parts of the saw partly finished I could start to assemble them


The saw backs are glued into the handles with strong epoxy and securely bolted from underneath the handle with stainless steel bolts.

The brass rod was also glued in place and a cramp pinched the handle up tight.





Once the handles were dry I could fit the saw plate. I used the same epoxy to glue them in place.

The curved front end on the plate is because I didn't want to see the saw plate passing through the front of the saw. Hopefully this won't be detrimental to the blades rigidity as there is still a good amount of the plate inserted into the brass at that point.

After watching the bench talk series with Shane Skelton recently I'd really like to experiment with tensioning a blade in a future saw and have a few ideas in my mind of how I could incorporate it into this design of saw, but that won't be for a while
Like I keep saying he really is a master of his craft.





With the saws assembled there is going to be a lot of cleaning up to do once they are dry. In the meantime I can make a start on the saws sheaths.

 

[famas]

I should have elaborated more on fitting the plate.
While doing research prior to starting the saws I found that folded backs grip the plate in a way to tension it as it is inserted.
This was something I was unaware of.

Earlier in the thread I mentioned that the slitting saw I had made a slot that was "about" the right thickness for the saw plate.
As I was cutting the slot on a pillar drill a certain amount of deflection was introduced while cutting which made the slot a little bigger.

To overcome this I found a thin piece of veneer backing fibre which measured by luck exactly that of the saw plate.
I fitted the fibre into the slot and used a large engineering vice to pinch the slot tight at the toe and heel of the back leaving the middle a snug fit.
As the fibre can be crushed a little this made the fit on the blade very tight.
In doing this I hoped the slot would act like a folded back and add a little tension to the blade as it was inserted, the glue was there for "belt and braces" as my old boss would have said.
I don't know how much, if any tension was added to the blade as I fitted it but if any the glue would hold it in place. Obviously this means the blade can't be removed but it never really should have to be on a gents saw.
That was the idea any way.

 

[LuckyBenski]

I'm loving this. The feeling of using a saw to work a piece of wood, knowing you MADE the saw, is going to be immense!

Sort of like guitars - the first time you whack a string on something that is effectively an elaborate plank, and it makes a noise, that's great.

 

[famas]

Fingers crossed they actually work after all the effort

Cheers.

 

[famas]

Just a quick update this evening, been putting in some late nights so project work has taken a back seat.


I made a start on the sheaths for the saws.

I've been sitting on a nice bundle of birds eye maple and rippled sycamore veneer waiting for the right time to use them.


I make a start by machining some maple into 5mm thick strips. Thankfully work has a large drum sander so processing thin material is made easy are tear out free.





I then drill two shallow holes into the maple and epoxy in some 10mm neodymium magnets.

These will hopefully hold the saw nicely in place when inserted and stop the sheath from falling off.


I then roughly cut some 1mm thick veneer to act as a spacer to separate the maple strips, one at each end and one along the bottom.

Simply butt jointed and glued on with PVA and cramps

I'm not being overly fussy with this stage as all of this will be hidden once the two halves come together.





Lastly I glued the top maple strip onto the spacers and used cramps....lots of cramps to hold it together while the glue dried.





I put a little message inside the sheath, though the only way to find it would be to break it apart.


Once this is dry I can start preparing the veneers.

 

[famas]

Another small update.


Now the sheath cases are dry and cleaned up I started to work on the veneers.


I cut Thin strips for the edges of the sheath and larger pieces for the front and back.





I carefully spread pva glue onto the edge veneers and used a flat surface to cramp against to ensure the veneers laid flat.

Careful application avoids unnecessary glue squeeze out.





I repeated the same process for the ends of the sheath.

Once the glue had dried I planed any over hanging veneer flush with the sheaths surface and proceeded to glue the front and back veneers in place one at a time.


I use a piece of foam matting to ensure even pressure on the veneer and to compensate for any inconsistencies in flatness on the sheath body.





I repeated the process for the figured sycamore veneers but in my haste I had forgotten I needed to cut a relief in the back of the sheaths so the saw blade can be fully inserted.


Annoyed!


I cut and filed the relief notch then soaked some strips of veneer in boiling water before wrapping them round a similar sized piece of dowel.

Soaking and pre-shaping the veneer is critical as it would likely crack/split if applied dry.





Once the veneer was slightly dryer I glued it in place.

Not the end of the world but ideally I'd liked to have had all edges glued in place before the front and back veneers are applied, this hides any joins on the face of the piece being veneered.

I'm hoping I should be able to blend these small bits in when I come to sand up the sheaths.

 

[famas]

With the sheaths veneered the final touch was to add my initial mark.


I had a few vinyl stencils left over from the last plane build which luckily where a perfect fit on a small piece of brass round bar I also had left over.

I'm currently working on a new name stamp so hopefully I'll get that sorted for the next project.


I carefully squared off the brass round bar then degreased it with rubbing alcohol and fitted the stencil.





I secured cable ties to the brass with masking tape and used a piece of dowel to suspend the brass in a measuring cup.





I then filled the cup with ferric chloride to slightly above the stencil. The reason I suspended the brass with the stencil facing down is so that as the acid etches into the brass the waste material will fall away rather than clogging up the stencil, this should hopefully result in a better etch.








I left the brass to etch for around an hour after which I removed it from the acid then used baking powder to naturalize any remaining acid and rinsed away the surplus with cold water.

Thankfully the vinyl stencil remained intact and was unaffected by the acid, I'm really pleased with how the etch turned out.





I then left the brass to fully dry before giving it a coat of black paint, again leaving that to dry then sanding off the face to leave the etch blackened.





I needed to cut the mark from the bar and flatten it to a uniform thickness. I used a hacksaw and did my best to cut a straight line. I then drilled a tight fitting hole into a piece of MDF to the required depth and used the linisher to sand the mark down. I rotated the MDF every few seconds to ensure I was flattening the brass evenly. As soon as the MDF was touched I stopped and removed the mark.





One down, I then repeated the whole process for the other mark.


I then carefully marked out and drilled both sheaths with a tight fitting hole to the same depth as the mark.





And finally fixed the mark in place with a little epoxy and a G-cramp with a buffer to protect the mark from scratches.





I had this design in my head from the beginning of the project and I'm pleased with how the sheaths have come out. Originally I had planned to have my mark slightly smaller but the lack of a lathe now means I have to go with the materials I've got.

I've been looking into mini bench top lathes which would be perfect for my needs but even the dubious Chinese ones which require a lot of fettling are quite expensive, second hand branded lathes seem to be holding there value extremely well to, most of which go for well over my budget

 

[Akagi]

What is your budget and where are you based? Do you also have an example of the size of lathe you are looking for?

Dad is a mechanical engineer who restores classic motorbikes and does machining etc, and he has lots of like minded friends... Never know what they might have sitting around!

 

[famas]

Thanks for the thought Acme.

I think a small lathe around 7x14 would be ideal but to be honest it's just a pipe dream at the moment. I've nowhere to keep one at home, ideally I'd keep one at work but I'm not sure that's a possibility at the moment either.

The cheapest Chinese mini lathes around the 7x14 size go for about £450 but from what I've seen they require a lot of work to get running well and a bit more expense, though it could be a nice project for a beginner like me.

Branded lathes of similar size are around £700-2000+

Older model makers lathes from the likes of Myford and Emco unimat seem very popular and always go into bidding wars well in excess of £500.

A lathe for me would just be a toy to tinker around on, I can't justify the expense at the moment but maybe in the future, I've always wanted one of my own.

If you hear of a bargain let me know

 

[pp111]

*in awe of such skills*

 

[famas]

Thank you pp111.


Finally after a lot of sanding and waxing the saws are finished.

I took the handles up to 320 grit and the sheaths to 500 then finished them with a few coats of diluted linseed oil and buffed them to a nice sheen with neutral bison wax.

I'm really pleased with how they have turned out. They have stayed true to the vision I had in my mind with only a few minor changes along the way.

While initially they feel a little strange to hold (the solid brass backs add a considerable weight over a folded back and the angular handle while not uncomfortable takes a bit of getting used to, though I quickly learn to hold the saw in the same way every time I pick it up unlike a rounded handle gents saw which can take a few repositions to feel right) after a little use they start to feel more familiar to my hand.

I've not had the chance to use them a great deal as of yet but I'm looking forward to giving them a good work out to see how they shape up.

The 16tpi blade seems to be performing very well but I want to get hold of a decent needle file to dress up the 22tpi blade as I feel even my double extra slim saw file is a little to large, I'm curious to see the difference it could make.

Lots of pics incoming!

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I didn't manage to capture much video of the build unfortunately, I actually started this project this time last year but had to put it on hold for reasons I've mentioned earlier.
I'm very fortunate to be able to carry on doing something I really enjoy especially with the way things are at the moment.

I have put a video together of the footage I did get if any one is interested.

Cheers
Dan.

 

[touch]

Amazing work. In fact, it's too good I'd be scared to use them in case they get damaged.

How long will it be until you can make a project using only tools you've made yourself?

 

[famas]

Thanks Touch

I'm getting a small collection of tools now, still a few more to go though
Need to get into blacksmithing next!

 

[chroniclard]

I doff my virtual hat to your craftsmanship.

As above, be scared to use some of these tools in case I damaged them.