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CONTEMPORARY
restle ble
LATHE TURN ING : STEPBY STEPTO TURNING GOBLETS
BENCH PLANES : HOW TO USE THEM TO PLANE A TABLE TOP
M ICROW AVE CART: A VERSATILE S ER VIN G C AR T
2 50OTES FROM THE SHOP
O 23
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WOODSMITIi
A1l0UT THIS ISS(;I:. \Vhenever we get
visitors here at
Woo milh
one question
that always seems to com e UI) is, ..How do
you decide what projects to build for each
issue?
What we usually do is
try
to decide on a
technique before we ever get to the
projec $. For this issue, we thought it \\lIS
time todo an article on using beneh planes.
That naturally led
to
using a plane to
smooth a table top. Which in tum led to the
Trestle Table.
At least that's the story I'd like to tell.
What reaJly happened is that everybody
kept leasing me abeut the original design
of the Trestle Table shown inthe finsl issue
of n ' oo
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3
VOODSMITH
.EPAIRING ROUND TENONS
I'm in th, ' furniture 'llAir business,
and
han' come ,roo. a little ide. I'd
like
to
pa.. . . . . .
on to )'I.ur
n o a cl\ ' ~
On clllll~ that have been repaired
1'1'
p.'3tt1
tenon.
Hold the .havinj in I'lll' witb mashing
t1lI)( UI111Ih t l o tl u c
o cures,
then rasp the
tenon clown to It COIT tfit,
The .hrll'inl( works, well because it hat;a
naturol curl thut \\I'nl~',ar tlnd th. round
tCllOn~ .
Til il '- \ \ ( , rkl i
ra r l H. ller (o r me
lhru\
l1 1'in g (0 \IM -8 v (,n c er fo r . . .h immlnp: .
Rot. rl G r t n > l
K urlillr. Jlltl
(,i,
AtIOI
F\AH(;f
THI AIRASIVE MITER
III \\',wJJI III, No, : l, the article on cut
t inj .l ' nut t . 'ni nlt . 'nt i t lnt . ' (1 thallht '
, , cod
tencb
to (T\~'P It'. '
1 1 1 1 {
cut
\~1u,t I d~ to o\'ert'_ thi. ; to glue a
I ~
PI of111nlques
(Ihat
ate
accepted
10 .publicabOnlPie... g IVe a completee)(plana
DOli KitH bOnof you. Idea II a ,kelch I. needed. sand ,t
POd/and. Or gOl aloog ; well d.awnowono.
Carl R, Ma.cia
C
''l't> ,~bllrg, P( )lllSyittaJI io
DUPLICATE CUnlNGS
l \ e alway. had troubl~ cutting duplk te
part, nn th~ band
.ow
until I came ae 'O,;,;
thi, 8llY Iutlon, I .an
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_~~ M.~..~~
WOODSMITH
.,
~
When we decided to do an article on turn
ing ~(Jl,h:l. turned ;,
few
examples and
asked ()nnwhich nne he
Ilk 'l .
Prt'(jkt.1bl~.
he liked them all.
This created
somewhat
of
3
problem, I
fiI lJ re
rd
\\'(:d have to r-xpand th~ i..e to
about 2(NIpages to ,;qUL in everything I
\ \ an tex lto s ho w .
ut ur
s om e rc a .
~OI\.
D on
rejected that idea. So insread, I decided to
.ho\\ howto turn IWo
goblet.' tMt
are nut
nnly c1iffeJ-ent
n
3I'l)('nr:lIlCe,
butthm .1,,0
require different turning techniques,
The two goblets shown in the photo ar c
different in several ways, The w I of the
It0blet on thp light has very straight sides
that taper in from the rim all the way down
to the
stem Then
the bowl is 1)3J 8ted
from
lh .
,tem
wilh a
.grog,' '.
The bowl ofthe
soeond
goblet tapers tlut
Iju, both J(ob
lets arc
similar in the sense
that
they're
turned froma fairly Iat) ~block of wood.
LAMINATING THEBLANK
The
first step isto
get
a blockofwood
larg..
enough to turn tho goblet. I used bloeks ..
square, 9 longto turn both gable
to:
cherry
for the goblet on
lh .
light. and
D e n's I lC I
s on al s to ck u f'k oa ( wh ic h about cost m e m y
job)
for the goblet on the I~ft.
To get this size block. I laminated five
pi _ofI (''' )umberface to face. Thi.
brings up
the
subject ofglue.
f the goblet
is
going to be
used
as a
functional piece, a
true water-proof glue (penol-reserciuol or
epoxy are the two most common kinds)
must be used,
Idecided to use a tw o-pan epoxy called
Che Tech 1 -118,
because it has some ma
jor advantages over penol-resorcinol
glues, First,
it
\ \ i
cure at
temperatures
down to 40', a big-advantage if
yow .hop
is
in the basement or the garage. Second. it
doesn't require
high
damping
pressure
as
most penal-resorcinol glues do. And third.
i t
le av es a c le ar glue line. (The Itlue line
from pencl-resoreincl glue. is usually
dark.
::iO t RC t:S . Chcm Tech 1 -88 is available
f ro m C h em Tech. 4669 Lander Road. Cha
grin fails, OH 440'l2. All orders for T-8S
are shipped C.O.D.. via nitta rcel
S ' I '; . T - llBcosts s.q.6.~per pint.
Tl'RSI~r. SQI'ARS.There is one other
option. Asolid turning square can be used,
if you can get one big enough. Large turn-
Turning oblet
OR TURNING TO DRINK
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tMK UOHt CUTS AtOM
( TK EUN na ou r
-caru
1 HOLE
2
U S it lg t Il t
sq tare I htt
~C1 Upcr ,
Ij la e
rows
oj'light cuts
lhu.1 a re '/,. de I ' ,
S ta rt < oc ll
w
alllw h o/ . a ud p 1 ()(;U d
10
,ilh;> 1 1 . < I [ tJlI~
ini.
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WOODSMITH
SANDI,..G 1HE INSIDE
AfW, the final passes with the ro u n d -n o s e
scraper, both bowls wil l
b e
ready for final
sanding. I use a progr ...ssive series of foUl'
grits of sandpaper, 120, 15 0, I SO , 2 2 0 . (If
the
s urf a c e
is in reaUy poor condition, you
could start with a 81).1(Iitpsper.)
Whenever sandpaper is used on the
lathe, there's enough heat generated to
bum
~ OUT
ingers in no time
flal.
1 use a
pad of steel wool behind the sandpaper [
protect my
fingers
from the heal. 'rho steel
\\ 001
a ls o e ve ns out the pressure
.0
you
d on t s an d grooves in the surface.
After the inside issanded. the next step
k to shape the outside of the howl.
THE OUTSIDE Of THE BOWL
Refore doing any work 011 the outside of
th~ goblet. 1 mark the finished (inside)
depth of the bowl 01 1 the outside of the
blank. (\Vhene er
I
hink I'm good enough
to skip this step, I always manage to cut
the outside of the bowl too short. and wind
up with the top two-third. of it in my lap.)
Once the depth of the bowl
is
marked. I
use a p arting tool to cut a .t -deep. b Y J . O O \ ~
on the waste ,;ide (stem side) of the mark,
se e Fig.
6 .
Then
I
wadually \\;den this
groove by roulldin)'( over the shoulder on
the stem side to provide a little extra room
as the bowl
is
formed.
SnAPING TRF.Ot:TSIIIE. To shape the OUt
side ofthe bowl,
J
use a
t>
gouge, se e rig.
7.
A ;.
ahout 1 1 \ .
larger
than
tta tlni,.hed
: i7A~
T o f in l5 h
the base ,
m ..,t o f
the
profi le
can
be [unI1( (1 with a l -kew. ( 1 hb . eut i
n u l h il tj ; m n r .
than
a o ne- sided b ea d. see
f'ig. II.) Then. I 0\ uch 10the~ j. OUjl'eo
g 'L lhl'
baM
0111(1
tern
lo
n O together.
Fin ally, I
.alltl
the
nli ....
lo wer hn lf o f
Ih J(ubl,t wilh Ihe
s ame
grIt. that
w e
USNt I>r. 1I0 ,r. for this final sand
ing. I 1 1 1 m
If
tho' IlIlh, . and .and in the
(.otNIOf
SQUAll NOSESCUf [.
U S EO 1 0 S MO OT M S lO ES
for Ihe
rwnc l . . .
idcd bowl. sed the
,,
~..Ul ~10-hape Ihe bottom uf th e bo nd
the tOil 01 the ..tem une OIW eontinuou,...
\. 0\ .... set 1- '15:.
1 .
T1K 'n
10
finISh
lhe -tem,
1 . . a .
)(o)U.re (on bothgobU.bllo reduce the ....-
m aln ln l ' th ickn ess o f the stern
10 ju,1
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WOODSMITH
shelf in plaee.)
Once e'erything is laid OUl, go ahead
and cut the mortises, 1 used a drill press
and a to brad-point spur bit drill OUt
most of the waste for the mortises. Then
cleaned up the cheeks of each mortise with
chisel. (See
lI ood mitli
No,
S
for more
information on cutting a mortise and tenon
joinL)
IIOLS FOR ADJt:STABLE SIIELF.
The
; ; ; t i d . : I : shelf will be attached to th~ cart
with adjustable shelf support brackets
that are mounted in holes. ( went ahead
and drilled
se ri
of four
holes 2
apart)
on each leg.
HOLES FOR CASTERS. Finally. I drilled
hole in the bottom of each leg for
2
Shep
hard casters (No. 93Oll) . ( bought these
casters at a local hardware store. The same
type (or something
very
similar) should be
available at any
g o o
hardware store or
lumber yard.
T HE S ID E S TR ET CH ER S
Alter the legs
are completed,
the
next
step
is to cut the two side stretchers (B) that fit
in the middle mortises. These stretchers
help hold the cart. together, but their main
purpose
is to
preven t stuff
from sliding
of f
the bouom shelf,
First, 1 cut the two stretchers B) to
final size - 2 ide by 18Y?long. (This
length measurement includes the 1.long
tenons on each end.) Then the tenons are
cut to fit the mor tise s
in
the legs, The
finishe d shoulder to shoulder length of
these stretchers should be 16Y., see
F
Ig _.
?licTO\\ a\ c ovens are a ho t item: Every
bod wants one but. n obo dy kn ow s \\ here
to put it. And if your kitchen i. anything
llke
mine, counter
space is
more ,alliable
than ocean front property.
W~ decided the best selutlon to this
)lrvbl~ln was t(l build a .'UIIa ,und micro
wave cart that could fit into almost an y
kitchen. and at the same time. be u.
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9
two Ik'lf ~ul'I,..rt frame- However.
the
top frame - < I 0,11 mo...thing. The shen
'1n'ICh on
Ih '
top frame are notched
for
the
leaf I'I',n sy.t.m. l:iimply cut a
o .. rlftp. 1
t
wid. notch at the center of
the $hort ,tn'teher. Note: the depth ofthi,
notch c o v . . . .heruhl1l13teh th~ thickness of
the w , ,,1 u ,dfor the leaf uPPOl'tarm C E ).
t'Utl>'Tt:t(llUK>:.nt'Fore final ... sembly of
the cart, I di,1 two more thinl(S. First. I
counterbored pilot hole. In the shelf
franw. for th, I'Cre , that willhold the top
and bottom .hel\,e. in place. see detail in
L .,
r,g. _.
For the oounllrhore. I I'd a
y
bit.
drilling to a depth of
no,
(Since the
CI'I'''') :-Ie the pilot hole.- are drilled.
The, hol,'j mU 1
be
drilled oversized to
allow for ~'pan'lI>n and eentraenon of the
top. (A. the top moves \\ itb seasonal
changes in humidity the screws can
bend in the overslzed holes. I used a Y
bit to drill these pilot holes. )
ROttSI)I\;(. , \ f.H The Ia.st step to com..
picte the b'fllicrArt ioto roulld o\'er
all
four
edl(('s well lU I the tOl) and bottom for the fold-down
1 . -
s, ..,
Fig, : .
Sinrt' thIS arr n,;remenl aCluall~'tte ltes
a frame, I cui and .'sembled the
,tr tch.,,,, .. t\\0 >\( parate frames.
an d
then
3\\ ,h llh m 10 th
Iep.
Tilt:
l.UG
~TRETfU&RS The long
-tretch~1 IC C l nn the front an d back of the
l Drt
are the C~lt:~lrl~he) _ re cut to
,idth and length. and then tenons are rut
to
mall~
\\;th th(
mortises
onthe legs.
see
Fig. 2.
ThP
shoulder to shoulder measure
ment of lh.. , stretchers should
be
2 . 1 .
MORTIt.S. ()nc~ thp tenoo. ha\'e been
cut, Lh~n~'( ~tep iNto cut the mortises fo.
OWl MOCK
J
SIOfSf.PCH(
11
liD
c
c
- ~
r
o
c
16 ,
. .
A
I(
I .
--i
1 1 j
c
GUt( 1
. ?
I~
th
e
shun
.In
leh. , I ,houltl
mention
here
that
tht- moru ses \\ e 'r e bo ing in Fig . 2
are Ml
n-ally p'PE'r.
Alwin monil-e andl.nonjomlshould be
u'l'(l h~1'\'C ~11',~,J mi'h : - : 0 . 12). BUIIO
.implify
constructlon,
I
used a
single
mortise, and then added a corner glue
block. Thi. Itill. black add, two gluing
su rf,LC~ 'tlnd cr,'al., a fairly slrong joint
(even though it'. not technically correct).
sHORT STllt:nIH:KS. Next comes the
.hl)rt.tr 'lrh~r. el)) for the frames. These
.ttehe ..... hould be
CUI 10
fit 0hey're
compatible \\ Ith the ,ide stretchers CB).
In order ter ,h''''rmm,' the final length of
the ,oon >l1'I:t ~
~(
-
1
AUOInSlS
O
. w.
. . . .
A
r
C UI LEG S
y S U
A G U ,
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WOODSM ITH
,
. S LOT
lEAf SUPPORt
~Otmst
ONtH lf
KNUCKL E allOW S U (F AC E
, .3 aun HI.NGE
RGUR.E-o
6'.
It. J
G
12 lEAl
lS .
tOP S Jo 4 tl F+
IJl j
r:~N) H~
V_.OUN OVERlOGES
,. - --;
lG
NOTCH DETA il
I~t DfUS
1
ners of the legs: all four edges of the side
stretchers: and the bottom outside edges
the edge t ha t, w il l s how on the outside of
the cart) of all eight pieces for the shelf
SUPI) )rtframes. I di d all of this with a y,
corner round bit 01 1 a router table.
ASSEMUI.Y.
Before assembling the cart.
I fini hetl sanded all pieces.
It S
a lot
easier to do It now than afLer assembly.)
Then to assemble the
cart,
I glued-up the
shelf support frames (making sure they
were na t and square Ill they were clamped
together). Then I glued these assembled
frames and the side stretchers into the
legs. This completes the basic cart .
THEWORKING SURfACES
Now that the cart iscomplete, all you need
are the three work surfaces- the top and
leaves, and the two shelves. made all
thr ee of these SUlfates by gluing up strips
of
4/ 4
stock ( Y.
thick
to give them
a
butcher block appearance.
Note: 1 did not us e dowels or splines
when gluing-up
these th ree
planks.
Just
a straight edge-to-edge gluing and clamp
ing prevides enough strength.
THESrn)LI'F,s.
The bottom
shelf F)
and
the adjustable shelf
are the easiest
just out 24 su-ips 10/,, wide,
6
long.
(This length allows a little
Waste
at the
ends of these planks. They're trimmed to
final length later.)
Glue 12of these strips tngether to form
the bottom shelf, and th e
remaining
12
strips
to form the adjustable shelf. Then
set them aside to dry overnight.
THE TOP ,,- 0 l.EAI'ES. To iorm the top
and the two leaves H . cut 12more strips
1%'wide,
but this time
5O~'
long. Then
edge glue these 12 strips to form one long
plank. Once again this rough length is
more than is needed.
In effect. you're gluing up all three
piece. (top and two leaves) at the same
time so there will be 3 continuous grain
pattern across the enure surface when the
leaves are up.
After the glue bas dried (overnight) on
all three planks, plane them Oat on both
sides (see page 20 for more information on
planing large surfaces).
TRill TOSIZE. Next. the bottom shelf and
the adjustable shelf can
be
trimmed to final
width
19V, ).
To cut them to final length
(25y,;). I used the panel cutting jig shown
in
l V o o d smi t i l No. 22.
The plank for the toll and two leave. is
also trimmed to 1 9 y ; wide, but then it's
cut into three pieces. First cut.
5V
section out of the middle of the plank, see
Fig. 4.
Next. cut the two 12 -long leaves from
the two 'waste pieces that remain. These
leaves are trimmed down to a width of
16Yo (which is
I I
less than the distance
between the legs of the cart). When doing
this, I trimmed an equal amount oCfboth
G
lEAF
JOP 'HE lf '
JI
f lO M . ((JItT ER S HE LF
19
101
L ~_~ Irr----~--~
AG URE ,
FtGU lE S
-
r
r-------,=~
FIGURE .-
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11
Bero , final
tV,'ll ~ ...
the rart,
an d
1 Fh~I
s ,
M('r
lhl'
hing . to th
attached thi
To
1 / : 1 (
it pr
(with the
the leaye, an
T h en d rill
eoumerbored
guido . Filla
lh,' r r a m ~ \ \
l\cxt.
attach
tom
fromt
u
An.lfinall
110
be Ii
00. ..
of the top, bou.om, and ad -
jusu.ble ,lK>hes are notched
.0
hat they
wrap around the
legs, Each
of these
notche,
are marked
out W '
larger
than
needed
to
allow for seasonal expansion,
Then
I
rut them out by
hand
(with
a
back
saw) ,
Till: IIISG~, After all three pieces are
CUIto size, the leaves
are
attached to the
middle ...>fini:;h is applied.
Nexl, the.>outer two corners of the
I
eaves are tot to
1 ,
radius, see
detail
in
Fig, I A nd finally, the edges of the top.
the leaves, the bottom .helr. and the ad
justable .h~lf. ,
all
rounded over with the
v
COI'n
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\VOODSMITH
2
NOCAPS
As mentioned above, the end caps (or
bread-board
ends) are
a
traditional fealul'e
on trestle tables. but they're a real hassle
to mount. The problem
ha s
to do with the
direction of grain
The grain of the end cap runs at a right
angle to the
grain
of the table top. Thus.
the table top
will
move (in width) much
more than the end caps (in length).
\\'hat this boils
down
to is that the end
caps can not be glued in place. They must
be mounted to allow for the movement of
th. lOp. There are several methods for
mounting end caps to allow for this move
ment - some rood . some not so good.
But the one we're showing here is one of
the best ways weve come lip with to pro
vide the strength needed at the
end or
the
table. The mounting procedure
used
is a
combination ofsleued serews and a tongue
and gTOO\'ejoint. This is a rather typical
approach. But
T e e l
earneup with the idea of
adding the end strips C) to add strength.
The real purpose of these strips is to
serve as extensions of the end caps under
the table. refer to Fig. 7. Since the grain of
These end strips are also
ripped
2
wide. bUI
the
length
should
be about
le than the distance between the side
thicknesser
strips, Pig.
3.
This allows.
space
between the side strips
to
allow for
movement of the table top. After the end
s trip s a re c ut
to size and screwed in place,
planed them flush with the ends of the
t ,ble lop.
ragged 8l1'angement ofend. tMt had W be
trimmed square. To
d o th is ,
fir
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SCREWHo tES
. J . . IN NO J1iICMNtSSEI
- :- - ~ -.CJ t ~
sacme
t C
t il Tot A
.. . 1 ' .
H. WOOOSc. aEW ' '-
fiGURE
~ : : ~ = = ~ . ~ = = = = = = = = = = = = : : ~ ~ ~ R O ~ U I ~ ' ~ O ~ . : O O :_V ' ~ ~ ~ ' ~ W : ' : ~ ~ ' ~ .
~ o : , : . ~
fiGURE S
Rm V END CP
AND
sior
Or
HO LE S
GlUE IO E.
T11IC.KNt S ta
rOlOP
sior SGREW
EN D fH IC KN ESSEIt to rop
NOTGlUl
I tO~GUE TH1Ck ..._.
C
END CA P
- i- lW O ECM OF LAMINATED
A
2 R ADiUS O N CO tNERS
1 tO NG tJ
\ I
THtC lC
c
1 3
~s_
6
S.
R G U A E 1
~ S -
t :
\VOOOSMITH
these strips run parallel to the
b.....
n uflhe
caps, the end eap can be glued to the end
strip to add a considerable amount of
strength. Normally. no glue at all used
on
end eaps .
T if F . T O N G I;.:. T he first step in mounting
the end caps is to cut a tongue onboth ends
of the table top. This tongue is actually the
result of cutting two rabbets - one on the
top an d one on the bottom side of the table
V
top.
se e rg .
1 .
ized these rabbets in order to leave a
longue that s at least \1 : thick, (\Vhkh
means that the depth of the rabbets
will
vary depending on the thickness of the
table top after il , been planed.)
END
CAl S.
Onee
the tongue.
art
formed.
work can begin on the end caps (D). Both
end caps are glued up of two ~4oards.
Then tbey re ripPl
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WOODSMITH
THE TRESTLES
This table gets its name from the trestles
that support. the table top. Each trestle
consists
of
an arm
(E), two uprights
(G).
and a base (Fl. (Figure 16shows what this
final
assembly looks like.) To build these
trestles. I started work on the arms and
bases.
ARMS Nt) BAS.: .
The arms and
bases
are identical - a total of four pie
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I
0
I
0
Q
2 IOUOS
V ~
$'., .
60
I
H
~
. . SOAROS . *f l . _ S''i 60
I
f
I
Q
~
1 OAJtDS -\;, ','1 60
I
2
M
1 SOARO. '1(,. lC S',' ) 60
I
B
m
I IOARO ~. lC So,. 3.
I E
:
15
CUnlNG DIAGRAM
=n '>tD' 'HICt
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WOODS~UTli
an-purpose hand planes.
However, the I~\\' pitch of the blade
(about 2(0) makes them ideal r their in
tended purpose (planing end grain), but
u se le ss a s an al l- around plane.
S.:I.P. (..-rI()X.o r these four basic styles
(lengths) ofbench planes, which one is the
best? The ideal situation (if you really want
t O
get s e r i o u s about this b u s i n e s s of h a n d -
planing) would be to have
selection o(
three sizes: smooth, jack, and either a fore
or jointer plane.
If you're not quite serious, the best
choice
(01' an all-around plane
is
the jack
(jack of all trades). The jack plane in OUI
shop gets the most use by far. In fact, it's
used for everything from smoothing down
relatively small p a n e l s to planing the sur
(ace of a large table.
PARTS OF A BENCH PLANE
Nomatter what style (length) the plane is,
the key to the whole thing is that it must be
properly sharpened and adjusted before it
6
THE CAP IRON
Once the lever cap isremoved. the cap iron
and the plane iron can be lifted out. The'.
two irons are held together wuh a cap
iron screw
which
rides in a long key-hole
slot
in
the plane iron. (Thi. assembly
is
sometimes r e fe r red to as double
iron. )
THaOAl (MOUTH)
The entire family of planes con
sist of hundreds of individual
l1.ylc,~.But all or these planes
can be
grouped
into two basic
categories: bench planes and
specialty planes.
Specilliity planes are made
for specific p U I J X . . . .s (culling
rabbets, or grooves, or molded
edges). Although some
of these
plane. are still manufactured
today, they are, for the most
port, collectors' items.
Bench planes ar e the ones
used to smooth the'sul'l'ace nr edge of 3
board. (Nowadays that means most of the
work done
by
hand planes.) Bench planes
are divided lnto foul'basic styles (lengths).
The only real difference among these four
styles is the length of the plane body (Ihe
wi.).
and to some extent the width of the
plane iron (cutter). The four sryles are:
smooth (lW,' long). jack (11), fore (18 ),
and jointel' (2'2 ).
Note: Although there are many varia
uons on the length (and the width) ofeacb
heneh plane, the lengths given above are
the current standards for the two largest
full-line manufacturers of steel-bodied
bench planes: Stanle~' (U.S.) and Record
Ridgeway (Ellglandl.
Block planes arc SOrtof a lib-category
of bench planes made specifically for plan
ingendgrain. The~.re alsothemost widely
misused of all planes, Becanse blockplanes
arc small and relatively inexpensive,
they re sold in almost every hardware
store and generally th~ught t~ be
g o o n
The first part of the plane that
can be removed is the lever
cap. This isjust a lalX piece of
nickel-plated east iron with a
cam-action lever at the top.
The sole purpose of this lever
cap is to hold
the
next two
pieces (the cap iron and plane
iron) fU'IIdy in place.
Since that's iL$sole function,
the lever cap doesn't seem lik~
a big deal. But this little gizmo
is the one thing that trans
formed the entire plane
making industry.
In
18511 when
Leonard
Bailey patented the lir.;t cam
action lever cal' to hold the
plane iron in place, it replaced the old
method of using a wooden wedge, and
forged the way for modern steel-bodied
planes used today.
Enough history. From a functional
standpoint. very little v goes wrollg
with tbe lever c a p anything, it only
needs 1.0 be oiled for smooth act ion.
The lever cap is held in place with the
lever cap screw (actually it's a machine
bolt).
There's no need to
remove this
screw; its main function is as a fulcrum for
the lever/cam. If the movement of the
lever/cam is too loose or too tight, JUSt
loosen Or tighten this screw (about a quar
ter turn usually doe. it).
will do much (If anything. In
fact, a brand new plane is little
more
than
an intricate assern
bly of expensive steel, In most
ease ' it needs some work b e -
fort' it becomes a tool.
The fil l;t step is to dLllmantle
the plane to get the pieces
working the way they're sup
posed
to, \\'hen you start tear
ing
it
apart, what you end up
with are the five basic pieces
shown in ~lgure
These five parts are: the
lever cap, the cap iron, the
plane iron, the frog,
and the
body of the plane.
TH E LEV ER CAP
flOG ADJUsnNG
SC R O W
HANDLE
OEPTH AD JUSTING
.NOl
F tO G S C R EW
-PlANE .RON
NOTCH FOI ~. 'tOKE
OE' tIi AOJustMEI'IT
CAM LE YEI
I(EYoHotE SlOT
FO R
e I RO N S CREW
No motorized tool can even
come close to the quality of
work a hand plane will do.
)llghty slnmg word you say.
(or a 1.001hat . been around (ur
the
po,t
2,000 years. Rut
it
true. And I think it kind of
re(reshin~ to know there s at
least one 1001 in the shop that
doesn't have to be plugged in
to d o Itsjob.
Y
~t
hand planes seem win
tim idate m an}' \\ 'OOC 'J\ \ o rkers.
This (ea r is usually based on
the feeling that hand planes
re
quire a tremendous amount o r
skill to use. Actually, il just
takes a lot ofelbow grease. The
real skill involved with a hand
plane is adjusting it so it oe
what you want it
to
do.
TY PES OF PLANES
A N O T H E R L O O K A T A C A N T A N K E R O U S O L D F R IE N D
Bench
l nes
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17
OODSMITH
mos t of this problem is at the other end
M
heyoke (where it enters the square holein
the cap iron). You call go throullh
a
lot of
effort
to make this work more effici.ntly,
but Idon't mess with it. Partly because I'm
used to the hassle, and partly because the
procedure use to adjW
the name implies, thi~ screw is used to
arlju't the JIOsiUonof the frog,
TII~;TllROAT.In Iront ufthe platform for
the frog is an opening in the sole of the
plane called the throat (or mouth) where
the plane iron pok... through. Onsome new
planes lhe front edge of this upening isout
of square, or slightly rounded.
Since the plane unn is often set vel)'
dose to lhe front edge Ill the throat, you
can run into a lot of problems lryin) ,
to
gN
the iron aligne-d
i
the throat i. not per
feclly straight. It .hould be filed down
until it's both .traight and square to the
sides Qfthe plane.
TII~
SOL1-: ,
Nowwere
down
to the bo t
tom line: the I~ of the plane.
0 1 1
.tcel
planes the
sole
can
be
either
smooth
or
corrugated. A corruj ~tcd ,;ole means that
n s er ie s (If J , , OOV t l S hS \e lw en g ro u n d in to
the length of the sole. Pre:;umably, these
grooV . l'educe the amount of friction and
ction betwecn the plane and the wood,
thus providing a smoother (calliel') planing
actiolt.
No mutLer what kind of sole lhe plane
bas the erilicallhing is lhal it ; absolutely
nat. A. it tun ,out, many 1)lane~tenri to be
aliule on the wavy sirie, Thi. issometimes
the I..,sultof poor machining at the factory,
and sometimes a natural movement of
the ,teel f the >,teel hal; not been given
C -nough l ime to cure befol'eo the :\ole
j ;
m ac hi ne d f latt th e g re en steel
call \ arp
Iflb. $Oleis not
nat,
getting it that way
can be a r l ha.ed in Shop
Notes, see page 22.
key to the plane iron can be summed lip in
one word: sharpness. lf it's not harp, the
plane won't work. The next two pages arc
devoted to the methods we usc to sharpen
3plane iron s o we won't get into it here).
THe fROG
Now we're down to the f1'Og,The main
purpose of the frog is to act as a mounting
platform (with
a
pitch of
. 1 5 C O l
the plane
iron and cap iron assembly The frog is
attached 10 a raised platform on the plane
body ...
rith
two machine bolts (called frog
screws), These screws fit through two
slotted holes at th e b ase of the
frog.
The one problem you findwith the frog is
that it nee-ds to be c leaned Usually the
loping face(that the plane iron rests on i.
coated with some sort of finish (either
paint Orlacquer) to prol(>('tit from rusting.
)lore likely than not there are runs (drip
marks) in lhis protective coating. Thi.
creates an une ve n surface fOl'the plane
iron (which means the coating is doing
more
harm than good).
scrap
n T
ef this
co atin g and the n use some steel wool to
polish it
to
a
smooth
surface.
Then to get a really good surface,
clamp the frog ina vise, and use a fine India
stone to hone (flatten) the surface se the
plane iron rests on a Oat (unobstructed)
surface.
Attached to the Cragare two more thin~
that trunsformed the modern steel
bodied plane into an extremely useful tool:
the depth adjusting knob, and the lateral
adjusting lever,
DEPTH,U 1 J I.'ST)t:'of the
Y straddle a 1(I'00veon the shank of the
adjusting nut. The other end of the yoke
fitS in a square hole in the cap iron. As
the brass knob is rotated in and out, the
yoke moves the cap iron (and thus the
plane iron) up and down, to adjust the
depth of cut.
Although this mechanical arrangement
docsthejob it'. supposed to, there is often
an exce.'Sive amount of slack in it, Thus,
the knob has to be rotated an inordinate
amount before the yoke actuaUy starts
mo,;ng the cap iron.
Some of this slack is the re.wl of too
much distance between t legs of the Y
and lhe sides of the
grooVe
in the brass
knob. To take up the slack here, remove
the bra.
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19
OODS~UTH
1'ed.'smefhod: Bolh heel alld t p are
flat
0 Japanese
100/
8to C. Moue
i ron forward. pa reseto check pol li tio ll . t ire),
pulllKuk. Rep.al 0 fini hing . to> .
Amy
PllSSVRf TO
TI
~CH1Sll
JAJ-ANfSE
WAIf. SlONE
Don' ,eUlod: T
.tart
on an / dw .
8 to e 10hOll eedge (i s li gl lt a rc ) u t il
ea a burrQ t ht /a c e s ide . 7 1I~/ repeal
t hi s proces8 011a 8 ft Arka .as sloll .
3
W he Ted ho .a Ih . (lilting edge
(1,/1), both tip a nd h R ore/loLo fhe
Rio,,'. / roiSt
I he h ee l ,.f slilllttly
(right)
10
fo rm a m i(ro b . 1
al
iii.
tip.
O OM S M ET HO D
the honing process again, but this time just
nough to remove the burr .
This is where T~'Il'smethod pay. off. He
knows
or
sure
that on these successive
passes he', at the same angle 8 On the
original passes. (This method completely
eliminates the po;;~ibility of creating a
series ofmicro-bevels as \\ ..- ilh my method).
Then tbis procedure is repeated until no
trace of the
burr
remains.
The results are shown in Photo a This
photo also demonstrates very important
aspect of honing a plane iron You can
just barely see :t
\\\~illt
between the
polished surface at the tip and the ,'Ough
texture left by the grinding wbeel, This
line is wavy for the .inl(>le reason that
during the grinding .t.itstcne and thun polisbes the ;111
facewith a finishing stone. The results are
impre~i\'e. Aficl the plane iron is polished
on a f ini :- :. hing water stone. the surface is
SOsmooth it has an almost mirror finish,
(After seeing this finish. I'm about to
change
1 1 1 ; \ ways, and switch
over
to
the
J apane se s tones .)
GRl lOC G A.~I OSTS ( ;.
Once agai n, we
agree on the procedure for grinding a
bollow-ground bevel at. :l;). angle to (orm
the cutting edge. From there on. Ted
different technique.
He holds the iron with both hands, ap
p1)ring
pressure
to
the very
lip
of
the i ro n
with a. many fingers 3 possible. Then he
reeks the hollow-ground bevel back and
forth until both the tip and the heel are
resting firmly on the stone. (Once again.
Ted uses Japanese WBU>rtones. starting
with the lOOO-gritstone.)
Now, instead o( lilting the heel of the
hollow-greund bevel (a. [ do). h. keep.
both heel and tip on the stone and pushes
the plane iron forward refer to Fig. fi.
Al the end of the forward stroke. he
pause. briefly to make sure both the heel
and tip are Onthe stone, and then pulls the
i ron bac k toward him. T his action is con
tinued until he feels an even burr
011
the
f e side of the plane iron.
R~IOVL Gue DeRR. 1'0 remove thi.
burr, Ted takes a much more serious ap
proach than I do. First, he flips the iron
over to the face side and hones with the
same motion shown in Figure I.Although
most ofthe b\lTl'is removed ,,-jth this hon
Ing,some ofit remains, and i.actually bent
back onto lhe beveled side of the iron.
On again, be finds the honing angle by
rocking the bevel until both lhe heel and
tip are firmly on the lon('. Then he starts
I) )~ S
~tt:TIIOl).
The method I use
is
vero'
imilar 10 Ihe one I use to hone a chisel.
Ba.it'lllly, I start lh~ honing procC:'oon a
fine I dia .tont>. First, ( place the hollow
round edge on th
e
stone and rock it back
an d forth unti l both the heel and point ar e
resting Oat on
the stone, see }'ig.
3.
Then
lill.
it .lightly (probably about
2
or 3'), and move the plane iron in
a
slight
a re. a s sho wn
in Fig.
4 .
r
continue honing
(it u;ulI.llyonly tak.,..Sto 10strokes) until I
feel an even
burr
on the
face
side.
Once the burr is formed, that's as far as
you have to go . (Anything more isjust an
exercise in removing metsl.) Next, Dipthe
iron over so the face side of thp iron is nat
on the stone. Theil r pull it toward me to
snap off most (if not all) of th~ burr,
Since the line India leaves a somewhat
rough edge. I take it one step further and
polish a micro-hovel on the honed edge
using a soft Arkansas stone. The pro ess
here is exactly lhe same as before- move
the plane iron in a shallow r u e until you feel
a slight burr on the face side (u uaIly about
or Gstrokes). Then plat\' it Oat en the
~tonp and pull it toward 0\1 to remove the
burr.
REltO\~
rue B1RK Af-rer this initial
poli$hing- process on the : ;01\ Arkansas
stem . ii I can still feci a burr on either the
face 01 beveled side of the plane iron I
..imply repeat the polishing precess one or
two rimes. Then ( remove any traces of the
bun' b~' stropping the cutting edge on a
leather pad coated with jeweler's
rouge
(The result of all this isshewn in Photo 2.)
Now here's whore
Tefl
and
I
ge t into
a
friendly disagreement. Ted argues that
there's no way for me to know if I'm hold
ingthe plane iron at exactly the same angle
on these successive passes on the India
stone, then the sol\ Arkansas stone. and
finally on the 5lropping pad. Thus, I could
be creating a series of micro-bevels. all at
sliJl'htly different angles.
I agree .. in theocy. Hut I also think
that the micro-bevel i. so sm.ll Lhat it
really doesn't make much difference. Be
sides, the only way to know for sure if the
iron is sharp is to te~t it out.
But [u'St. Ted's method.
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0
DEP TH AD JU STMENT
The easiest way to ruin a good piece of
wood is to set the plane iron tOOdeep for
the first cut, I've r e a d
in
s o m e book. that
you set the depth of cul by sighting down
the sole and a,
(Which
in m c as e
tends to b e a lad on the blurry side.)
Lower the plane
iron
until lhe CUllinI
edge is sticking OUt a fraction of an inch
below the sole of the plane. Then hold the
plane up-side down and aim' it toward a
light. reflective
surface
(a piece
of
while
cardboard, a fluorescent light).
As you sight down the sole. the cutt ing
edge of the plane ir on s ho uld appear as a
thkk clark line, All you have to do is move
the lateral odju.
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21
OODSM1TH
S~l( ~l ICJSr.tlESl Rf~\( .~.When lh~
surface is fairly fiat. [ start plnninlt' along
the length of the boards. The first strok e
is
made witb plane going in straight line -
parallel to this edlte. see Fig.
1 .
(I'm right
handed so ( start on the light edze of the
b oard . I
Once again, the depth of CUt should he
fail'ly Ught. A ll of the tirst 1)9. 0 aCI'OS,
th e surface ill simply be skimming off the
high spotaIt'sno; uncommon
(01
the plane
t~cut for 3while, and then skip over some
areas (Ihe low SllOIS).
Afier the inltial stroke along the edge, 1
tum the plane to a slight angle but ill
move u parallel to the edge, This, in effect,
makes the plane very wide and gives you
the best chance for levelina the entire sur
, 1 '
ace, see 1 9. _.
From here on, it's juf't a matter of work
(funl. Just keep moving the plane across
the surface with overlapping strokes.
Then go back to the right edge and make
another series of passes,
After I've had enough fun for awhile. I
check the surface with slJ'sight edge.
(Here it h~II' to pat a bl'ight light at the
end of the surface so it's eRl'ier to see the
low spotsl. \Vhen the surfate is just about
perCect, I reset the plane il'Onfor a very
thin CUland make onc hlst series of passe,;
over the entiJ'e-
S U Ir ac e .
'115111(:.
No matter how hard I lTV.
the plano is bound to leave titll. rid~
e\-el1' once in
~l hile.
To
remO\ e
these
(and to go o\'~r areas ith wild grainl, 1
use a seral>er blade r the tina finishing.
(Se~ Il'oud. ,illl No.
1 5
for mQre on
scraper blade. )
One last thought. Allofthis sound. likea
lot ofwork. But it's al,o a lot of fun. And in
the end, there's no grealer thlill than 10
t'un your fingers over a perfectly smooth
surfaoo that's been planed by hand.
L....._.._(=( 101
-, flItS STROI(f ON fOGE Of acAltO
@?O) C=~
tUtN LANEAt
$UGHr ANGlt
OVlll.A ST.ol(lS
nothing fancy. [just stan at one end ofthe
.urfa eeand plane directly across the gruin.
If. during Ihe initial
passes,
the plane
starts tearing out in some areas, you ean
change th e angle of attack so you're at
something more like a IS' angle.
The important thing. however, is to
start with a shallow depth-of-cut. Don't try
10take all the wood off at once. Jm;1 keep
going with fairly light passes until all the
joint Iinc$ a re k no ck ed off.
handle as you end the cut. This is tech
nically correct. But if you actually try to
move the plane this way, you'll probably
die out before you get to the end of the
board.
(approach it a little differently. First. I
have it in my mind that I'm going to make
one smooth. continuous stroke all the \\ 8\
to the
en d
ofthe board
(A
nice fluid bod;
and arm movemem.) ~
Then, instead of worrying about the be
s;nning 01 end of the stroke. I concentrate
on the rniddle. Alter the stroke has begun.
I b e a r 01 ) \ \11 on the plane 11. it'. in the
middle of the board.
It .
almost like tryin,
to hollow OUtthe center of the board. The
sole ofthe plane won't allow you to actually
hellow-eu; the hoard. BUI thinking thi,
way put, my attention on the longest part
of the stroke, instead ofjust the beginning
and end.
Aren't you supposed to lifi up the plane
on
lh .
return
s troke sovou re
not dragginl
the plane iron over the surface?
Once again.
I've
read that thi~
is
the
COITeet procedure. 1 t hink the reason is
to prevent wear and lear an the plane iron
S O
il doesn't get dull.
But this
p ra cti ce s eem s v e ry
Awkward
to me. A nd I think it break. thP rhythm of
planing. Instead, 1 just ease up on the
plane and drag it back. r dulling the
plane iron, I don't think it really ma k e s
much difference. If anything. dragging the
plane probably help> the cutting edge last
longer. Ineffect, you're stropping the cut
ling edge on the wood.
PLANtNG A TABLE TOP
At this point the pian. is really doing it.
job. And now I'm supoosed to talk about
how to plane a board - or more properly.
how 10 true a board with a plane.
This is 8 niee exercise, but it's rarely
needed in woodworking today. Most of the
lumber weuse is already surfaced when
w
e
buy
it.
Then, once the edges are ripped
square, the board very elose to b~ing
true.
Besides. the vast majority of the time, a
plane is used to true a large surface -one
that'. been glued up of .. veral boards. I
really don't see much point in truing each
board, then gluing several board. to
gether. And then having to true the whole
.urfaCe all u\'e1'agnin.
ROt:GHISGo()WS. Ifyou're working with
a large sudac,; (3 table top, for xample),
tbat's been gluedup of
. a t
boards. the
fll'St gt p
is
to rough il down. No matter
how careful I am when gluing up tbe
boards, there's al,,'a~'s some ariation at
the joint lines. So the planing begins by
smootrung down this surface to
get
all the
boards 8t the ;;ame le\el.
Thi~ milial planing is done
(1( :1 '1)88
the
grain ofthe wood. (Iu,;eajack plane for
all
this initial work.l The technique here is
ridieuleus. The difference between a
thin .ha\anR nnd a thick shaving is
only 3 f,' '' ' thnUlldths ofan inch.
My
y
s )U,I n(ll good enough to make such fine
adjustments.
~t: ITI~r. nlE DEI TlLrart with a very
fine CUt.In fact. [start \\~th no cut at all
The CUlling edge of the plane iron is set
completely ort the sole of the plane.
Then I slowl)' lower the Illane iron ..
ju_t a little at. time. With each small tum
o f the brass knob,
make a p o Over the
board until the cutting edge starts tomake
a shaving, This
\\ S)r [
can sneak up on the
depth of cut ( want, without nliniolt thp
board
with the very Ilrst
pa
ee,
But there 's another reason for this a p-
pruQch. A~ mentiuned in the article on
IlI\lI 16,
thCI'( 'Rome amount of play in
the depth adjusting mechanism.
To compensate for this play. the depth
adjusting knob should be on a forward
mo v e me n t (mo\; g th e p la ne iron down),
a nd nOIon a backing off' movement. Thls
\\ U
the Y )'okt is exerting pressore on
the plane iron and it .tays put.
PUTTING IT TO USE
The ultimate test for all of thls _
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WOODSMITH
H
you re
lucky, the grain line. on the
edge ; 1 1 gently curve lo one fare or the
oth .. fo, the entire length of the board.
When gluing up a set of these boards, try
to gel all of them arranged so the grain
curves to the same side of the final glued
up surface.
However.
sometimes the grain pattern
onthe edge iswavy-c-It switches back and
As for the splines themselves, 1 usua lly
us e plain old M Ma.onite. It s cheap, and
it always seems to fit lhe groove
b y
sa w
blade cuts.
S H A R P E N IN G S T O N ES
I thought there would be enough room on
thi page togel into a discussion ofthe tWO
new Stones we used to sharpen plane (the
diamond stone and the Japanese water
stones). But. we ran out of space. We ll
cover these stones in a full article in the
next i ssue .
G RA IN C UlI VlS 1 0 T HIS FA c t
LJ
/ f O U J \ _
Utfeno
< .
. . t\
(\\\\ ~ l/
1\\ \\\
[ / / .~ \ \ \ - . . 1 / . / i 1 \ \ \ \ \
SJl INES
T OP F AC ES O F-6O A RO S A A Fl US H
forth, usually where a knot is forming.
When confronted with this situation, [ try
to make
a d em o e ra ti c
decision: the major
ity of the grain pattern
ins.
That is. Iry
to arrange the boards so the majority of
the grain isgoing inone ~clion to
reduce
the lear-Out problems.
Inthose areas where you do have prob
lems, you may have to plane rom two
directions, or you can use a s cr ap er blade
(see Wood mith No. 15),
U S IN G S P L I N E S
Although 1willadmit that l enjoy working
with hand planes, I try to cut down on a lot
ofunnecessary work
by
getting the
surface
of the gluedup boards as flat as possible
before the planing ever begins.
If I m
gluing up several
n a r r o w
boards
to form a rather large surface, I cut
p;Ioovesonedges ofeach board for splines.
Although splines add some strength to
the joint, their
C 8 purpose
is to align the
top face. of all the boards - to get the
surface of lhe gluedup boards
as
nat
as
possible right from the start, This makes
the planing operation much easier.
However, the critical thing here is
to
cut
the p ; I O O e s 0 they re
all
exactly
the
same
distance Cromthe fate side
the
top side) of
the b o a rd .
To do this, place the
Iaee
side
(the top side)
of
each board agaill.llt the
fenceoflhe table saw and cut the groove on
one edge. Then cartwheel the board (nip
it end-for-end) so the same face is still
against the fence, and
o u t a
groove on the
other edge of the board.
\Vben the splines are inserted in these
grooves. the top fares of allthe boards ill
be Ilush, even though the bottoms may
vary depending on the thickness of each
board. eo drawing above.
the cement. In order to prevent a dished
out block. move the plane evenly over the
entire surface of the block. Once the sole
is
flat, switch to silicon carbide paper
a s
described above) to poHsh it smooth.
G R A IN D IR E C T IO N
There s 8 lot of controversy c o n c e m i n g
how to layout beards that are going to
b e .
glued together. Some say you should alter
nate the grain
as
seen fromthe ends ofthe
boards) so one board is up and the next
down , etc. Others
say
you should pul
new
growth against old growth.
1 can t really dispute any of these ap
preaches, But I go about it differently.
Two things a re important to me: I The
grain pattern
of the finished piece should
b e .
pleasing. even
if
it s not technically
correct. And
2) .
it s more important to me
that the boards are laid out
SO
the grain is
going in the proper direction for planing,
not
necessarily
or gluing.
I
should add here that
w e v e
followed
this approach ith all of the projects
shown in Wood mith and haven t had any
problems.)
Laying out th~ boards
so
they
ca n
be
planed easily is a step that s rarely men-
tioned (and often forgotten). But if the
hoards are not going in the right direc
tion rplaning, you ll be faced with a lot of
tear-out problems.
There s also a m is co nc ep tio n ab out how
to determine the proper
grain
direction for
1.laning. When looking a t the face side of a
board, the grain usually fonns a series of
Y patterns that point in one direction.
There s a natural tendency to want to
move the plane in that direction
with
the grain.
However, the only way to tell if the
grain
is
going in the right direction on the
f e of the board is to look al the grain on
the edge of lhe board.
F lA T T E N IN G A P L A N E
\Vbe you buy a new plane, it s reasonable
to expect that the sole of the plane is per
fectly flat. Unfortunately, that s not
always the case. ln fact. most new
planes
have a little problem area right around the
throat (mouth).
This area is critical because that s where
allthe action is. lithe sole is warped (form
ing 8 high spot or low spot at the throat). it
will affect the
cuulng
action of the 1)lane
iron (usually causing excessive chatter ).
lII(lH SPOT. If the plane has a high spot
around the throat, it s usually not toomuch
of
a
problem because all you have to do is
flatten the high spot flush with the rest of
the sole. This is relatively easy to do by
sanding the bottom of the plane on some
silicon carbide paper.
T81>ea sheet of 22O-grit silicon carbide
paper
to
the table of the table
sa w
and take
a few careful strokes. The high spots
should become quite visible as shiny areas,
Keep working the
plane
over the paper
until these areas arc flush with the rest of
the sole. Then switch to 320 and finally
400-grlt
paper
to smooth out the sanding
marks.
L O W S PO T. If the sole has a low spot at
the throat. it s more of a challenge.
Y ou
have to flatten the entire sole of th. plane
to get this area flush. This is too much
work for sandpaper. but it call b e . done
with silicon carbide slurry.
This slurry is made with powdered slli
eon carbide powder mixed with enough
water to fonn a thin paste. I start with 8 0
grit silicon carbide powder.
and
work to
finer grits
as
the sole is
flattened.
(Note:
Silicon carbide powder is available at lapi
dary supply stores. Look in the Yellow
Pages under Lapidary.)
Although lhe s lu rry d oe s a terrific job of
cutting steel. the problem is finding a nat
surface to work on. What l wound up using
w a s a
cement
blo c k .
Or to b e . more
precise,
two cement patio blocks. These are 1 1 - >
thick blocks, aboutg-\\ ide
by
15V
long.)
The surfaces of these blocks are almost
(but not quite) flat. So first Ihad to flatten
them.
I
meared
a
little slurry on lhe two
blocks, and simply rubbed the blocks to
gether until the surfaces were tlat,
Then
I
cleaned off the
b l ock s
and
m i x e d
up a fresh batch of slurry to flatten tbe
plane bottom. AUyou have to do is rub the
plane ever the cement blockand the slurry
to smooth out the sole.
This will cut the steel sole of a plane
quite rapidly, but it also tends to remove
Sho~ot s
SOME TIPS FROM OUR SHO P
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23/24
VOOOSMITI'
In IVtXXl~mi(hNo. 21, you mentioned that
you used a V carbide-tipped straight, rou
ter bit to
rou t sp lin e g ro ov e s ,
After looking in all of my mail order
catalog>',and checking with the local supp-
liers, I've been unable to locate a source ror
a W carbide-tlpped bit anywhere. Can you
provide
me with
a m ail
order
source?
DUlleall
G.
Graham M D
A
e~a
riZOtla
The f carbide-tipped route
I
bit we use is
made by POI 1~rC b(tR(X kll~II).we pur
chased it at a local hardware store (that
sells Porter Coble power hand tools), and
didn't realize that there would be a prob
lem obt ining one
The only 1 : . carbide bit that we can find
that's availablemail order ismanufactured
by Frtlld.
It
can be
ordered
from /ligh
uwd
Harduar; Stock
10.20.O l,
price
510.80 plus $l.f,o for shipping charges.
Their address is listed above.
Another source for a v. high-speed
steel router bit (not carbide-tipped) is
Sears. The stock number of their \ > I bit is
9-CT-2552, 2.09. They also have the Y
high-speed steel bit that we used on the
end caps of the trestle table. It'. stock
number is 9-GT-25528 . and it cost Sl.89.
Editor's Note; Recently. both R o < k w e l /
and Sta1lley power hand tools have under
gone some name changes. Their new
names are Bosch (formerly Sw.lIley), and
Porter Cob/~
(fonnerly
Rockwell).
From
now on we'll be using their new names
whenever we refer to their products.
CA RB ID E ROU TfR B ITS
I've tried to find a source for the tconon
grinding wheel you recommend in IVood-
snritl N o. 20, without an success.
G RIN DIN G W HEEL S OU RCES
Ken Slrei
Cedar
P O I k T e r a s
The only mail order source we
know
of for
the aluminum oxide grinding wheels re
commended in our
article
is Woodcraft
Suppl l
(Tbese grinding wheels are made
by
Bay Stal.
Ab''(lllj''e8, but they're very
similar to the
Nortoll wheels.)
The 6 diameter aluminum oxide wheels
offcl'ed by
Woodcroj
all have ', arbor
holes. If your grinder has a v arbor. you'll
h ve to use bushing to reduce the ~~
diameter to
V .
Doth the bushings and the wheels can be
ordered from IVood~rnft Supply. Their
new address is;41 Atlantic Ave .. Woburn,
M A 01888 . Catalog: 2.00 .
Could you possibly give me a source for
the grinding wheel you recommended that
has
a
V I arbor hole?
Gary Paris
Farmviltc,
irgiuia
C
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THICq. I f SS 0 B A SE EOUAlS
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soUAlE
This bench isa nice companion piece for the
Trostle Table in this issue; and it's also a
good
warmup project.
Things
always
seem to
go
easier the second time
around.)
The same method of construction is used
on this bench
as
on the table, with only
minor differences.
TH t: S EAT .The assembly of the top (seat)
is the
same.
Glue up of enough boards
to
get rough dimensions of 14 wide by 48
long. Then trim the ends square to 8 final
length of 47~ and cut the tongues v .
long this t ime) on each end.
Next, the side thieknesser strips are
glued to the edges. and the end thicknesser
strips
ar e
mounted with the slotted
screw
method.
To
complete the top, the
en d
caps
are
cut and mounted.
Tllf; TRESTLES. However, the trestle
assemblies On this bench are slightly di
ferent than the table. First the notches
(mortises) in the three-board assemblies
for the arms and bases are cut to allow for
only
a
Single-thickness
rail ( Y O W ) .
Second. the arms on the bench trestles
are long enough to
be
mounted directly to
the side thicknesser strips, which means
their overall
length
i~
2 - only 2
less
than the width ofthe seat.
Also ,
inorder to
provide a
little more leverage for the
bases, W e made them the full width of the
lop
N
long).
A nd
third, all four
of
these
p ie ce s a re
tapered, but this time the taper starts t
down from the tOPedge, and ends Y from
the mortise. For the a rm s th is means a
13
taper, and for the bases it's a 10 taper.
Ti lt: L EG S- The legs (uprights) are made
exactly the
same way as on
the table -
glue up three boards, trim the faee sides to
allow for a chamfer on the edges of'the
base
and arm, and finally, counterbore the holes
for the carriage to
hold
the rails in place.
TIlE lUlL. The rail has to be cut to Iinal
length so
when
it's
mounted,
the trestles
o f
the bench fit comfortably between the
trestles on the table. Then to mount the
5 ,3t,
drill holes in the side thicknessers (of
the seat) for rosan
inserts
and counter
bore
holes
in lhe
tresue arm s for
hex
head bolts.
Iound it much easier to finishsand all of
these
pieces
(the
arms,
bases, legs. and the
rail
before
the trestles
ar e
glued
up.
And
then before final assembly of rail and seal.
Iinished
a ll
the pieces with Minwax poly
urethane. I also mounted adjustable level
ing
pads
to
the bottoms of the trestle bases
to allow for variatiens in the Ooor. 1
figured it had to be the floor that caused
THE PER FECT PARTNER FOR A TRESTLE TA BLE
Trestle Bench