To hold the body blank in position and keep my fingers
away from the blade I used my tenoning jig.
The cut is set about half a saw blade’s width shy so if there is any
burning or problems when the cut’s made I have some wiggle room.
In the photo below I have made the first cut and flipped
the body so the saw is ready to make the second cut. You can see a couple of things here. At the top of the body where the first cut
was made it’s pretty well had the crap burned out of it. That’s because the cut was made with my
combination blade rather than a rip blade which has been changed and will be
used to make the next cut.
Here is after the cut on the second bevel. Hardly any burn and a much better cut. Once the second body has been cut all that’s
left to do is adjust the tenoning jig and make the final cut.
After the final cut the bevels still need some
sanding. To keep a flat face, I clamp
the sandpaper to a flat surface in this case the table saw extension and start
making passes being sure not to rock the piece and keep the bevel in constant
contact with the sandpaper. Since the
bevel is in pretty good shape, I started with 120 grit and worked up to 320
grit paper.
Next is to cut the curve in the top of the body. That’s done on the bandsaw. The large block to the right of the body is my
90-degree guide. It keeps the body
square with the bandsaw’s table. The
blue clamp is what I use to guide the cut which keeps my hand at a distance
from the blade. If I were to slip when
making the cut the clamp would get destroyed rather than my finger.
The rough bandsaw cut is smoothed out using the
oscillating drum sander. First sleeve is
60 grit and final grit is 120. That’s
not fine enough but that’s the finest grit I have for the drum so it’s on to
hand sanding. The same block used when
making the bandsaw cut is used here to assure the body is square with the
table.
While the table saw was set up to cut the bevels, I cut a
couple of pieces off a scrap 2x4 and glued them together to make a wedge. That will be used a little later as a jig when
holes are drilled in the bevel for handles.
Using the template, the final shape is laid out on the
body and the mortise for the steel tube is fitted using the same small files
that were used to fit the router blade inside the tube. The tube was a few thousands of an inch
oversize and a smidge out of square but it was pretty easy to get to a snug fit.
Next the top of the steel tube is filed to match the
curve in the body or at least very close.
To do that the tube is set in its final location and the high spots are
marked with a marker. The tube is
removed that area filed, the tube reinstalled then checked and high points are
again marked. The process is repeated
until the fit is really close. Final
blending of the two items will be done after the tube is epoxied in place.
Gluing the tubes in with epoxy is next. Because I want some time to make sure the
tube is located properly and have time for cleanup a separate batch is made for
the installation of each tube. That gives
about 5 minutes of work time. To make
cleanup easier blue tape is applied to the bottom of the body where the tube
comes through and a hole is cut to match the mortise size.
After letting the epoxy cure overnight here is what the
top side looks like. As you can see, I
left a little extra epoxy around the tube’s edge. That’s from when I packed the joint between
the tube and the wood a little proud.
It’s so when the final shaping is done the gap at the corners between
the tube and the wood will be filled.
The small gap is because the tube has slightly rounded corners and the
mortise corners are square.
Now it’s time to blend the tube’s edges in with the arc
cut in the top of the body. That’s done
using the drum sander, files and a fair amount of hand sanding. When done this is what it looks like.
Drilling the holes where the handles will be mounted
comes next. This is where the beveled
scrap 2x4 jig is used. Here the jig is
set on the drill press table with the plane body set on top. The digital level reads 0.00 degrees or that
the top of the bevel is parallel to the table allowing me to drill holes at 90
degrees to the face of the bevel.
Here is how the bevel jig is used. Clamps hold the jig and a stop in place while
the tape on the bit gives me a visual on the depth of the hole.
After drilling the hole, the bit is removed and the
threaded insert can be installed. The
insert has wood screw threads on the outside and machine screw threads on the
inside. Here you can see where the
insert has been screwed onto a 5/16”- 18 partially threaded rod which is
chucked up in the drill press. As an
aside 5/16”- 18 means the rod is 5/16” in diameter with 18 threads per
inch. Anyway, now everything is ready
for the insert to be run into the hole.
That’s done by lowering the chuck using the drill’s handle and turning
the chuck by hand. Don’t turn the drill
press on to install the insert or things will get really exciting in hurry and
not in a good way.
Using the drill press to install the insert most of the
way makes sure it is square with the bevel.
After running it in as far as I can by hand the chuck is loosened and
raised up as shown here.
Once the body is unclamped from the drill press an 8mm
hex wrench is used to finish the installation so the insert top is just below
the face of the bevel.
Next Up – Completing the Body & the First Handle
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