It is rare to get the components from both planes together – full size and one third size. The work is still the same. Despite all the years I have been making these planes I forget the amount of work involved.
April 13, 2017
April 12, 2017
Window to my workshop 108
I have had some A31 miniature components stored away for some years, but this did not include the brass sides. With a commitment to build a few full size A31 planes it seemed a good idea at the time, to include these miniatures. If not done now they will never be made. It seems quite remarkable that I have laboured over so many components and acquired so much stock it would be a shame to abandon it. I have nightmares about all those hours never paid for 
A lot of these components were made before I started blogging. It is a difficult job to convince people that the price does not scale down so I will try and show the story here. More to follow.
April 5, 2017
Window to my workshop 107
Edge polishing to the sides is usually done with all the sides in a block to keep all the edges true and square.
All my hand work it has to be as good as the machine work, at the risk of looking clinical with no soul
March 31, 2017
Window to my workshop 106
During the course of the completion of these two A31 planes – full size and 1/3rd size – I will be posting up comparison photos over the next two months.
It is always amazing to see how small the 1/3rd size plane is.
June 8, 2016
Window to my Workshop 105
With all my component parts finished I was just left with some wooden handles which should have been finished off earlier as they need to be oiled and cured.
It seems an opportunity to show that there is a lot of hand work in my planes.
Now there is the fitting, milling, grinding and final tweaking. So Claire had better get those baize bags done.
Thought I would mention that the riffler I am using here is one of Noel Liogier’s. It is probably about the only one I have come across that can handle these exotic hard woods without getting tired. In fact it is so efficient that I am having to learn not to be so heavy handed. I would really recommend these rifflers because I have always had a problem with shaping some of these hard exotic woods. The double ended rifflers were given to me when I was exhibiting in Munich in 1998 by Zoltanne Nagy – they have served me very well but unfortunately I can’t find anymore to replace them. Noel’s are supplied with fitted handles.
Next posting will be of the finished plane.
May 10, 2016
Window to my workshop 103
It might seem that things have been quiet here but in actual fact it is the opposite. I have been too busy to post and I have had a number of issues, including a small injury, which seem to compound. Old age seems to be catching up on me and I don’t know if I am getting slower or fussier over the work (obviously I favour the latter ).
It had been my intention not to do any more posts until I had a finished plane, but I just wanted to assure you all that I am alive and well. The project is nearing its end.
There used to be a time that I believed simple was easy – wrong. I certainly favour the simple lines. After much deliberation this union between the handle and sole works well. I am not going to show the whole plane until everything is finished.
Here is the simple part….. Components are shown in pairs for viewing purposes.
These parts include handle boss, which has two 8 mm integral rivets which are peined into the sole. The boss body is to be recessed into the handle, drilled and tapped for the handle stem.
This stem is 10 mm in diameter at its base going down to 8 mm separated by the 8 mm hexagon. This is then secured with a wrench so it will always be tight at the base. This stem alone has a lot of rigidity to it which then compounds when compressing the handle.
The handle has a cup for its fixing nut. This fixing nut has a radiused slot milled into it so that it can be driven with a coin. The cup is faceted at the bottom so that it cannot rotate to avoid mismatching contour or come loose from the handle. This gives a very rigid handle which is compounded when the handle is tighten up.
All the components that you can see, including the screw cup, are made from solid stainless steel bar.
The boss and stem fixed in position.
The adjuster – where does one start?
The most visual item is the spindle (still attached to its carrier) and like everything, it comes from a solid bar. It takes a lot of planning in the making. I will let the picture tell the story.
At the very last minute, when I am happy with everything else, the spindle can be parted from the carrier.
All the components are a project on their own.
A whole book compressed into a few lines
January 22, 2016
window to my workshop 102
Lever caps assembly now finished
Sorry for the slow progress to those that are waiting, but life is not getting better at the moment. I have my mother’s funeral to go to next week and I also have to make a decision about whether to put down my very poorly dog.
January 11, 2016
January 1, 2016
Window to my Workshop 100
About 18 months ago a friend asked me to make a part for his rifle. An end cap for the hand guard on his Lee Enfield. Since it was getting a bit embarrassing I thought I should get it out the way. It was a good time as I have been distracted by family problems.
Never is anything as easy as it first appears. Makes me wonder how the originals were made, especially as this was pre-first world war. I usually make more than one of anything just in case something goes wrong and as you can see I choose to make a pattern in brass.
With this out the way I am now back on the No 984. I still have the lever cap area to finish and new pictures will be posted shortly.
Happy New Year to all my readers and thank you for all your best wishes received.
September 16, 2015
Window to my Workshop 97
Sorry for the long gap, and probably a few photo opportunities missed. Now on to the bottoms of the No 984.
I had to make many visits to the drawing board to finalise the drilling for the handles, as I felt paranoia was setting in and a lot of double checking and tweaking was needed here. As you can see I have five holes to receive the 5 mm integral rivets for the front bun fixture. It may look a little excessive but I have seen what happens if a plane is dropped and lands on the bun. The original No 98 had three rivets. Four wasn’t right but five just seems to be correct. I always work in odd numbers for some reason. Funnily all office chairs have 5 feet.
For the rear tote I shall use 2 x 6 mm rivets, which are integral to its chair. This is one area that I have thought long and hard on, making this fixture as tough as possible. It is very limited by its parameter of being an open handle. This arrangement will be as strong as you will ever need. In the event of any impact the handle will be the first thing to break – so best not drop it – but it is wood after all. The handle can be replaced. With these two holes I am now committed, the rest of the handle will be tweaked a bit before I start.
This is my holding arrangement for the integral rivets on the bottom of the plane. This was my second attempt, as I was not confident with the rigidity of the original arrangement. The setting up is where most of the work takes place.
With all my milling and drilling I always use the very best tools available. These rivets are cut full depth in one go to get the most use out of the cutter. This first cut is taken with a ripper which will cut the rivets slightly oversize and then follow up with a finishing tool, which will size and texture the rivets. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the optimum spindle speed and feed rate. The best instruments for this are my eyes and ears. It has taken me a long time to perfect this and these are the last planes just when everything is coming together.
The last operation with the rivets is applying a very small chamfer which helps to prevent any splits forming whilst peining.
The riveting finished.