Holtey improved pattern mitre plane, Norris and Spiers style. But with an adjuster
Lever cap for improved pattern mitre plane
Improved pattern Mitre plane showing bun
improved pattern mitre plane with adjuster, rear view
showing adjuster in it’s recess
Some photos of the No 984 panel plane
No 984 panel plane sides being routed on milling machine – no water jet or laser here. All work in house.
No 984 panel plane milling of blade bed and adjuster recess.
No 984 panel plane. Lever cap, adjuster and bun are easily removed without any tools
No 984 panel plane with acrylic and rosewood ( honduran rosewood) handles
Unlike the No 984, with its in situ dowels, I have chosen to screw the No 984s planes. Both systems have their good points.
tapping on the mill with a tapping head never seems to be enough so I have to go over these again by hand. It is important for the fixing bolts to run free. I have to assemble and dis-assemble dry quite a few times. When it comes to the final assembly it is essential that there are no problems as the bolts will be going in with torque control and permanent locking compound.
With all the milling, grinding, forming, drilling and tapping done I am half way with the bottoms. These will now be set aside until I have completed the sides – next job.
Photos showing the bolts trimmed, milled and surface ground. This plane has probably been the best of all my work and one of the most important factors is the much heavier chassis. I have been able to work to very much tighter milling tolerances, in fact well under 1 thou. It has helped on the grinding because I need to take less off – stainless steel is very difficult for grinding and I can only take cuts of .0002″ (that is 2/10 of a thou). The more cuts you take from stainless the harder the material becomes. You also have to be continually wheel dressing even with using a ceramic wheel. This is the real work that I enjoy the most.
The bolts have been thread locked with Loctite 270, so things should be moving along very quickly now.
Looking back on the last posting and it has been a whole month – I have been away for a while and life just seems to get in the way of work sometimes. Was having a look at what retirement could be like, but I can’t afford it!
A quick photo of work on the upper blade bed. The amount of work here was greatly underestimated in my planning. It is always difficult to estimate in the first place and then I keep tweaking and tuning as I go along. Why spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar. I don’t think I will ever be rich but I can aim to be the best.
I will retain radio silence for a little bit longer until I have something more interesting to show.
I was hoping to have some more pictures on the No 985 but I had a lot of other work to be done. Here is the same method of fixing on the No 982 plane. Showing the final torque on the screws after applying thread locking compound
The bolts being trimmed off. This is how I will be doing the No 985 soon!!
It is always a nice sight to see a job finished, a nice picture for the album. Don’t know how the brass got in there. All the stainless is 416, imported at great expenses from USA (new 25% tariff and it was already expensive).
I am making a point of keeping plastic test samples – much cheaper to mess up – and it is nice to have something on record.
All my tooling is state of the art, not much carbon steel or HSS in my cupboards.
The last side of the No 985 plane. The fixture screws (custom made of course) are also going to be used in the fabrication of the plane. They will be bedded in a locking compound.
I have flitted backwards and forwards between this system and the in-situ riveting – they both have their plus points. Same quantity of work with either system. But working with this system puts less stress in the construction.
As you can see from these jig screws they have a precision shank for true alignment.
Some more components for the No 98 plane. Showing the integral rivets being cut in situ
Finished items are the front and rear handle bosses. All in stainless steel as usual.
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