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
I am making a variation of my No 984 panel plane to use up some components, it will be designated No 984s, there will only be a small number . It would be a shame to waste them especially these thumb screws.
I have said little about this variant of the No 984 panel plane. It is to be designated No 984s.
There will be some differences as well as the decrease in length.
With the bottoms only being half worked they are now shelved until I have completed the sides.
I have deliberated long and hard over the design of these sides. I have now decided not to chamfer them. This is by no means an economy and as you can see from the photos the chamfers could have been completed there and then and that would have been the end of it. I have taken a leap of faith and trusted my instincts because I feel that leaving the edges square will work better with the other changes. The profile looks more sharp finned and streamline than the chamfered version. It is all down to waiting for a finished plane. I know it will be the proverbial ‘brick built shithouse’ but this is what I wanted.
The middle picture shows the stainless steel side being routed with an 8mm ripper which surprisingly went through very quietly with no effort or noise. A single cutter lasted the whole job and still has life left in it. I have left the swarf in for the picture to show the amount of material removed.
Another plane which will be a future rarity. Just a one off as all future projects will be.
Stainless steel bolts for the No 985. 250 of them. All handmade. Never want to see one again. I would be embarrassed to say how long they took. It is important that they were made to a high precision, but will be hidden when the work is finished.
There are only a small number of these planes unsold
Looks like I have started a new family here, there are all limited editions only
It has been a very long journey but at last the planes are ready. I have always said that I try to improve over the preceding planes which is always a difficulty and this one clearly does it.
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.
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No 983 Commentary
I want to go back and take the time to explain the development and design of the No 983. I will be updating the website with this during next week. When I made this plane I only did a limited number which sold out quickly so I had to make another batch. It is very satisfying to complete a design but I am not going there again as the work is far too much. I won’t make the mistake of selling the last one (mine!) again, but I do have two left for sale.