Abs of destruction - Part II

As soon as both sides were done, I took a break and finished the chamfering on the heel and toe of the plane. It was a perfect distraction from lapping. Here is a shot of the setup. Unfortunately - it went pretty quick so I had to return to lapping sooner than I would have liked. All in all the lapping went better than I expected. I used 32 sheets of 80 grit A275 paper. That does not sound like much except when you consider a smoother uses 4.



Lucas was on hand to help me unwrap the plane once the lapping was done.



And was quite excited to try the handle. I think the plane is as heavy as he is:)



So without further delay - here are a few shots of the lapped plane. If you click on them - a larger version will open.










Dan - this last shot is for you.

I am stopping at this stage - it will be coming to Boston as is. The sole is not "finished" in that I need to lap it again with a finer paper between the stages of filing the mouth open.

Abs of destruction - Part I

With other equally appropriate titles like;

"Sometimes, there is not enough angry music!" and,

"Gonna cave and buy a surface grinder."



Drilling for the lever cap was pretty uneventful except for the sheer size of everything. I spent more time finding a place to stand than actually drilling!

Grinding the dovetails and the cross pins took several hours - I think I am going to need a new wheel. Then, it was time to tape the infill and start lapping. I could not procrastinate any longer.



And then I discovered a glorious benefit to building a 28-1/2" long jointer... the weight of this plane is so significant - I did not have to apply much downward pressure when lapping. All I really needed to do was get it going, steer and then stop it. No small task - but not having to push down really helped.



All the extra time spent getting the piening block perfect has certainly paid off. The sole is about half lapped, the far side is well on its way, and this side is completed. With any luck - the lapping will be finished tomorrow - stay tuned.... !

The next logical plane

The XSNo.4 has been such a wonderful plane to use - it was only a matter of time (and a customers willingness) before I tried a full sized No.4 without a cap iron. This plane has a bed angle of 52.5 degrees and a matching shorter, rounded iron - to match the XSNo.4. The iron is high carbon steel, 3/16" thick and 2" wide.

I am quite excited to file the mouth and try it out - a few more coats of French polish and I should be good to go. Stay tuned...


Here is a detail shot of the amazing grain in the front bun and then the rear infill. Rosewood is a truly remarkable wood to work with, and I fully understand why it was so heavily harvested. When I am roughing out plane parts, I always try to find a section that has those amazing, telltale black lines.

*NM*

hollow grinding Nirvana

That may sound a little extreme - but it is accurate.

While I was in Calgary I had the good fortune to stay with a friend. During one of our many tool fetish moments, I noticed a pale blue wheel in his grinder. So I asked about it. He said it was the best grinding wheel he has ever used - it does not produce any heat. That was a pretty tall order - so I asked if I could give it a try. I have a 1725RPM Baldor grinder with 2 Norton white wheels on it - both 60 grit. They are fantastic wheels, but they can produce heat and even burn steel if you are not careful.

This wheel is completely different. The first thing I tried was a huge high carbon steel iron from a jointing plane. I gave it a pretty light touch and was amazed at how much metal it took off. I did another pass and pressed a little harder - expecting to feel a little warmth in the iron. I felt nothing and started worrying that my caloused fingers were loosing sensation. The blade wasn't even warm! I was going to take another heavy pass, but realized that I had already completely re-ground the iron. Holy smokes this thing was fast!

So I grabbed another iron, and had similar results - fast cutting and no heat to speak of. Then I realized I was using some pretty stout plane irons - I wonder what would happen on a small chisel? So I tried a little 3/4" "blue chip" that was in pretty rough shape. I started again with a light touch. Fast cutting - no heat. I pressed harder... even faster cutting - still no heat. At this point I was totally sold - this was fantastic! So we finished up the chisel and a few other tools that needed some work. There was not a single instance where I felt any warmth in any of the tools we were working on.

I ordered one of these wheels (Norton 3X, 46 grit) from Joel at Tools for Working wood in NY.

Worth 1,000 words.

But in case you want more details...

This was another "piece of a lifetime" find. I was at the Calgary woodworking show this past weekend and through a series of innocent and casual conversations - found myself staring at this huge piece of Ebony. The previous owner (I was told) was a rather eccentric lady who traveled the world collecting large pieces of exotic wood. When she returned home to Calgary she would decorate them with painted faces. After hearing this story, I had visions of rather fantastic artwork. This piece did not have any faces, but given the random application of blue paint and banana stickers... I think it's better that I saw nothing. And hey - at least it wasn't more General green!

The paper tag on the end was a great little touch to the story - and I will be sure to keep it attached to the 1" off-cut I take from the end.

Who was I kidding.

There is no way I was going to be able to stick to one morning a week on the 28-1/2" jointer. Even when I was working on the Boxwood XSNo.4 this plane was calling me.

Here are a few shots from the last week or so...


Using a 22-1/2" A2 jointer to dress the rear infill was not totally necessary... but it sure was cool.

One of the things I am constantly struck by is how much more work a plane of this size is. There appears to be a magical point where adding inches to a planes length becomes exponentially more work. The jump from a 16-1/2" panel to a 22-1/2" jointer is nothing compared to jump from 22-1/2" to 28-1/2". The individual parts are just that much bigger. The rear infill is so long, that without careful attention - I could have planed a twist into it. I am glad I had done the "perfect board" exercise when I was at Rosewood Studios. The front bun was similar. Keeping all the curves parallel and consistent was much harder than on a smaller jointer.




Thankfully - fitting the handle and cutting the adjuster mortise and slot went like they always do.



Which brings me to a cross-road...






... bronze or stainless steel? I have a week to decide while I build up coats of french polish on the infill - but I honestly have no idea which to use. Any thoughts?