This Summer I may start making Infill Planes as well as a Hand Plane Refinishing Service... 
Blum Tool Works
Totaly new plane design..
The frog is completely a new origianl design..
The thin blade is sandwiched between a massive frog which is 3/4" thick at the bottom and a back-up iron which is 5/32" thick. The leading edge of the frog thus becomes the chipbreaker and guides the shavings up and into the throat. The reverse angle of the frog matches the angle at the front of the throat, so the old problem of throat widening as the sole is trued or worn down is no longer an issue. In fact, you can take over 3/8" off of the sole, and the opening will still be the same!
The frog is adjusted for blade depth and lateral projection with the two adjusting nuts at the top of the plane. By being situated at the outer sides of the frog, adjusting depth also controls lateral adjustment so no separate lateral adjuster is required. This is a very fast and precise process. There is one surprising, and I've found helpful, side effect of angling the frog forward. On traditional planes, to take up backlash the blade is advanced downward before cutting, so you must guess and be very watchful as to just when the iron protrudes or - dangit - too far - back off and try again. On this plane, the opposite happens. The cutter is advanced and then pulled up to just the right setting. No guess work. Anyway, backlash is so minimal that adjustments can be made in either direction most of the time. The large star knob tightens the frog lock bolt which is captured in a T-slot on the back of the frog. For normal planing, this knob need only be snug and doesn't need loosened to make depth adjustments. For very hard woods, it should be tightened more and loosened slightly before adjusting.
The mouth opening is adjustable without tools by turning the two knurled thumbscrews which bear against the back of the frog. The blade is removed for sharpening by lowering the frog slightly below the sole and loosening the three screws in the back-up iron. The blade is then able to be slid out because it is slotted for the screws. NO GRINDING IS NECESSARY. Because of the thinness of the blade, honing will quickly restore a flat bevel. Of course, a normal honing guide will not work for so small a blade, so we recommend the Blum "Sharpening Box" or you can use the Blum Fixed-Angle Jig. You may also make your own fixed-angle jig out of wood patterned after ours.
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MK III Sharpening Project I have started building a LV style MKII \ LapSharp sharpening system.. The total cost so far is about $70, I used a 1/3HP GE motor and some Pillow Blocks, a Jet Lathe 8" Face Plate with a 5/8" shaft and some pulleys and I was in business.. So far I have only flatten blade backs and it works super. I have a sheet of SS metal and will clad the plywood with it and build or buy a tool rest soon I hope.. I still have to build the page to hold the pictures, so check back for when I update the site.. |
Got Wood ? I have a few places I found for great wood deals, Justin Holden's EXOTIC-WOODS-OF-THE-WORLD is one of them.. I have just bought 669 BF of Okoume (African Mahogany) for $669 + $303 shipping and its SUPER Quality.. So check his pallet loads or single boards and be aware that some of the wood is listed as has checks.. |
Back Yard Heat Treating Oven I had bought a few hundred pounds of 0-1 Tool Steel off eBay for pennies on the dollar.. I won several auctions for sheets of steel that list for a few hundred each of $9.99 plus shipping for Canada.. Since I did not want to spend the money on a Oxy / Acetylene Torch I started searching the web for info on a coal forge.. What I would was a great resource at Back Yard Metal Casters and used it to build My Oven from a 20Gal. Trash Can.. |
Building Your Own Planes This Summer I hope to start building some Infill Planes.. I have been collecting all the materials I need and then some from eBay and have been pretty lucky with the deals I got on brass sheets.. |
Hand Plane Tune-Up If your new to hand planes you will want to check this page out my Tune-Up Page.. I have put together a few simple steps on how to get the most out of your bench plane.. One of the major steps is to buy a replacement blade if yours is in poor shape.. Even if its not it can make a big improvement.. There are three major makers Ron Hock, Robin Lee and Tom Lie-Nielson.. |
The Cutting Edge I will be adding content here oh sharpening tools, till then check out my Sharpening Pages |