Another Plane

I've been working on thinning the back.  It's way too thick.  I want to do the neck too, and decided to put a truss rod int.  I'm still not sure that it will need it if I go with nylon strings, but everyone seems to use them.  Most of the things I see look overbuilt, but I guess people would rather be safe than sorry.

The truss rod needs a groove.  A deep groove.  Most use a router, or a dado blade on a table saw.  I have neither, and don't really want them. So I needed to make a plough plane.

The plane is nothing special to look at.  I made it from a piece of Brazilian Cherry, Jatoba.  A 1/4 X 3 X 24" piece was only $8 at Woodcraft.  That works for me.  I had a 3/8 high speed tool bit that I milled, and ground down to .216 wide.   I made a clamp, and revised it when it didn't work.  It is set to work on the 3/4 inch wide piece of Padauk that is going to be the center lamination of the neck.  It should work.

It would probably be better to show it after it is proven out, but I'm sure I can get it to work, but I want to make a mock up of the neck/head joint to be sure I have it right first.  Then I'll know exactly were the ent of the truss rod will be.

You can see that I changed the pin hole.  It was too low, and too far above the clamp.  You can also see the shims on the sides of the blade.  I left the stock full width, 1/2 inch, so that it would be as wide as the Padauk board, and would center the blade.








I had to make the top of the clamp wider so I could use a 1/4 bolt.




When you add the sides it turns it into a plough plane.  The bottom view shows the wide open throat.

It was easy to make.  We'll see if it works.

The Sides Are Off The Form

I pulled the sides off of the mold yesterday.  It worked pretty good.  The side actually came out a better shape than the drawing.  The drawing was too straight coming from the top to the center.  Now it has more of a curve.  I will have to add a little; maybe 2 or 3 mm at the most there.  For some reason maybe a mm or 2 near the bottom on one side too.

The sides need the linings cut back, and the lower block can be rounded out.

I marked the inflection line on the inside of the back, and how much needs to come off the point where most of the recurve on the inside.  It is mostly 2-3 mm to get it down to 4 mm thick.  That is a good starting point.  The inside recurve should be good then, and I can glue the back to the ribs.  Then I can see how the belly fits.