Argus wrote:Very nicely made - how long did it take?
I'm not really sure as I did in a few instalments in amongst other projects. However, at a guess I'd say the metal work took me about an hour (but then I have a milling machine and a horizontal bandsaw, so the only hand work there was roughly cutting the bevel with a hacksaw as it was a bit of a steep angle to do on the bandsaw. The woodwork (excluding oiling) was definitely less than a day; at a guess I'd say 4 or 5 hours? Heat treating the cutters (including tempering, which Paul didn't do, but I thought it was probably a good idea) took half an hour or so this morning.
I used the thicknesser to get the base to the right thickness, then cut it to size with a ryoba and hand planed it to finish. I wanted the top piece to start as 30 × 35 mm (as opposed to Paul's 19 × 44 mm) due to my approach to making it. I had some 32 mm thick oak, so I trimmed that to size with the ryoba and hand planes again. I could then pillar-drill all the holes and all that was left was chopping the bottom off the top piece, planing the cut edge and then some shaping with the rasp. It's a remarkably quick thing to make considering how well it looks to be designed.
Argus wrote:I watched Paul Sellers' video and thought that everything - woodwork-wise - was straightforward for the average hobbyist with the exception of cutting and hardening the metal.... which may be a tad difficult for some folk. Certainly not my strong point.
It certainly would have been harder without the milling machine. I detest filing and I'd imagine that bit of the job takes quite a long time, even if you cut most of the waste out with a hacksaw.
Argus wrote:Obtaining the metal bits and various screws can be tricky, too, depending where you are on the planet.
They're very easy to get in the UK (I bought everything on ebay), but I can see that they might be more awkward elsewhere in the world.
AndyT wrote:I'm with Argus on every point. If I didn't already have a 71 and a 271, plus a few wooden alternatives, I'd be having a go at that design too.
I've got a Veritas router plane and a little record (?) mini router plane, but I like making tools so a third one seemed a good idea!
AndyT wrote:I like the way it gives you easy screw adjustment but avoids the need for a bent cutter, whether home made or bought in.
Yes, it's a nice design. The Veritas one has a removable head cutter on the biggest size cutter, which is a lot easier to sharpen than the solid body smaller ones, but it's not exactly easy (not helped by being held in place with an imperial Allen key screw
). The straight cutter used by Paul's design is very easy to sharpen.
AndyT wrote:I'd be interested in how you get on with it in use, Al.
I'll report back, although it probably won't be until next weekend.