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311 Plane with a big crack

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311 Plane with a big crack

Postby Dr.Al » 28 Mar 2021, 17:05

Those of you who have been following my portable workbench build will have gathered two pieces of information. Firstly, I didn't have much to do today while some epoxy is curing. Secondly, early on in the project I broke my Axminster 311 plane:

Image

I've since bought a (second-hand Record) replacement as I didn't think there was much chance of welding cast iron and getting it anywhere near square. Despite that, I was at a bit of a loss today with the weather being rubbish and the epoxy being un-cured so I decided to have a go.

I re-attached the nose piece to the broken-off bit and I clamped it down to my aluminium fixture plate, using a 20-40-80 block as an edge to push the two halves up against and keep the base level:

01_clamped.jpg
(52.83 KiB)


Close-up of that crack:

02_close_up.jpg
(36.31 KiB)


Next up I attacked it with a triangular file:

03_filed_groove.jpg
(39.42 KiB)


I then got out a 986 TIG brazing rod. I bought a very small pack of these a year or two ago and had a few plays with them in the past, but only on flat bits of cleaned steel; never on anything that mattered. I thought brazing the cast body might give me a better chance of success :? . Mainly, I figured I didn't have anything to lose given that this was a write-off and would otherwise be going in the swarf bin.

I set the TIG welder up to 60 A max and played around with the foot pedal while prodding with the TIG rod. I wouldn't say what I did looks like a good joint (I feel much more comfortable TIG welding than TIG brazing), but for a first attempt it seems okay-ish. After doing the "top" (actually right) side of each bit of the break, I flipped the whole lot over, placed it on top of a couple of parallels (to make space for the previous brazed joint) and repeated the filing/brazing exercise on the left-hand side.

04_brazed.jpg
(39.69 KiB)


It ain't pretty...

Once that had cooled a little, I attacked the two outside surfaces with a couple of different files to try to bring it somewhere near flush with the side. As this is a shoulder plane, it's supposed to be able to get right into awkward corners and having a lump could be a problem.

It definitely ain't pretty...

05_filed_semi_flush.jpg
(36.56 KiB)


... but amazingly it seems to work okay (at least for now)

06_test_cut.jpg
(49.96 KiB)
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Dr.Al
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Re: 311 Plane with a big crack

Postby AndyT » 28 Mar 2021, 17:11

Nice result! Of course, it would never have worked if you hadn't already got a replacement... :lol:
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Re: 311 Plane with a big crack

Postby Dr.Al » 28 Mar 2021, 17:21

AndyT wrote:Nice result! Of course, it would never have worked if you hadn't already got a replacement... :lol:


Of course not!
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Re: 311 Plane with a big crack

Postby novocaine » 28 Mar 2021, 18:08

Give it a peen with a ball peen and hopefully itll be good for a few more years id be tempted to give it a quick lap or a run over with a fly cutter to finish it.

Well done, not a cracking job. :D
Carbon fibre is just corduroy for cars.
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Re: 311 Plane with a big crack

Postby Lons » 28 Mar 2021, 20:08

Great save. :eusa-clap:
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Re: 311 Plane with a big crack

Postby AJB Temple » 28 Mar 2021, 21:02

Very good work. Well worth the effort.
Don't like: wood, engines, electrickery, decorating, tiling, laying stone, plumbing, gardening or any kind of DIY. Not wild about spiders either.
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Re: 311 Plane with a big crack

Postby NickM » 29 Mar 2021, 08:15

Result!
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