Block Plane for Travel Tool Chest Build Process

Return to main project page

The last major part is the body. I actually started this first, working on the other parts in gaps in the body-making process. I started with a block of beech (left-over from when I made version 4, so already the right dimensions). I marked up the bed angle at 36° with a mouth at an angle 90° to that:

I'd intended to do it at 37° but only realised that much later. I don't think the difference of 1° will have the slightest effect on function, I just thought it worth mentioning the discrepancy. 37° was chosen as the equivalent angle of my Quangsheng low-angle jack plane with a 12° bed angle and 25° bevel.

The beech block was chopped up into three pieces, one of which is scrap. My sawing was a little inaccurate and I ended up with a bit of a rounded edge on the bottom of the front piece, but that's no big deal as the bottom face of the body is going to be planed down by about 3 mm later on:

I wanted some accurate (in depth, mostly) slots and holes in the body and the most accurate tool for that sort of thing that I have is a milling machine, so I mounted the back piece in the mill vice at a 36° angle, milled the face and drilled and tapped an M8 hole:

I was a bit careless with the end mill (not choosing my travel direction correctly) and there's a bit of tear-out, but it's not the end of the world. I'll consider it a lesson for next time (if there is a next time). The depth accuracy is important as the block plane is quite thin (compared to a bench plane) and I wanted to get the holes as deep as possible (without going all the way through) for strength.

I don't really trust a tapped hole with a relatively fine pitch (1.25 mm) thread in wood, but there isn't space in such a small plane for a threaded insert without it punching through the bottom of the body. When I finally assemble the plane, the threaded rod that goes into that threaded hole will be daubed in epoxy, so the surface area provided by the thread should hopefully give a strong join and I won't be relying on the structural integrity of the threads.

With the tapped hole done, I needed to make the space for the adjuster mechanism. I started by using a 12 mm Forstner bit to make the pocket for the brass bush in which the cam runs:

A 10 mm end mill was used to open that pocket out to give clearance for the adjuster screw and I then used an 18 mm end mill to make the pocket for the cam body and to open that out into a slot to give the rest of the space of the adjuster. I was a bit slow switching from plunging the end mill to moving the X-axis to cut the slot and that resulted in a bit of burning of the beech. I'll probably try and clean it up a bit later, but it shouldn't cause any problems if I don't:

The sides of the body were made from a bit of American Black Walnut. I planed the sides to give an even thickness, then cut a couple of slices off. I decided to do the glue-up in two stages, firstly gluing the two beech body parts to one side, using a mill parallel as a flat surface to hold the two body bases in line with one another:

Once that glue had been left for a few hours, I glued the other side in place:

I am a hobbyist metalworker and woodworker. I work as an electronic design engineer and spend most of my working days in front of a computer so I enjoy having the opportunity to use my hands and make things in my spare time. I particularly enjoy making tools as I can then use them on other projects. This website showcases some of the things I've made.

This website is free and ad-free, but costs me money to run. If you'd like to support this site, please consider making a small donation or sending me a message to let me know what you liked or found useful.

Please do get in touch if you notice any issues on the site or can think of anything that would be a helpful addition or improvement.