Planesky...
Rob Lee
>Hi again!
Here�s the promised write-up on the Russian Plane.
As written before � this one has no cast parts; all components are stamped steel.
Firstly, the body is blanked and bent. Note the �beveled� sides where the 90 degree bend was done in two steps. Looks pretty good, avoids dinged corners, and doesn�t overstress the material. Steel thickness is 4mm. Top edges of the wings have been deburred, but still show shear marks from blanking.
Next � the frog is also stamped, bent, and welded to the sole. Clever, how the handle frame is part of the same stamping. Steel here (who knows why) is only 2.5mm thick. The bottom handle-plate is stamped and bent 4mm steel again, welded to the sole. Handle and knob are both Bakelite (or similar). The oval handle is secured with a weird bolt � FH screw visible on top � blind hex nut on the bottom (not tapped through). The handle is surprisingly rigid!
Front knob mounts on a welded stud.
The lever cap is also sheared and bent, with the business-end ground off (shown in red) to make the final taper. Steel here is 6mm! Also drilled and tapped for a capscrew. Lever cap is trapped under an 8mm bolt through the body.
The blade is a hair over 1/8� thick (perhaps cold-treated in Siberia?? J ), and uses a stamped chipbreaker. Not sure exactly who the maker is, but marks on the body are:
Overall � a very clever design � with a minimum of parts, and manufacturing processes. While I haven�t measured the sole � it�s pretty flat (for stamped and bent steel) � probably +- .005� either direction from the mouth. Only slightly crowned from side-to-side across the sole � much better again, than one would have suspected.
Tentatively dated as being 10-40 years old.
Cheers �
Comrade Rob.