machining infill plane update
ray k
>So I finally got some more shop time and got busy machining. This was the last week of class, so I had to try and get all the machining steps of this plane done. I still have a lot of filing, shaping of the wood handle and knob, and shaping of the plane to do before I'm anywhere close to being done. But I was excited to finally finish the throat plate insert. It's nowhere as nice and elegant as the SMT Loopy, but this was still a huge challenge for me--seeing as how I never made a plane nor knew anything about machining before. I hope people aren't getting tired of me rambling on about this whole experience. It's just that after all the helpful advice from everyone here (especially on the neanderthal side), I just wanted to share my excitement with seeing the project actually coming together.
Here's a photo of the sole of the plane. To tighten the throat, I opted to use a hex headed 10-24 machine screw. I don't plan on adjusting the throat insert much after the first initial tune up, but it's nice to know I can later down the line.
Here's a photo of how the insert slides up and down the sole. I'm still a little surprised that this idea worked out so well--I thought it was pretty much over when I accidentally machined my throat opening too wide.
Once I epoxy the wooden knob on the front knob of the plane, I won't have access to the nut that secures the machine screw. So I machined a groove in the throat insert to keep the nut from moving. I actually goofed up again by drilling the countersunk hole (on the sole side) too close to the throat opening. So instead of using a 1/4"-20 machine screw, I used a smaller 10-24 screw. The only problem now was that a standard 10-24 nut wouldn't be big enough to keep from spinning around in my previously machined groove in the throat plate. My mistake actually proved to be an opportunity to learn something new in my class as my instructor showed me how to make a simple square nut. So that's what I did.
I hope this adjustable throat will actually work when the plane in finished. But whatever happens, it's been a really fun learning experience.
If people are still interested, I'll put up more photos as more progress is completed.
