Re: Design for a dovetail plane wanted
ThomD
>I usually design the plane to match a router bit, just in case I need it for that. I then lay out the sole cross section for the full width of the blade. Let's say the angle is such that the sole rises 0.01" over the width of the blade. At a 45 degree bedding angle you will need to multiply that rise by 1.414" to get the layout for the blade itself.
One cheap source for small blades is metalworking machine tooling. You can find heat treated metal bar in various dimensions like 3/8" x 3/8". Pre-cut to length, these are about 3.5" long, and cost about 2-4 dollars. Because it is HSS it is pretty hard to draw the temper by any reasonable amount of grinding. Lay out the slope you want to grind to make it a dovetail plane. and grind that angle square to the end of the tool. Once that is completed, angle the blade and start grinding the bevel. Repeat this process for any adjustments, first adjust the angle layout, then grind the bevel.
You can make the plane out of a block of HARD wood about 1/4" thicker than the blade is wide. Just cut in the housing for the blade and wedge, and clean out with your router plane. The escapement is just a hole, and the mouth can be cut into the hole. As in the picture, you can add a plate of wood to close in the blade housing, or you can leave it open, Just be sure the long point of the blade has full access to the shoulder of the dovetail, and that you have provided an escape route for shavings. I like an open mouth for this kind of plane, but you can fit it as closely as you want. The plane illustrated uses a metal working blade, but is a 90 degree shoulder plane. My dovetail plane uses a Hock blade, but that is almost as expensive as a store bought plane.
