- Thread starter Hattori-hanzo
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brightspark
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and all hand made
Hattori-hanzo
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Thanks for the comments and likes guys I really appreciate it 
brightspark
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credit where its due 
Seadog
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I'm enjoying this thread. I don't thnk I'd have the patience to attempt one myself, though. Early this morning, unable to sleep, your projectjust popped into my head, as things do.
You've been peening the brass into the dovetail and bow using very many small mechanical actions. You've described pieces flaking off and how hard it is to work the brass into the finer detail as you progress. This is, of course, due to work hardening and could be eased by frequent heating to anneal. This would be very tedious in practice meaning continual removal from your former/jig.
The big question is, "Which grade of brass are you using?" All you say at the beginning is you "ordered some brass." There are many many different grades, some more suited to cold forming than others. One grade I've identified as being good for cold forming is CZ108, which is an alloy with up to 38% zinc.
Another thought is that, rather than use lots of tiny blows, a few heavy ones with a larger hammer may produce a better, faster, result.
I think, for future efforts, you'd benefit from some experimentation with different alloys and alternative techniques.
Keep up the good work
You've been peening the brass into the dovetail and bow using very many small mechanical actions. You've described pieces flaking off and how hard it is to work the brass into the finer detail as you progress. This is, of course, due to work hardening and could be eased by frequent heating to anneal. This would be very tedious in practice meaning continual removal from your former/jig.
The big question is, "Which grade of brass are you using?" All you say at the beginning is you "ordered some brass." There are many many different grades, some more suited to cold forming than others. One grade I've identified as being good for cold forming is CZ108, which is an alloy with up to 38% zinc.
Another thought is that, rather than use lots of tiny blows, a few heavy ones with a larger hammer may produce a better, faster, result.
I think, for future efforts, you'd benefit from some experimentation with different alloys and alternative techniques.
Keep up the good work
Hattori-hanzo
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Thanks for the reply Seadog.
Funnily enough I didn't know about work hardening until last night and it makes sense now that the brass was getting harder to work the move I moved on.
As for what grade the brass is, the honest answer is I don't know and at the time of ordering I didn't know brass had a grading system.
I searched all over the internet to find some 4mm brass at a reasonable price. The big companies just wanted to sell me a huge piece and any thing smaller would incur high postage posts.
In the end I managed to find some on E-bay for a good price.
I've just checked the listing and again funnily enough it is listed as CZ108. Other than that it just says its good for model making.
Just done a quick google search and as you say cz108 seems recommended. "CZ108 is a popular material grade due to its hot and cold working properties. It is a high purity cold forming brass and is used where severe bending properties are required"
Think I got lucky ordering it.
Funnily enough I didn't know about work hardening until last night and it makes sense now that the brass was getting harder to work the move I moved on.
As for what grade the brass is, the honest answer is I don't know and at the time of ordering I didn't know brass had a grading system.
I searched all over the internet to find some 4mm brass at a reasonable price. The big companies just wanted to sell me a huge piece and any thing smaller would incur high postage posts.
In the end I managed to find some on E-bay for a good price.
I've just checked the listing and again funnily enough it is listed as CZ108. Other than that it just says its good for model making.
Just done a quick google search and as you say cz108 seems recommended. "CZ108 is a popular material grade due to its hot and cold working properties. It is a high purity cold forming brass and is used where severe bending properties are required"
Think I got lucky ordering it.
Hattori-hanzo
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Finally with the sides and sole secured I can move onto the wooden in fill.
Traditionally Box wood, Rose wood and Ebony where the most popular choice for metal infill planes.
Unfortunately these woods are hard to come by now and if you do find a piece there is a high price tag to go along with it.
Wooden moulding planes where normally made from Oak and some from Beech or Ash.
Many different woods have been used for plane making but these where the most popular.
The main criteria for the infill is that its strong, Tight grained straight timber that's been seasoned well.
We have a nice variety of woods at work but one of my favourites is Hard Maple.
Beautifully white in colour with dark cathedrals. Its very tight grained and strong, just right for an infill.
I was even luckier that we had a piece with some "birds eye" in which is stunning when polished.
Only down side is it wasn't thick enough so I had to glue two bits together.
Here you can see some of the "birds eye" figuring in the grain.
Once the glue had set I planned the Maple so it was a tight fit into the plane body.
Then cut away the excess on the band saw. Hard Maple living up to its name is tough to cut even with a band saw. Though the blade was pretty dull after cutting all the brass.
With the waste taken away I made a simple jig to hold the plane and infill so I could machine it.
On the over head router I used a twin flute bearing cutting to trim the Maple down flush with the brass sides.
I had to take a cut from each side as the cutter wasn't long enough to do it in one pass.
Maple machines beautifully and I was left with a clean, crisp cut.
I was unsure how I wanted to finish the ends of the plane but in the end settled with a round which I again cut on the band saw.
After some more filing and sanding the profile is complete. Hurrah!
Traditionally Box wood, Rose wood and Ebony where the most popular choice for metal infill planes.
Unfortunately these woods are hard to come by now and if you do find a piece there is a high price tag to go along with it.
Wooden moulding planes where normally made from Oak and some from Beech or Ash.
Many different woods have been used for plane making but these where the most popular.
The main criteria for the infill is that its strong, Tight grained straight timber that's been seasoned well.
We have a nice variety of woods at work but one of my favourites is Hard Maple.
Beautifully white in colour with dark cathedrals. Its very tight grained and strong, just right for an infill.
I was even luckier that we had a piece with some "birds eye" in which is stunning when polished.
Only down side is it wasn't thick enough so I had to glue two bits together.
Here you can see some of the "birds eye" figuring in the grain.
Once the glue had set I planned the Maple so it was a tight fit into the plane body.
Then cut away the excess on the band saw. Hard Maple living up to its name is tough to cut even with a band saw. Though the blade was pretty dull after cutting all the brass.
With the waste taken away I made a simple jig to hold the plane and infill so I could machine it.
On the over head router I used a twin flute bearing cutting to trim the Maple down flush with the brass sides.
I had to take a cut from each side as the cutter wasn't long enough to do it in one pass.
Maple machines beautifully and I was left with a clean, crisp cut.
I was unsure how I wanted to finish the ends of the plane but in the end settled with a round which I again cut on the band saw.
After some more filing and sanding the profile is complete. Hurrah!
brightspark
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a bit late now but if your doing anymore peening of brass it work hardens and goes brittle. half way through you would be better off annealing it and soften it up then carry on . use a slightly larger ball pein hammer and it will give a better uniform finish . don't quench it neither when annealing / other than that a lovely job 
Hattori-hanzo
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Thanks for the comments and suggestions guys.
I did wonder if heating the brass would help soften it when peening. I only had a small propane torch at the time so wasn't sure if it was powerful enough to get the brass hot enough.
Think I was using either a 12oz or 16oz ball pien hammer but I think the main problem was woodworking vices just aren't man enough to take the hammering. the vice was bouncing so much most of the force was being wasted.
I think if I ever try this again a large engineers vice would be a much better choice.
I did wonder if heating the brass would help soften it when peening. I only had a small propane torch at the time so wasn't sure if it was powerful enough to get the brass hot enough.
Think I was using either a 12oz or 16oz ball pien hammer but I think the main problem was woodworking vices just aren't man enough to take the hammering. the vice was bouncing so much most of the force was being wasted.
I think if I ever try this again a large engineers vice would be a much better choice.
Hattori-hanzo
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Next up is the Tote.
Lazarus planes incorporate metal into the tote, something I've not seen before. I like them so much I wanted to add something similar to my plane.
After much deliberation I settled on a design I liked then made a paper/MDF template.
I wanted some thing that looked traditional but with a modern twist.
From there I used the template to cut out two pieces in Cherry wood (another favourite of mine) and one in Maple.
Then I used the template to mark out the rest of tote onto a piece of 12mm aluminium.
I used the pillar drill to make a series of holes around the lines.
With all the holes drilled all I had to do was cut it out.
Which I did with a hacksaw.
It took a little while, I had to use a junior hacksaw to get round the tighter curves.
From there I fixed the two Cherry wood pieces to the aluminium with double sided tape. Because the aluminium is soft I could use a oscillating bobbin sander to clean up the outside of the tote in one go. This saved a lot of work sanding a filing by hand.
I want the tote to be a stand out feature of the plane so wanted something bold looking.
I also wanted to shape the tote to fit my hand perfectly and include a palm rest, this is something you don't often see on production planes as they have to cater for many different hand shapes and sizes.
I used a mixture of rasps and files to start shaping the tote.
Adding in the palm rest first. I was constantly checking the tote in my hand to make sure it was a comfortable fit and adjusting where needed.
The right hand side was getting there, just needs to be sanded through the grits.
I also added a thumb indentation on the left side.
The rear view shows the contours of the tote well. I'm pleased with how it turn out, it fits my hand perfect and is very comfortable.
I've still got to cut and fit the maple piece and sand it all the way up to finish but first I have to fit the aluminium to the infill.
I'm out of time for today though.
Lazarus planes incorporate metal into the tote, something I've not seen before. I like them so much I wanted to add something similar to my plane.
After much deliberation I settled on a design I liked then made a paper/MDF template.
I wanted some thing that looked traditional but with a modern twist.
From there I used the template to cut out two pieces in Cherry wood (another favourite of mine) and one in Maple.
Then I used the template to mark out the rest of tote onto a piece of 12mm aluminium.
I used the pillar drill to make a series of holes around the lines.
With all the holes drilled all I had to do was cut it out.
Which I did with a hacksaw.
It took a little while, I had to use a junior hacksaw to get round the tighter curves.
From there I fixed the two Cherry wood pieces to the aluminium with double sided tape. Because the aluminium is soft I could use a oscillating bobbin sander to clean up the outside of the tote in one go. This saved a lot of work sanding a filing by hand.
I want the tote to be a stand out feature of the plane so wanted something bold looking.
I also wanted to shape the tote to fit my hand perfectly and include a palm rest, this is something you don't often see on production planes as they have to cater for many different hand shapes and sizes.
I used a mixture of rasps and files to start shaping the tote.
Adding in the palm rest first. I was constantly checking the tote in my hand to make sure it was a comfortable fit and adjusting where needed.
The right hand side was getting there, just needs to be sanded through the grits.
I also added a thumb indentation on the left side.
The rear view shows the contours of the tote well. I'm pleased with how it turn out, it fits my hand perfect and is very comfortable.
I've still got to cut and fit the maple piece and sand it all the way up to finish but first I have to fit the aluminium to the infill.
I'm out of time for today though.
eLuSiVeMiTe
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Been enjoying this. Sterling work.
brightspark
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just being nosey what's your job and do you use the plane you made
Migmac
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just being nosey what's your job and do you use the plane you made
Oh, I like this game! I think he’s a pilot
selectedgrub
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No one hand makes stuff like this anymore, therefore they don't really make it.
Awesome work.
Awesome work.
