As I was relaxing last evening this video came up in mail box. I think barrels are one of the most beautiful and useful wooden vessels. I've seen them being made by hand in Colonial Williamsburg and seen various demonstrations at wineries and distilleries. There are many videos showing the special skills, tools and machines that make oak barrels and 'We Know Barrels' is long enough for one relaxed coffee.
The part of the blog relating to my actual wood working is all about hand planing. A while ago I made a bench top work table (June 2016) actually. I used the portable top for rough work, carving and some clamping tasks. It was only good for rough clamping as it was left rough and not very flat, until now.
I decided I wanted this portable clamping top for more small assembly work and so I needed to get serious and flatten its surface.
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| work top with winding stick |
The final result is smooth with the T-track mounted flush on two sides. With six 3/4 inch dog holes I'm able to cover all the angles when clamping on it or clamping it to my large work top.
Initially the top of these boards was so rough I thought about using my belt sander but didn't want to deal with the noise or the dust so I opted to use my Veritas Scrub plane to knock down the really high spots. This panel is made from 2 x 4 soft wood and the scrub plane drove through it without any problems, it even flattens knots. I flatten both sides, but didn't bother smoothing the underside, flat was enough.
Next plane I used to flatten the top was my Anant Jack Plane. I was for a time the Canadian Importer of Anant planes. I found their planes to be good value and adequate for most carpenter's needs. For my purpose the plane worked fine. The blade is okay but would have to be upgraded if I used this plane by the hour.
Both the scrub and jack planes are narrow. The scrub plane is a modern design and the jack plane is a copy of an old Stanley model 5 but with a narrower blade.
Beside the Jack plane is my favourite plane, my low angle smoother. My Mom gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago and it is my 'go to' plane for anything requiring fine finish work.
The rabbets had been cut first on the table saw but now needed to be levelled and smoothed out. For that I used my 1/2 inch Varitas shoulder plane and my old flea market Stanley 192.
The 1/2 inch shoulder plane is a must for a small shop. It is quicker and easier than setting up a router table for one of a kind operations or cleaning up a channel or shoulder. The Stanley cost $10.00 at a flea market in Mennonite country, it had been broken and welded back together. I checked it out carefully and measured to see that it was repaired square and decided to risk ten bucks. It was money well spent. Using those two planes I grooved and smoothed the shoulders for the T-track.
End end result is awaiting a coat of wood sealer and I will be using it shortly. I have a couple of small boxes to make and the portable work top will give me a good surface to work on and let me move the whole project out of the way if I want to do something else.
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| Three very useful planes for a shop. |
The Stanley 192
and its little friend
the 1/2 inch should plane.
cheers, ianw
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