stevenbunn Tue, 12/29/2015 - 17:25
The adjustable tail stock poppet, with the bench-screw holding a live-center
 
I have had good luck with a sliding poppet and live-center mounted in a turned bench screw on my treadle lathe. For the work involved, I think this design is easier to build than the one shown in Lynch's drawings. I still need to turn and install a handle. I drilled and reamed a morse tapered seat for a live center in the end of the threaded shaft of the bench screw.
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stevenbunn Tue, 12/29/2015 - 17:10
The Long-bed lathe's frame assembled
 
This is my version of the long-bed lathe built by Carlisle Lynch, and featured in a 1986 FWW magazine article. Lynch built his lathe using laminated 2X material to create 3 inch thick stock to create his lathe. That would be pretty inexpensive to duplicate even today. Luckily, I had enough left over 8/4 maple from a previous job to build my lathe. Twenty four-inch long lag bolts and washers and here we are. After thicknessing, my stock ended up 1-7/8 inches thick. The weight and mass of the maple more than makes up for the difference in thickness of material used by Lynch and myself.
 
I am re-using a tool rest and motor from my Sears lathe. One of the most innovative features on Lynch's design is the use of a sliding wood bar mounted on the front bed rail, which engages the electric on/off switch, to act as an emergency kill switch. When I first read Lynch's article, I misinterpreted the drawing and thought the bar was a routed groove in the bed rail. I spent a lot of time wondering what purpose it served. Having stood beside the 10+ foot long lathe, it is obvious that if I got a sleeve tangled in a turning while working at the lathe, there would be no way to reach the off switch. So one of today's tasks is to make and install this saftey feature.
 
The belt driven drive shaft is made up from components I have picked up on-line. I purchased one-inch diameter steel pipe from McMaster-Carr. The one-inch bore flange bearings came via Amazon. And the step pulley came from Ebay. All for around $100. I am having a local machine shop drill out a morse tapered seat and cut RH and LH threads on the 18-inch steel tube. The machine shop costs will end up being the largest cost involved in building the lathe.
 
Lynch specified the use of one-inch diameter steel pipe and components in his article. While searching for a one-inch bore four step pulley all I could find that were commercially available today were pulleys which were of 5/8 or 3/4-inch diameter. No one seems to carry one-inch bore pulleys any more. I was lucky to find one on Ebay, and happily paid the "buy it now" price to grab it. Something to keep in mind if you want to build one of these lathes for yourself.
 
One final note. Sizing and tolerences! When dry fitting the components I puchased, I found that the pulley easily fit the steel tube from McMaster-Carr. The flange bearings were a no-go. No amount of Steve force was going to make the bearings fit the tube. Massive frustration insued!  Re-checking the steel specifications in the MacMaster-Carr catalog I found a note telling me that the tubing was produced with a plus or minus tolerance of .0005 inch. My piece of steel was on the heavy end of the curve. I figured that my machine shop bill was going to get much higher as I saw no alternative but to ask the shop to turn down the steel on a metal lathe. A good night's sleep, and I seemed to remember that Lynch discribed a similar problem. He reduced the diameter of his pipe by turning his pipe on a lathe and using a flat file work down the diameter. Ten minutes work on the lathe in the morning created wooden plugs which fit the ends of a spare piece of cut-off steel tube. The plugs allowed me to mount the pipe on the centers of my wood lathe and some cautious turning while working the steel with a file resulted in a prefect fit. I am pretty sure that my former editor at American Woodworker would have had a case of the vapors if I had put that in an article.
 
Have a great day. Thank you for stopping by. STB
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stevenbunn Thu, 12/17/2015 - 16:24
Maple stock picked out for my long-bed lathe project
 
The miniature Windsors are assembled. I took a break from final sanding the little chairs and dug a bunch of 8/4 maple out of my pile of left over extras from earlier projects. I found enough maple in the pile to cause me to change my mind about using ash for the lathe. I am just shy of enough 8/4 for the entire assembly. So I decided to use some 5/4 maple, which I will  laminate together to make the feet on the vertical posts at each end of the lathe, and the sliding poppet that will be the tail-stock. I will continue to post pictures as I work my way through the project. Lynch used glued-up 2x10's, and 2x8's for his lathe stock which he thicknessed to 3 inches. My stock is going to end up a shade under two inches in thickness after I clean it up. So I am going to alter Lynch's plans a bit as I go along. Stay tuned. STB
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stevenbunn Tue, 12/15/2015 - 16:44

No one has complained that I haven't posted an update to the blog for several weeks. Never-the-less, I thought I should bring all of my imaginary readers up to date. So here goes. Nineteen plane bodies are sitting unfinished on my bench, because some one actually asked me to do some paying work. And other orders have come in, plus another of my hare-brained projects has intruded on my dim brain. Right now I am finishing up four of my miniature Windsors for a long time customer. Several other orders for adult scale chairs will start in the new year. Photos of the miniatures may be found by scrolling down through earlier posts.

I made the mistake of checking the latest issue of Fine Woodworking out from the library two weeks ago. Two articles grabbed me for different reasons. The cover article was on building a Shaker work-bench. Interesting, but painful to read because Popular Woodworking has sat on the Shaker Work-bench article I wrote for American Woodworker for two years. PW acquired my article when they bought American Woodworker. I think my bench is better looking than the one built by two of FWW's editors. But no one will ever know because, well because...A really great article that was only a few months away from publication disappeared into the uncaring maw of another magazine with a completely different editorial mindset. Now, even if by a miracle, PW decided that they wanted to publish the article, the wouldn't because a rivial woodworking magazine has just published a similar article. Bummmer!!!! And other words unfit for publication. Again if you scroll down through the blog to some of my first posts you will find photos of the Shaker bench. An earlier, larger Shaker bench of mine was featured in a 1994 FWW article. Check my articles published page for the exact issue number.

At the back of the latest FWW issue, the editors highlighted a number of earlier articles from the mid-80's written by woodworkers who had built thier own versions of woodworking machinery, because of cost. I loved Carlisle Lynch's home-made long-bed lathe. I remember the article. I had wanted to build one for myself at the time, 1986, but my metal working skills were nill. I kept that issue on top of the pile til they all migrated to the recycling barn. Re-reading Lynch's article fired me up to make my own version of his lathe. I have 10 foot plus lengths of ash sitting in the shop, and most of the hardware was available throught McMaster-Carr or Amazon. Four-step pulleys with a one inch bore seem to have became extinct since 1986. I snagged one on ebay. So as soon as the miniatures are shipped, I am starting on a long-bed lathe. I will post pictures along the way.

One more gripe with the modern woodworking publishing world. FWW used to sell back issues for a small fee. Now every article is available on line. Well and good, until you read the part about registering for an initial fee of $79.95, with a yearly re-newal fee of $19.99. I was immediately bemoaning haven taken all my past issues to the dump, urrr, recycling. Ebay came to the rescue again. There is a guy selling old issues of FWW, two consecitive issues for $9.00, no shipping charges. Three days after ordering the FWW issue with Lynch's lathe article, I was reading the magazine while sitting in front of the wood stove. Amazing.

Thank you for stopping by. STB

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stevenbunn Sat, 11/21/2015 - 18:53
Medium chair-maker plane with tote, Stanley #2 bench plane for size comparision
 
After thinking about it as I wrote last night's post, I decided to go ahead and cut another 1/2 inch off the length of the plane. This would allow the front edge of the tote's foot to fall in line with the rear edge of the bed. The shortened body would also make it easier to fit the curves of the sole into tighter radiuses when scooping out a seat saddle. This morning, I tapped the tote back out of it's sliding dove-tailed channel. Then I cross-cut a 1/2 inch off the heel of the stock at a 20 degree angle. I reshaped the curves at the rear of the sole, then reset the tote in it's dove-tailed slot. The plane is exactly 7-5/8 inches in length, identical to the Stanley #2 bench plane as shown in the picture above. I have added a piece of 1/8th inch thick scrap to represent the plane iron, and the trial wedge to give you a clearer idea of what the finished plane will look like. I have not yet set a strike button in the nose of the plane, but I haven't forgotten it. And naturally the camera has picked up every sanding scratch on the prototype. Bother!!!
Have a good night. STB
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stevenbunn Thu, 11/19/2015 - 19:32
Prototype medium chair-maker plane with tote
 
Recent visitors will know that I have been working on another batch of my small chair-maker's planes. These started to sell on ebay, and now all of the first batch have sold. At the same time, I have been pondering making a new variant of the large chair-maker plane I made two years ago. That design came about because I wanted to incorporate both a wider plane iron, two inches, and a handle or tote to the body. The stock ended up being nine inches in length. It's larger body successfully fit the curves of my chair seats. But it was still a little clunky, and not quite right. So it has been sitting on the shelf for a while. My interest in antique hand-saws got me hooked on the shape and feel of the early handle profiles. The good news is that there are several websites on hand-saws which provide templates of both English and American saw handle profiles. This led me down the rabbit hole. For two weeks I tried a variety of handle shapes, seven to be exact, on a new plane body. Looking for an ideal blend of form, balance, and arc of cut. I narrowed things down to two possible handle designs. But I was concerned about the overall weight of the design. The plane which was sized to take a two-inch wide blade was about the length of a #3 Stanley bench plane. I made another prototype whose length was based on the Stanley #2, as seen the the photo posted above. This plane's stock was sized to fit a 1-1/2 inch wide blade. Balancing the two new planes in my hands, I pretty much knew that the smaller of the two had the better feel to it. When I drew my plans for the plane, I was considering using a plane iron whose length was, like most Stanleys, at least as high as the height of the tote. To keep the blade from interferring with the tote, or perhaps it's clearer to say, to keep the tote from interferring with the removal of the plane blade, the body had to be lengthened a half inch so the tote could be set back more to the rear. After playing with the prototype, I have gone back to the idea of using a shorter iron on this design. This will let me shorten the body by that half inch. The tote is mounted to the stock using a sliding dove-tail joint. Shortening the plane brings it back to the length of the #2 Stanley, which I like. You can see in the photo above that the foot of the tote can be moved forward easily so that it is in line with the bed of the plane iron. It doesn't show up clearly in this photo, but the heel of the stock is cut at a 20 degree angle, and with the sweep of the bottom curve bares a strong resemblance to a classic clipper transom. A nice detail. The tote is modeled on the tote of the Stanley #2. On the tote stock shown in the back ground of the photo, I have increased the height of the foot of the tote, returning to the original pattern of the Stanley tote. I am still playing with the idea of either rounding the end of the tote's foot, as on the original, or cutting the end of the foot to an angle matching the plane iron bed, and having the foot butt up against the rear of the iron.
Thanks for stopping by. STB
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stevenbunn Fri, 10/23/2015 - 07:49
Disston 7 handsaw, with early 1861-65 medallion, a nice find
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stevenbunn Tue, 10/20/2015 - 20:46
Forming the throat on a chair-maker's plane
 
This past weekend I shaped the rounded soles on this batch of small chair-maker's planes. That was the subject of my last post. Before I shaped the convex profile on the plane body blanks, I roughly chopped out as much material from the throat of each plane as I thought I could get away with. With the lateral curve not yet created, I didn't want to chop to deep. On the other hand, the plane body is a lot easier to clamp to the bench when the bottom surface is still flat. The plane's small size and curved  sole makes paring the throat a chore. To make this task more managable I made a jig to hold the plane stock steady as I formed the throat with a set of chisels. The jig consists of a four sided box, with a curved bed cut to fit the profile of my small plane. When clamped to my bench, the box securely holds one of the plane bodies as I pare the throat. Dispite all this prep work, I am going to have to do some final fitting and shaping of the throat when I fit the blade. Typically the mouth of the plane is going to need to be opened a little wider and the straight slot of the mouth formed in the glue up of the body opened up in a slight curve to match the curve ground on the iron. So the throat is still going to require some final tweaking.
Beech has a tendency to break out when pared with a chisel. To help keep this under control I have fitted a throw away temporary wedge in the throat to give my chisel something to cut up against. This limits grain break out at the mouth of the plane.
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stevenbunn Sun, 10/18/2015 - 19:55
Shaping the convex sole of a chair-makers plane
 
It has been an interesting week. Two weeks ago I called around to my usual hardwood suppliers asking if they had on hand, or could order, beech or boxwood. Up now I have made the majority of my handplanes using quartersawn cherry. The beech I am using in the laminated body of the chair-makers plane was cut on a neighbor's property. All well and good, but I need to establish a more reliable supply. The word I got back from a number of dealers was that both species of wood was unobtainable. I was able to purchase some quartersawn cherry, which was a start. Then I remembered friends of mine mentioning a guy up country who carried hundreds of species of exotic hardwoods.
Thursday found me driving two hours north to Mexico, Maine, on the lookout for Rare Woods, USA. Rare Woods does indeed carry almost two-hundred species of imported hardwood. I walked by pallet loads of wood species I have never seen before. I could have spent the day there, but focus, focus! There is nothing nicer than being able to personally inspect and rummage through a pile of quatersawn european beech looking for, and finding exactly what I wanted. Boxwood was pricey, $10.00 a pound. The chunk I bought cost me over $100.00. But, all in all, it was worth it, as the piece of wood should provide enough boxing material for a lot of planes. On top of what was already a great day, I found out that the owner of Rare Woods also sells antique tools which he picks up at auction. I walked out the door with an early Disston #7, with split-nuts, a Henry Disston, no son or sons, etching on the blade, and a Disston eagle medallion which dates the saw to 1860-1865. A great find for $19.00.
 
Back in the shop. Yes I did finally have to leave Mexico. The drive there and back was beautiful, trees at the height of fall color, and next to no traffic. My small chair-maker planes listed on ebay have started to sell. So I started work on another batch of ten of the planes. The stock is glued up using tiger maple for the cheeks and american beech for the in-fill pieces. In the photo above I have rounded the convex curves on the sole of one of the planes using a spoke-shave. To save my back from bending over all day, I am using the small detail bench, made earlier this year, which clamps to my large work-bench. A good day work.
Thanks for dropping by.
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stevenbunn Wed, 10/14/2015 - 11:18
Steve demonstrating the use of a spring-pole lathe at the fair
 
Naturally, I forgot my camera. This shot was taken by Ann when she arrived mid-morning. The lathe was swamped for three days. I encourage fair visitors to try the lathe out. This way they get a sense of what turning parts for furniture or chairs meant in terms of physical work in the 1800s. Ann of course, picked a time when the crowds around the lathe were sparse, so you can't judge the degree of interest from this shot. Thank you again to MOFGA member and fair volunter Jimmy Stewart, who acted as both a demonstrator, and interpreter working with scores of people showing on-lookers how the lathe works and talking each inexperienced user through all the details of stance, tool positioning, amd balance. Jim has been kind enough to volunter as my helper on the lathe for the last three years. His presence has allowed me to demonstrate Windsor chair-making without being torn away every few minutes to answer questions about the lathe.
 
I haven't posted anything much for the past few weeks as I have been revising many of my designs for my wooden hand-planes. I have arrived at a satisfactory look for my hollow and round planes. This past weekend I reworked my side-rounding and snipes bill plane planes. Like a lot of plane-makers, I have found that locating  a reliable  source of Beech is a hunt for the holy grail. I am currently using beech cut off a friend's property locally. He has kindly offered to let me cut some beech trees out of his wood lot. Which is great, except when I try to figure out when this is going to fit into schedule. Then the cut and split wood has to dry. All of the hardwood dealers I normally talk to tell me that they can't get Beech. I finally found a dealer up in the wilds of the Maine woods who says he has quarter-sawn european beech and boxwood available. Looks like I am going for a long car trip in the next couple of days.
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