Sunday 13 March 2016

Floors and Tools.

Not a lot to show you. I have cut all the floors, but they will need beveling to accommodate the run of the planks when I fit them.

In the picture the floors are the darker pieces of hardwood( Iroko).



The glue has arrived from Robbins Timber I will talk about it when I use it.

I have also ordered some irons (blades) for the various planes I have made. I've been meaning to get around to ordering them for some time, like 62 years!?

I made these tools in the first year of my apprenticeship as a Shipwright at the age of 15 - 16 years. I have never used these planes - but I want to use them on Seagull.

Our instructor took us to the place where the timber was stored in racks - nicknamed The Forest. The Admiralty (Navy Dept.) believed in natural seasoning and some of the timber had stood there since Nelson's day. Here's a few photographs; all the tools shown I made... and still can't believe it!
Jack plane - 3 Hollows - a Bollow and a Smoothing plasne


A Smoothing plane - 2 Bollows - 3 Rebate Planes - Marking Gauge - Mallet




Large Square (Mahogany) - Brass Dividers - Large Dividers (Teak)

Not sure I could make them now. Interesting to note that none of the planes have warped because the Ash they were made from had stood for decades seasoning.

I should explain that the hollow planes were primarily for mast work.



5 comments:

  1. I am continually impressed by what I learn from your blog, John. The Forest? Work there from Nelson's era. Yikes.
    Your tools have an elegance that plastic parts done. I have a marking gauge and a proportional divider but they have non of your tools charm. Is the striped thingy something you plied together? Love the way it looks. Have a super week.

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  2. The striped thingy is a wood plane lying on its side. The stripes are the grain of the wood (ash).

    Enjoy your week too! Loved your bird paintings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The striped thingy is a wood plane lying on its side. The stripes are the grain of the wood (ash).

    Enjoy your week too! Loved your bird paintings.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wish I had known about this glue when I was making my vacuum vat for making large sheets of handmade paper! I had a heck of a time making the vat leak-free.

    ReplyDelete