READERS PROJECT
I received a letter from TJ in West Virginia last week and wanted to share it with you. TJ recently made a Kerfing Plane and Frame Saw following plans from my book, The Unplugged Woodshop. He really did a fantastic job putting his own style into the Kerfing Plane with its carved elements. The tools look great TJ, and after watching you video I see they work great too!
Thanks again for sharing these with us and all the best in your Unplugged journey~
Kerfing Plane with scroll and butterfly details
Good Day Mr. Fidgen,
I really enjoyed working my way through this project. I somewhat took a different path with both of the builds. On the stretchers for the Frame saw I over sized them just a touch so that it would allow for 3/8″ thick double tenons rather than 1/4″. Simply due to the fact that a 3/8″ mortise chisel is all that I own for mortise work. Also, I had some issues with the double tenons pulling the mid section out of the Mortise when I did the dry fitting. This was easily remedied by adding a light shot of CA glue and allowing it to soak in to the grain and set up prior to assembly of the joint.While constructing the Kerfing plane, mid way through the project I decided to carve the fore end of the plane to give it a more “aerodynamic” look, if you will. As work progressed in to the fence, I used a very hard block of beeswax to secure the wood screws in to the plane body. I did this by heating up the block of thick wax and applied it to the first few threads of the screws. While the wax on the screws was still warm I threaded them in to their final position. Once the wax hardened, it prevented the screws from turning as the nuts were being adjusted. This semi-permanent wax application will allow for rework of the screws if they become damaged or broken later down the road. Finally, when I attached the guide block to the fence, I decided to add the Padauk double dovetails (bow ties). I don’t believe that the additional structure is necessary for the edge joint, but I do like the appeal of dovetails so I add them when possible. After I had my holes bored and the bow-ties in place I realized that I had carelessly made the entire fence for the wrong side. I am not left handed, so I decided to scarf in a patch for my two miss drilled holes. Along with that, my initial finish mixture was too rich and it made the plane body look much glossier than i had hoped. With that said, the plane and the saw work great together and my mistakes were only cosmetic and did not hinder their performance in the least.Thank you Mr. Fidgen, and I hope that you continue to put out creative and inspirational material.All the best-TJ
Kerfing Plane saw plate side
Kerfing Plane and Frame Saw
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