How to Cut Complex & Ogee Moulding Plane Blade Profiles

Lately I have been doing a bit more custom/complex profiles for moulding planes. I thought I would show you a bit of how I go about doing it. I don't know how the artisans of old did this. It would be interesting to see what they did. Did they cut the profile, grind it, or something else I am not thinking of. I don't guess it matters. I am not constrained by there technology and I am sure if they lived now they wouldn't constrain themselves either for any nostalgic reason. They would probably be excited to see our tooling and put it to use.

Once you have made your complex profile moulding plane with the profile cut in the sole and everything otherwise complete and fitted take your blade and coat it with machinist fluid on the top front edge of the blade, let it dry (duh!). Insert the blade in the plane. Set the wedge, then scribe the profile of the sole onto the blade. Try to do this in one pass, otherwise the scribe line gets harder to clearly see. A single fine line is much easier to track even if it isn't perfect.

Here is what I currently do to cut the profile. I know it will change some as I like to refine and tinker with my methods. I think it is what keeps me interested in the craft. Below is my setup. You need a good light for this kind of work...Oh and coffee too. :)

This is a basic jewelers saw that has a 3" capacity. It uses 5" pin less blades. Runs about $40. I cut the profile out of a blank prior to hardening. This is pretty thick material for these little saws. I first used one when I was bout 13 years old. My uncle ran a little shop that sold coins with parts cut out as jewelry and the like. It hit me one day that this would work wonders for cutting complex profiles and it does.

On a Lie-Nielsen tapered moulding plane blade the sides are "hardened" in the production process and so the jewelers saw blades won't cut them. Fortunately this is not a problem since a touch of the grinder creates a nice notch to start the blade in anyways and removes the "hardened" metal.

Now just slow and steady wins the race. The trick to getting these to cut well is to keep the blade from overheating. If it overheats then, like any other cutting tool you are used to, it will not hold an edge. Thus I use a little bit of beeswax on the back of the blade. Yes, I said the back of the blade. If you put it on the front it will clog the relief area behind the tooth and it won't cut. 

Once I do this I move onto the grinder to shape the bevel. I have a grinding wheel dressed to sort of a "V" point that is slightly rounded so I can work the hollow of the profile. Work right up to the edge but not past it. It is better to have a small area you need to remove after you harden then to have to re-profile the edge back once you harden it. 

By the way the picture is of the bevel side of the blade after hardening and tempering. As you can see all that I had to do to get it sharp was to work just the edge with some slip stones. I have seen many people describe leaving a thick edge on the blade while heat treating or otherwise the edge is weak. I have never had this problem. I think they are not heat treating properly. Very likely overheating the edge and creating poor "grain" structure in the metal which makes it weak. Anyways that is for another post. 

Dig deep. Make a complex profile moulding plane. You can do it! 

If you haven't seen it then check out my plans for an ogee moulding plane here.

Gramercy 12" Bow Saw - Review

Recently I was contemplating how to integrate more and more hand tools into my work. I like the pace and control that they impart to my work. I really don't need to rush anyhow seeing as I am not a production shop. That is when I came across this little bow saw made by Gramercy at www.toolsforwoodworking.com. I thought that this was the tool, it seemed, that might keep me away from the bandsaw for those delicate cutting situations and, alternatively, to avoid those awkward holding situations where I might shape a profile with my drawknife. Such as, a curvy handhold on a long arm bow for a continuous arm settee. Swinging that thing around while keeping it flat on a bandsaw table is not happening and to hold it at all the right angles at the shave horse, while working it with the drawknife, is sometimes asking for marred work. Below is a picture of the saw along with such a handhold spoken of.

I purchase the kit that included just the brass pins and a set of three blades for $25.95. The kit included patterns that can be downloaded from their website and suggestions on how to go about making the saw. You can, of course buy a pre made saw for $149.95.

I completed making the saw in about an hour. I did, however, make all my parts completely at the lathe just using their general dimensions. The only additional things needed besides the kit is your own wood and some braided fishing line. I chose to make my own knobs but those can be purchase as well.

So what do I think of this 12" bow saw? It is very nimble and light in the hand. It feels quite natural on the push and the pull stroke once you get comfortable with how to hold it in a variety of positions. In short I think this is one of the best values in a hand tool that I have purchased. Price/value aside I would highly recommend this saw if you will be doing any kind of cutting such as the handhold above. I even used it to cut the tight radiuses of a chair seat, like that found on the sides of a shield shape windsor seat, just to test its limits. It held up to 1-7/8" thick eastern white pine with only a little complaint. I wouldn't recommend it as the preferred tool for that size of work though. However I have a feeling I may be making one of these in a slightly larger scale, say 16" size with a customized blade, which the brass pins, by the way, allow for.

On a final note the only con was that the cross-pin in the blade, that secures it in the slot of the brass pin, broke early on in use for the course tooth blade. I think this was more a defect in the blade and unlikely to have anything related to the design or quality of the saw parts in general since the other blades have worked just fine in use.