Plough Plane Iron

Regular reader, Ralph, requested that I make him a special iron for his Record plough plane. "Of course," says I.
I'll try anything once, right?

After a few emails, we made sure we were speaking the same language, and I got to work. I had to work quick, because my day job popped an emergency on me, and if I wanted Ralph to get his iron in a reasonable amount of time, I had to get it done fast.

A special width of .207". It's 3/16" thick, 3 1/2 long, A2 tool steel. The sides of the iron are beveled at 2 degrees...and that's the tricky bit...

Now...in order to make the blade, I decided to make a fixture. This is so that I can repeat the 2 degree side bevels. It is also set up to clamp different blade widths beyond the .207" blade. This pic is from the final step of making the fixture.

The completed fixture. The bottom of the fixture is milled at a 2 degree angle. With the blade clamped inside, the mill will cut the angle with no further input from me. Stable and repeatable.

Making chips!!!

Once the sawing and milling was all done, I got it into the kiln. After heat treat, I had enough time left tonight to clean it up and grind the primary bevel. A fun project, got to learn a few things, make myself a new tool, and most importantly: make a tool for a fellow craftsman.

Thanks, Ralph, for another opportunity!!!