Some steps forwards and some steps back.

I destroyed the 3018 CNC router by trying to fit a more concentric collet chuck to the spindle. This moved the motor bearings. Given how problematic this thing has been I’m reluctant to spend more money on it.

So I’ve been trying to do the plates by hand. On the whole this has been more successful than using the CNC, given the CNC’s habbit of self destruction taking the wood with it. By hand is almost as fast and less liable to destroy the workpiece. I’ve been using a large gouge bought second hand on EBay plus a plane I made myself.

I’ve bent the sides round the mold – this was easy enough. Hair curlers work very well! I did it in two sections, leaving it overnight clamped to the mold to dry out.

I need a couple of small planes for finishing soundboards. These are expensive so I figured that the best thing to do was make my own.

The blade is a strip of gauge plate or ground flat stock – O1 carbon steel in unhardened form, readily available from EBay. I’ve had this bit lying around for years left over from something else. Being unhardened it is easy to shape with hacksaw and file.

I didn’t measure anything on this other than the angle of the bed of the blade (45º). The pictures should show how it all goes together.

The wood is oak from an old chair leg, cut on the bandsaw and sanded to a good finish.