The joinery is as follows: The bottom and top part of the carcase are to be dovetailed, that means these parts must be the full length of the cabinet. The inside shelves are dadoes in the side, glued & screwed. Their lengths are then the inside dimensions (3X11=33 plus dividers 1/4 X 10 = 2-1/2 in)
35-1/2 plus whatever needed for the dadoes depth. In my case, 36 in.
The depth of the cabinet was determined arbitrarily at 10 in to accommodate my longest woodies
The dividers will also be housed in shallow dadoes so I can rearrange them as needed.
Knowing the bottom part dimensions, the height of the top angled part can be guesstimated by simple proportion, whatever look right. Of course, that is not enough, it is now time to experiment with tilting our longest planes. I did a quick check on line to see what others have been using, but did not saw much angles specified. Within my parameters, length of stock I had (It is all build from scrap wood lying around), and overall dimension desired, it quickly became obvious that planes longer than 24 in would not be accommodated. No problems, will simply have to come up with another till :-)
In the end, the angle I worked out, turned out to be at 22 degrees (from the vertical) and it will accommodates only up to 22 inches (Stanley No 7). Anything steeper I was not comfortable with, worrying about my planes safety unless I somehow secured them.
That reduced my storage requirements down to 7 from 9, or did it? :-)
Mocking up the planes side by side, inserting spacers in between, we find out that about 24 in of space is required. What to do with the remainder 11-1/2 in or so of space?
Well there are also spokeshaves! They would fit the bill nicely and are used for smoothing curves so they compliment our planes usage.
Again, utilizing what I have on hand, 1/4 in plywood would be used for the dividers and for the 2 angled platforms. Being thin and the loads they will support heavy (the planes part anyway) they would need beefy support underneath. Now that angled tray is leaving a lot of unused space behind, which could be accessed if I was to make those trays hinged, but I'm not too keen on manhandling the heavy plane tray. I suppose I could use gas struts, but I rather make that part fixed and add middle support. The trays will also be stiffened by gluing a maple border trim, rabbeted in the edges.
The small tray will be hinged and I will put in shelves inside to gain some storage, I'm thinking for putting in my spare blades? I will also work out some means to hold the tray up, something akin to my car hood.
So now I know my final height dimension is 44 in which is roughly 21-1/2 for the bottom and 22-1/2 for the top and I will cut some sort of Ogee on the sides for a nicer look on the angle top part of the sides. My original proportions are respected and it will hold all of 52 plus planes nicely, I'm happy lets go cut some wood.
I will spare you the boring parts, lets just say that I glued up my scrap wood to make up the width/length required. I always make the parts longer and wider than needed so I can trim them to size later and avoid the dreaded snipes. YES, I cheated and utilises the machines at the wood shop on the base: Radial Arm Saw, Tablesaw (dado blade), Jointer, Planer, Bandsaw and Oscillating Drum sander for the ogees. Sure makes for quick work, but yes, I could have done all this using only my handtools. But did I mentioned that I am impatient? :-)
Next part we put it all together try the planes for fit and figure out the small details
Bob
No comments:
Post a Comment