The moulding iron jig part deux

Another day, where, I did not got shop time until later in the day. That's one thing about working with hand tools, it is quiet  (well at least there are no screaming universal motors) and it is therapeutic, Hommmmmmmm :-)

First I cleaned up my fluffy shavings mess from yesterday, oops, here goes an universal motor, my Shop Vac!

Regarding my problem with the narrow groove yesterday...
Decided to just move the fence over by another 1/8, so put in /2 plus 1/8 pieces together to reset the fence. Then recut the groove and tested with an assortments of irons, they all fit, from narrowness to widest

The board was then cut to rough length, twice. Just because, I wanted to play with my saws and my new bench :-)
First with my Disston No D23 8 TPI crosscut on my saw bench, using my removable fence. Not a bad cut for a saw tweaked for hardwood (think fleam).
Then cut closer to required dimension with my Craftsman miter box, sitting on top of the saw bench. Humm, that work but barely, the bench is not quite wide enough, the box move and becomes tippy. I finish my cut on the floor. I may revisit that setup by mounting the box on a board first. Unless I built a dedicated miter box station (unlikely) my mitre boxes would be mounted on some sort of boards anyway. Maybe a bench hook type of affair?

The cut, off the miter box was not too far off being square, should be easily tweaked on the saw set.

Then I knifed the wall for the wider recessed platform at one end of the groove and used a wide chisel to quickly pared it down. Now tried my irons again...

Only new problem to surface is the length of the recessed platform to support the blade profile. Some smaller iron are too far in when shoulder is engaged at the back. But if I cut it shorter, the bigger ones would have too much unsupported. Just goes to show, again, that there are wide differences between various wooden molding planes, the tangs and profiles are all over the places, even within a small selection like those from mine and Ralph's. If you built one, check your irons first!

While I ponder that question, I may as well moved on to the next step, fitting the clamp.

By a pure coincidence, the tip of my available clamp (stolen from drill press table) fit perfectly inside my groove, so that is what I did. This way I can grip solidly any tang that lays in the groove regardless of width or position.

My board being pine, (left over from saw bench skirt) I pre-drilled 

the holes for the 2 screws holding it down.

 Keeping with all hand tools approach, I used a gimlet.

Tried my selection of irons they all get gripped solidly, regardless of position in the groove or their width.  

Now time to check on the sliding metal stop, on its length and holes locations.

Widest iron in place. I can use the farthest hole on the left.

Sample narrow, Still got room to move in more, so next hole on right is perfect.

Also tried this set up. That pushed the profile far enough out so I can access it all with my sharpening media. That would also work if I push it far enough to touch the other groove wall. That would still be within the range afforded by my holes location. 

My experiments tell me that if I use the last 2 holes on the left of the mending bar, I have sufficient room. I now know how long to cut the piece and how big a slot to cut into.

I got the rest of my hardware at "Home Despot" today in my travel back and forth to my friend.

At the store I took the time to grab a similar mending bar that I got already to make sure the screws would fit.

Well, would you know it, my bar had its holes shrunk in storage apparently caused my screws don't quite fit :-)

 So now I need to cut a slot in my bar between the two holes, then I'll cut it to length and install it.

And that's obviously part 3, cause its time for my nap, then a cold one :-)

Bob, working at a leisurely pace.