Millers Falls - Buck Rogers Handplanes - A Small Review

There has been a necessary pause in the chest of drawers, but I have been asked about the Millers Falls planes that appear in the build, so I will do a small review of them.

These are the Millers Falls 714 and 709 bench planes.

Like most Millers Falls Planes, the "14" and "09" refer to the planes' nominal length in inches - 14 inches and 9 inches respectively. So these are a jack plane - 714, and a smoothing plane - 709.

These are a part of a small range of similarly styled handtools that included a drill, hacksaw, small push drill, chisels, brace and a few others. They were made and sold during the 1950's when the design was considered futuristic, and the nickname comes from a science fiction character of the period.

There were only ever the two planes in the series, with some small variations between "types".

The earlier planes had a smooth rounded toe like the 714 shown, while the later type showed minor changes and had a painted and moulded toe - such as the 709 here.  Evidently they were not big sellers in their day and production only lasted about ten years or so

There is a solid heft to both planes that gives confidence to the cut, but they are well balanced and don't feel heavy.

My 714 has been well used, and it shows in body scratches and gouges as well as a shortened blade from sharpening.

A Closer Look at Specifications

The handles are more angular and upright than the more sinuous curves of some wooden handled planes, yet they are practical in use, if not as comfortable in the hand.

The rear handle (tote) is fully integrated with the frog, such that adjusting the position of the frog forward or back, moves the handle too. This is something like the handle/frog unit on current Veritas bevel down bench planes. There is no frog adjuster screw, but pushing the handle is simply done to move the frog if necessary.

In practice, this is a non issue as the quality of shavings and the smoothness of cut are more determined by blade and chip breaker alignment than anything else.

The mouth is clean with a gently scalloped curve flowing towards the front knob. It is aesthetically pleasing as well as allowing quick escapement of shavings without any jamming.

A great deal of attention has been given to the design of the blade, cap-iron/chipbreaker and lever cap.

They are homogeneous in their gentle curves and live happily together as a single design unit. I find them to be a thing of quiet beauty in their own right.  None of this impacts on their utility and functionality, and they perform very nicely indeed.

Millers Falls continued with their hinged lever cap design for this plane, similar to their other bench planes. It is articulated, so that the blade and cap-iron unit below the lever cap screw, is supported over is whole area.  It is a very stable and practical solution to eliminating/controlling blade chatter. It would also be a more expensive manufacturing option than the simple lever caps of Stanley and others - and a sign of a premium tool.

While comparing with a Stanley plane, it is obvious that the Millers Falls blade has a shorter usable cutter life, this being one of the constraints of the integrated design brief.  On top of that, replacement blades are going to be a a pain in proverbial to find, and may have to be bespoke.

The standard Millers Falls Blade is obviously thicker than the equivalent Stanley.

The steel is excellent, and it takes and holds a keen edge. No complaints at all there.

Two things stand out in the design of the frog. One is the obvious size of the depth adjuster wheel - a full 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Stanleys started with depth adjusters of one inch, and finished with 1-1/4 inches  See the comparison in the photo below where the Falcon F5 has the same sized adjuster as the original Stanley.

The mechanical advantage conferred by this 1-1/2 inch diameter wheel makes adjusting the blade depth a one finger operation, and as easy as pie.

Secondly, the shape of the depth adjuster lever shows an elliptical curve on the top and the bottom to prevent binding in the blade slot, and to make adjusting the blade smoother. This is a much mentioned feature of the Woodriver bench planes currently being sold. Clearly, it is a design feature that is at least seventy years old.

In terms of size, the 714 is the same length as a standard jack plane.

Here it is next to a Falcon F5, but a Stanley is the same length.

The 709 on the other hand is not the same length as a number 4. The Stanley No 4 smoother is shorter even though it has the same width blade.

In fact it is the same length as a 4-1/2 even though it does not have the mass of such.

Here it shown against the 4-1/2 and the number 4 for comparison.

In terms of mass, the 714 and the standard number 5 bench plane are near identical - tipping the scales at around 4-1/2 pounds each.

The smoothers are vastly different:

The 709 is near 4 pounds.

The Stanley number 4 is a mere 3lbs 6oz - making the Millers Falls smoothing plane over 18% heavier.

While this is not the same mass as a 4-1/2, it makes a big difference when using the same sized blade of 2 inches.  The 709 is just sooooo easy to push.

A good test of any smoothing plane body/blade combination is how it handles grain. Here the 709 has planed flat a butterfly crack-checker on the inside of a drawer carcass.  It had to plane with and across the grain simultaneously. Not too shabby at all.

Below, it handles long smoothing tasks like the side of this carcass with full even shavings, leaving a finish that needs little to no more work.

Just to wrap this up - the planes are striking in their design, and more than competent in their functionality.  They have some outstanding features that make them easy to use and a pleasure in the hand.

If you come across one - you might like to acquire it and enjoy the experience - as I have.

Back to the chest of drawers in the near future.....................

..................and happy shavings to all.

 Building a Small Chest of Drawers - Part 3

Hand cut Dovetails

The top of the carcass will be joined to the sides with through dovetails.

I cut the tails into the top and carefully chisel out the waste.

A coping saw removes most of the waste, and the remainder is done with sharp chisels.

Here is the finished top showing tails on both sides.

I use the finished top as the template for the pins in each side.

I like to clamp this in place while I mark out with a sharp marking knife.

Carefully mark all the waste to be removed.

It sounds so elementary, but it is so easy to remove the wrong parts - .............don't ask!

The pins are straight, so a small marking square is all that's needed to finish the layout.

I like to establish a shallow shoulder with a chisel, that creates a clean line to work towards.

As the waste is chiseled out I try to create a slight undercut, so that there is nothing protruding to stop the tails from sitting snug.

A skew chisel is a great aid in cleaning out the angled base of the pins.

I made this one from an old Jenbolaget chisel. Swedish steel is always good and holds a keen edge

Once the tails are cleaned up it's time for a trial fit.

I know some say not to trial fit but to glue up immediately, but I still have some work to do to the bottom in establishing where the feet will go, and I want to temporarily clamp some web frames to the carcass to test for square.

In part 4 I'll assemble the carcass

Happy shavings to all

 Building a Small Chest of Drawers - Part 2

Finishing the Web Frames

The web frames will support the drawers and also help to brace the carcass.

Here are four having a dry fit before glue-up.

There are eight sets of drawers, so eight web frames.

Glue up is always a little tense for me, and checking for square is always important - as the clamps can sometimes rack the frame out of alignment.

Six done - with the last two in the clamps.

The drawers themselves will alternate, starting with a pair of drawers at the top followed by a single drawer, then a double, a single and so on to the bottom of the carcass. So four sets of double drawers and four singles.

The Carcass

I've already cut the sides and the top to size, and I like to bring the surface as close to finish as I can before assembly, as it is so much easier to plane it that way.

Here, the smoother gives a glass like finish to the leading edge of the sides. It's always a delight to get a full length shaving when doing this.

Dovetailing the Top of the Carcass

I have a Gifkins jig which I will use to dovetail the drawers, but the top and sides of the carcass are far too big to be handled by that little jig. So I have decided to use hand cut dovetails here.

A few simple tools are used to lay out the tails and the pins.

The top will hold the tails, and the sides - the pins.

 

The scribed line is just a bee's whisker thicker than the width of the side.

I lay out the tails with a pair of dividers after drawing the lines for the half pins at the ends.

I use a simple template to draw the tails, then cut with a dovetail saw after marking out the waste.

Next time - finishing the tails and cutting the pins

..... and happy shavings to all

Tom

 Building a Small Chest of Drawers Part 1

Well it's been a while, and life has gotten in the way, but I'm finally able to continue some contributions to my journey in woodworking.

This little project was born out of a confluence of disparate stimuli - a gift for the love of my life, a picture of a small chest of drawers seen in a book, and the opportunity presented by covid19 lockdowns.

With nothing but the picture to go from, no plans or exact dimensions, it fell to trial and error to establish sizing, proportions and layout.

For the carcass, I wanted something in a lighter coloured timber - as this is my wife's preference, and I chose southern silky oak - grevillia robusta.  I knew that we had some rough milled boards over at the Woodworkers Guild timber yard, and I thought that I might be able to get the sizes that I wanted out of those.

For the drawer fronts I will look for a complementary colour - but not too dark - more on that later. The bodies of the drawers themselves will look good in kauri or hoop pine - I might have enough in my shed if I use both.

Laying out the stock

I dressed the timber through the club planer, and finished preliminary planing of the faces by hand to a thickness of 20mm. A number 5 followed by a number 4 sized plane works well, and with sharp blades silky oak is a pleasure to plane.

Some of this timber will be further cut down for drawer web frames, so those knots and knarly bits will become waste.

Since the sizing of the drawers will be the most important part of the aesthetics of this piece, I will make the drawer web frames first. These support the drawers and tie the carcass together.

Making the Drawer Web Frames

I am careful to choose the best pieces for the front of the web frames, with the less handsome timber making up the sides and the backs - as these won't be seen.

The fronts and backs of the web frames are morticed. While I like cutting mortices and tenons by hand, there are a lot to do here, so a router and a jig work best for me.

I used my home-made router table and a simple jig to cut the mortices in the ends.

The jig was re- arranged to cut the centre mortices.

The web frames are not very long, but they need the middle rails as every second drawer will be a pair of doubles, and they need runners, as well as supports at the top for when they are fully open.

The sides and centre rails are measured, and tenons cut on each end. I have a couple of old tenon saws that are comfortable and a pleasure to use. This Spear and Jackson is my favourite. The handle isn't as old-school as some, but it is a joy in the hand.

I found this little Disston at the bottom of a rusty box of old tools and iron scraps that was gifted to me. It has a pitted blade, and the handle had sat in the rusting goop for so long that it has been ebonised on one side. It is small, and has the most teeth per inch of my tenon saws. It still cuts like a dream.

Because the mortices were cut with a router, the ends are rounded. I find it easier to round out the tenons than to square up the mortices, so this is done with a sharp chisel.

Sometimes the tenons need refining in thickness as well for a snug fit. A small shoulder plane is perfect for this, and this little Stanley gets the job done. While not as pretty as the Records, Prestons and others, this Stanley fits my hand well and is easy to manage one handed.

I am careful to label all matching mortices and tenons as it is easy to mix them up.

Here is a trial fit - not too shabby.

Looks pretty snug to me - hope they are all this good.

More on the web frames in Part 2

Happy shavings to all

Tom

Building A Wooden Deck

Crikey - what a busy year.
So much so that I have not posted here for some months.

The latest construction effort came about because of necessity - repairs to an existing deck turned into a full blown deck re-building project.

I will comment on the stages when I find time, but for the moment, here are some progress pictures that will show its development.