Ugly Stick© Molding Plane Concept

So after stepping through my design considerations in my previous posts,

Concept
Bodies
Irons

I came to the task of essentially designing everything around using a small, easy to manufacture iron. After my usual sketching on random napkins for a couple of days, I had 2 promising concepts that utilized a short iron.

• First, the one shown, relies on inexpensive hardware for securing and adjusting the iron 
• Originally I planned on using barrel nuts and 1/4" holes for the 1/4-20 eyebolts which are easily grasped (and easier to come by than 4" thumbscrews) even if they are gouge-out-my-eyes pretty. After drilling the holes with my only long "1/4" drill bit did I realize that it was actually 15/64" (covered in grime) which meant I could thread the wood directly with the screw (and a bit of wax) and avoid the barrel nuts (further simplification
• Second concept uses wedged methods which I hope to get to soon (thanks also to Brian Eve who suggested looking at the Galbert shave horse for another potential wedge design)

The concept for this plane was not so much to get a working model so much as to slap something together that I could talk about with some pros at Handworks 2015.

(Insert raving about how great Handworks2015 was here, see some pics below)

While there, I was able to speak to Brian Eve , Larry Williams, Phil Edwards, & Chris Vesper about this plane. They each provided valuable information. Below are random points of discussion on the topic:

• I'm not saying it won't work, but it's a complete departure from how we do things and I'm not sure where the fitting challenges will even present themselves
• The escapment will need more room to clear the chip
• Need a blind side wall to provide repeatable registration of the iron and "yaw" control.
• Wow, that thing is ugly! You've got to do something with the eyebolts.
• Give it a try, I don't see why it inherently won't work.
• Way too much iron thickness, 1/8-3/16 max (I was using random chunk of metal in shop)
• Holding the iron during grinding and heat treat will present challenges, can't get it hot like you can with tang
• There may be a potential chip clog point where the iron meets the escapement

Many of these comments confirmed what my gut was already telling me, still it was really good to have input from experienced makers, and to actually feel like I have my toe in the door of the illustrious tool making community.

So I didn't waste any time once I got home. I ordered some O1 3/16"x2"x18" steel to take it to the next level of working beta prototype (and also provide steel for other planes). Now I just need to find a way to sneak in time on this project when I should be remodeling 50% of my house...