Patent Publication Number: US-2010107428-A1

Title: Woodworking plane with adjustable handle

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/110,772 filed Nov. 3, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to woodworking planes, including bench planes, block planes, and scraper planes, and, in particular, it relates to woodworking planes having adjustable handles. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Woodworking planes are devices that hold a blade so that it can be used on a workpiece, usually with a portion of the holder, often called the “sole,” in contact with the workpiece during use. Such holders were first made of wood, and some continue to be made at least partially of wood. Plane bodies began in the 19th century to be made of metal, and metal continues to be used, including cast iron, brass, bronze, ductile iron and other metals and alloys. 
     Bench planes, block planes, molding planes and many other planes utilize a blade held that has a cutting arris formed by intersecting bevels or by the intersection of a bevel with one side or face of the plane blade, and the blade “leans backward” in use, oriented to make a slicing cut with the blade positioned so that the cutting arris is the forward-most portion of the blade as the plane moves relative to and in contact with the workpiece. 
     Scraper planes, by contrast, use a blade typically having a cutting “hook” formed by sharpening the blade to have an arris that is then “turned” with a burnisher so that a tiny portion of the arris faces forward with the scraper blade “leaning forward” so that, in use, the forward-most portion of the blade is the blade top or end remote from the portion in contact with workpiece. As is explained and illustrated in  The Complete Guide to Sharpening , Lee, Leonard (Taunton Press 1995) at page 139-40, scraper planes hold a scraper blade inclined toward the direction of travel during use. The bevel angle on a scraper plane blade is usually 45 degrees, although some are 30 degrees. (Page 139). 
     Larger planes typically are held and manipulated by handles, sometimes located to either side of the plane but more frequently front and back, such as a knob in the front and a handle or tote in the rear. Such handles are typically fixed in position on the plane body, and, indeed, are sometimes formed as part of the plane body. Smaller planes such as block planes may not have handles but often have knobs or protrusions or recesses to facilitate grasping, manipulating and applying force to the plane during use, often with contact between the user&#39;s palm and the knob or protrusion. 
     Plane handles are sometimes adjustable. Adjustable handles are typically used in planes intended to be used with both the sole and one side of the plane in contact with portions of a workpiece oriented at 90 degrees to each other. Such planes include, for example, some shoulder planes, Stanley carriage maker&#39;s rabbit plane model 10¼ and Stanley scraper plane models 85 and 87. Adjustable handles for such tools are desirable in order to facilitate manipulation and control of the plane in a variety of different situations that may involve differing access to the plane and its handles. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One embodiment of this invention provides a woodworking plane having an adjustable handle or palm rest that can be pivoted: (1) “forward and backward,” partially around an axis transverse to the plane&#39;s longitudinal axis and parallel to the plane sole, and (2) “side to side,” partially around an axis parallel to, or roughly parallel to, the direction of plane travel. 
     This adjustable handle or palm rest can be utilized in a bench plane, a block plane and other types and configurations of planes. 
     For instance, this adjustable handle or palm rest can be utilized in a is a small scraping plane that, optionally, includes a camber screw for adjustable contact with the scraper blade adjacent to the blade cutting edge to induce camber in the blade, thereby causing a slightly deeper cut to be taken by the central region of the blade arris than at its corners. 
     In such a small scraping plane, it may be desirable to secure the blade to the blade bed of the plane body with a lever cap without any lever cap thumb screw or other protrusions from the front of the lever cap so that one of the user&#39;s fingers (typically the index finger) can lie comfortable against the lever cap with the finger end contacting the plane body near the front of the plane. This can be accomplished using a lever cap thumb screw passing through a threaded hole in the plane frog, through a gap or hole in the blade, or above the blade, and bearing against the rear of the lever cap near its top. 
     In some embodiments of this invention, the pivotable handle is secured to the plane body by a screw that passes through a hole in a leg depending from the handle, through a pivot washer having a concave or convex surface that contacts a matching convex or concave surface surrounding the hole in the leg, and into a threaded bore within a cross dowel rotably positioned within a post protruding from the plane body. This structure facilitates rotation of the handle about either or both of the transverse and generally longitudinal axes with the screw loosened and secure locking of the handle in a desired position with the screw tightened. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of this invention, a small scraper plane. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the plane shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a rear view of the plane shown in  FIG. 1  with the pivoting or handle or palm rest centered above the plane body. 
         FIG. 4  is a section view taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a side elevation of the plane shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a rear view of the plane shown in  FIG. 1  similar to  FIG. 3  but with the pivoting handle/rest or handle pivoted to one side. 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged detail view taken at circle  7  in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The figures depict a small scraper plane  10  that is exemplary of the handle or palm rests and planes of this invention. Other embodiments may be larger scraper planes, scraper rabbet planes, bench planes, bench rabbet planes or a wide variety of other woodworking planes and other tools 
     Plane  10  has a body  12  to which a blade  14  is secured with one blade face (the rear face  15 ) against a blade bed  16  by a lever cap  18  attached to the body  12  by a lever cap screw  20 . Force is applied to the blade  14  with the lower end  19  of the lever cap  18  by pivoting the lever cap  18  with a second screw or, “lever cap thumb screw  22 ” having a threaded shank  31  that passes through a threaded hole  23  in the plane body  12 , through a gap  25  in the blade  14  (see  FIG. 2 ). (Gap  25  could be a hole or other opening in the blade  14 , or a shorter blade  14  could be used). Lever cap thumb screw  22  bears against the rear of the lever cap  18  in a pocket  27  near its top (see  FIG. 4 ), there by securing the blade  14  in the plane body  12  by exerting pressure with the lower end or feet  19  of lever cap  18 . Unlike a typical bench plane lever cap which has a continuous “foot” that contacts the blade or a chip breaker attached to the blade across the entire width of the lever cap and applies force as near the mouth of the plane as possible, the lever cap  18  depicted in the figures contacts the blade  14  some distance from the cutting arris  17  of the blade  14 , opposite the upper portion of the blade bed  16  (see, for instance,  FIGS. 4 and 5 ). Additionally, the lower end or feet  19  of lever cap  18  contact the blade  14  not all the way across the lever cap  18  but rather only at the lever cap corners. This facilitates bowing of the blade with camber screw  24  by permitting the camber screw to push the blade slightly off of blade bed  16  and to induce a camber in the blade  14  and its cutting arris  17 . 
     As is illustrated in the drawings, the width of the blade  14  (or the length of the cutting arris  17 ) and the width of the body  12  are essentially equal so that the plane is a “rabbet” or “rebate” scraper that can be effectively used to scrape a workpiece surface adjacent to an orthogonal surface or structure—in other words, it can be used in forming or refining a rabbet or rebate. 
     A camber screw  24  visible in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4  and  6  may optionally be utilized, as is best appreciated by reference to  FIG. 4 , to apply force to the rear side  15  of blade  14  near the cutting arris  17 . This facilitates control of projection of the blade cutting arris  17  and modestly curves the blade  14  and cutting arris  17  that protrudes slightly through the sole  13  of body  12  to keep corners of the blade from digging into the workpiece. 
     The longitudinal axis of the plane is illustrated as line  50  in  FIG. 1  and is at a right angle to a transverse direction indicated by line  51  in  FIG. 1 . 
     A pivoting rear handle or palm rest  26  has a depending leg  32  that is attached to a post  28  protruding from body  12  to the rear of the blade bed  16  of body  12 . Pivoting handle/rest  26  is secured by a handle screw  30  that passes through a wave washer  44 , and through leg  32  and concave face  38  of leg  32 . It then passes through pivot washer  40  into post  28  and is threaded into threaded hole  47  of cross dowel  34  that is positioned in bore  36  of post  28 . 
     As will be appreciated by reference to  FIGS. 4 and 7 , pivot washer  40  has a flat face  52  that contacts post  28 , and an annular convex face  54  that contacts the annular concave face  38  of post  32  surrounding hole  46  in leg  32 . The hole  48  in post  28  through which handle screw  30  passes, as may be seen in  FIGS. 4 and 7 , is larger than the diameter of the shank  31  of screw  30 . Thus, by slightly rotating cross dowel  34  within bore  36  in post  28 , pivoting handle/rest  26  may pivot (as shown by arrow  23  in  FIG. 1 ) about the axis of bore  36  in post  28 . This pivoting can occur because of sliding movement of the convex face  54  of pivot washer  40  against the concave face  38  of leg  32  and the sliding movement of pivot washer  40  flat face  52  against flat face  56  of post  28 . 
     Additionally, pivoting handle/rest  26  may rotate around handle screw  30 , as indicated by arrow  21  in  FIG. 6  and as is illustrated by comparison of the positions of handle/rest  26  in  FIGS. 3 and 6 . Finally, bore  36  for cross dowel  34  and clearance between screw  30  and hole  48  in post  28  permit modest rotation of handle  36  about an axis normal to the sole  13  of plane  10 . After handle/rest  26  has been pivoted and rotated into a desired position with handle screw  30  somewhat loosened, handle screw  30  may be tightened utilizing an Allen wrench or other appropriate tool so that handle/rest  26  will not move relative to body  12  during use of the plane  10 . 
     Other structures can be used to permit both partial rotation or pivoting of the handle/rest  26  about an axis more or less parallel to the plane  10  longitudinal axis  50  shown in  FIG. 1  and partial rotation of handle/rest  26  about a transverse axis  52 . For instance, the pivot washer  40  could be reversed so that flat face  52  of pivot washer  40  contacts a flat face of handle/rest  26  leg  32  and a convex face  54  of washer  40  contacts a concave face of post  28 . Additionally a pivot washer with one flat and one concave face could be used between a flat face on one of the post  28  or leg  32  and a convex face of the other leg  32  and post  28 . Yet other structures are also possible, provided that they permit repositioning and securely fastening of pivoting handle/rest  26  (or a handle having another shape) in a variety of different positions as described above. For instance, mating convex and concave surfaces could be formed on leg  32  and post  28  for direct convert with each other without a pivot washer  40 . 
     While the exemplary plane  10  shown in the Figures is a small scraping plane, the plane body  12  could, alternatively, have a wide range of different dimensions and configurations. The rear handle of such alternative planes can be shaped like pivoting handle/rest  26  or could have a wide variety of other shapes, including shapes like the traditional totes of traditional bench planes. Moreover, a forward handle or knob could be added fixed to the plane body in a single position or with an adjustable attachment structure similar to that described above for repositionable attachment of handle/rest  26  to plane body  12 . 
     Blade bed  16 , which is fixed in the exemplary plane  10  shown in the Figures, could be made adjustable or pivotable, as, for instance, is the case in Stanley  112  scraper plane and the Veritas scraping plane. 
     Alternatively, plane body  12  could be a bench plane or block plane with a blade in bevel up or bevel down configuration. 
     Plane body  12  may be any suitable material, including cast iron, ductile iron, manganese bronze, brass, and other suitably strong, tough, and dense composite or other materials. The other components may be made of a variety of suitable conventional materials including steel, brass and bronze. 
     Numerous other variations and modifications of the adjustable plane handle or rest and plane of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the foregoing description, accompanying drawings or the following claims.