Review Philly Planes Moving Fillister and other things

Contd from Rabbets are in season

Serendipitously theres an article by Jim Tolpin in the November/December issue of Woodenboat magazine about rabbet planes. In it he reviews a number of different types: shoulder planes, moving fillisters, whacking great carriage makers planes (what sort of clinker lethiathans does this man build?) woodies, side rabbet planes and little bull nose planes.
He identifies three uses for them in a wooden boat: rabbets, gains and fillets (cross grain rabbets).
Gains are the sloping rabbets at the ends of the planks that I was most interested in when I was choosing a plane. I took Phil Edwardss advice about this but neither of us considered one important factor that Tolpin doesnt discuss either: moving fillister planes only cut one way.
My lovely Phily Planes moving fillister cuts beautiful rabbets from right to left. This means that gains at the left end of a board are childs play. Gains at the right hand side are a mess. No plane likes cutting up into the grain and this one is no exception.
The solution is simple. Buy a left handed counterpart for another £240.
Perhaps not.
On a recent trip to Maine I paid a visit to the Lie Nielsen showroom. I spent a happy couple of hours testing dozens of tools and established the following:
I dont have enough tools.
I dont have enough time.
I dont have enough money.
I do, however, now own a very large shoulder plane which, despite its low angle iron for cutting end grain, cuts very good gains. Particularly with a fence clamped on top of the plank.
The two planes work well together. The moving fillister will cut a perfect rabbet and an excellent gain at the left hand end and then a rather ropey gain at the right which the shoulder plane will then clean up.
Happiness, it seems, is an overflowing toolbox.
I learnt one other important lesson: take a first aid kit with you when shopping for hand tools.

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Of Camels Boats Dunes and Things

We all learn in school about the "ship of the desert", the much maligned camel. These animals and their owners are totally adapted to living on and cruising the undulating surface of the desert. We also know of the traditional boats of the Arab world, the dhows that are seen in both power and sail versions. These are very seaworthy boats and have done extensive voyages.

Not heard of nearly as often in that part of the world is the construction of a modern high performance yacht. Such a construction project is the Didi Mini Mk3 of Hugo Vanderschaegh, proceeding apace in Dubai. This is a Mini 650 racer that is built from plywood. Designed primarily for amateur builders, this one is being built by professionals. The photos below show the hull with all flat sheets fitted and the radius skin starting, through to hull turning.

This boat is being built from a CNC kit that was supplied by our Cape Town kit supplier, CKD Boats. They are able to supply kits for most of our radius chine plywood designs as well as the classically-styled lapstrake designs.

Didi Mini Mk3, flat panels completed and 1st layer of radius starting.

2nd layer of radius almost finished.

Didi Mini Mk3 hull skin completed.

Clean and powerful stern sections.

Completed hull ready to turn over.

They turned Hugos hull right-way-up last week and recorded it on time-lapse video. They accomplished it with plenty of helping hands and no mechanical equipment. This is a wide boat, at 3m beam, so it towers above the men providing the muscle power. It worked in their situation with lots of hands but "dont try this at home". For the average builder it is better and safer to use mechanical equipment to raise one side under control then lower it again on the other side.

You can see more of his Didi Mini Mk3 project on Hugos website and follow future progress. Also visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/ to read more about our range of designs and available kits for our plywood boats.

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