The Morgan Hand Mill
For the past 20 years, planing forms and a block plane have been the main tools I have used to craft hexagonal rods. Recently I was able to add a Morgan Hand Mill to the workshop and have begun exploring what it offers the rod maker. While initially the Mill has been used to produce what may be considered the more traditional six sided rod, it is the ability to make quadrate and penta without the need for additional sets of planing forms, that make it an attractive tool.
The Morgan Hand Mill takes a unique approach to handcrafting rods. The cutter heads remove material simultaneously from both sides of the strip which rests on a height adjustable bed or anvil. The height adjustment allows the setting of the taper and differs from planing forms where the adjustment comes from the push/pull arrangement that sets the depth of the groove in which the strips sit. When hand planing, the strips need to be regularly turned in order to plane both sides.
The first quads have been completed and are ready for the new season. More are currently in the works and penta cutters will soon be added to investigate what the geometry has to offer. It is hoped that in the future the Mill can also be used for hollow fluting.
