Thanks for posting these videos. Combining your methods with some ideas from Stavros Gakos I just finished my own shooting plane. I used a 40 degree bed angle with a 10 degree skew that works fantastic. Incorporating the skew was more challenging than I thought it would be (including resharpening a standard blade with the correct angles) but it was worth it. Thanks again for the great instruction and inspiration.
I’ve thought about making one with a skewed angle but that’s as far as I got. It didn’t occur to me to use an angled blade. Excellent! I’m sure it works great.
The slope and slope location are relatively fixed, so I establish those to give me a line. I then connect that line to the fat end of the wedge with a shallow arc, then bandsaw and shape with rasps and files. I don't own a stationary belt sander (although I occasionally clamp my portable belt sander in a vise and use it that way).
I wonder what the action would be like if you DIDN'T epoxy the lead shot in place ?? Like a dead blow hammer would the inertia help move the plane through the cut?
I’ve thought about that previously and I don’t think it would help. On a dead blow hammer the force is spread out a bit and less impactful than a regular hammer, which I think would be detrimental for a shooting plane. Plus, as the plane is moved back and forth some of the energy required to move it would go into sliding the lead around in its cavity, thereby wasting energy.