Shopmade: L/H Shooting Plane

[Stewie Simpson]

Attached are photo's of an plane I recently finished.

The bed angle is 40 degrees & the blade width is 2 1/4".

The skew angle across the mouth of the plane is 65 degree's.

Plane dimensions are; 11 1/2" x 2 3/4"W x 2 3/4"H.

Stewie.

[Bob Jones]

Wow that is super nice. How about a how to thread?

[Stewie Simpson]

Wow that is super nice. How about a how to thread?

Hi Bob. The body of the plane is Padauk. To prevent wear on the side of the plane that moves back & forth along the shooting board, I fitted 2 brass strips. These are about 1/8" thick. This 1/8" clearance also prevents wood shavings on top of the shooting board from hindering the planes movement.

All the brass fittings are 1st glued with Cyanoacrylate adhesive, then further secured using brass pins.

To help grip the plane when in use, the left forefinger & thumb wrap around the side dowel.

Stewie.

[Trevor Walsh]

I like your sort of art deco wedges, you've certainly got the beginnings of a regional style there, now you just have to make about 1000 more... haha.

How has the pin proved to work out in use, it looks like it might be uncomfortable?

[Stewie Simpson]

I like your sort of art deco wedges, you've certainly got the beginnings of a regional style there, now you just have to make about 1000 more... haha.

How has the pin proved to work out in use, it looks like it might be uncomfortable?

Hi Trevor. The side dowel works quite well. The webbing between forefinger and thumb fit comfortably around it. Its not an important feature to the final design so I kept its appearance nice & simple.

Stewie.

[Adam Slutsky]

I have never made one before but am contemplating it. I'm getting tired of the blisters I get from using my stanley bailey on the shooting board and I can't affort $500 for a new LN. Any tips on constructing one? Would you recommend a book?

[Mark Baldwin III]

Your planes are quite the eye candy!! One of my next projects is a traditional plane, instead of another Krenov style.
Adam-Check out the book "Wooden Planes and How to Make Them" from Veritas. It's quite informative.
I've found that my Hock jack plane kit is pretty good as a shooting board plane, and it will work very well until I manage to build something like Stewie has. That iron looks like a vintage piece, where is it from?

[Stewie Simpson]

I have never made one before but am contemplating it. I'm getting tired of the blisters I get from using my stanley bailey on the shooting board and I can't affort $500 for a new LN. Any tips on constructing one? Would you recommend a book?

HI Adam. You wil need to purchase a couple of planemaker floats. A bed, edge, & side float is all you will need. Check the net for suppliers. Next is a good resource book. This is the one I started with.http://www.astragalpress.com/making_...den_planes.htm

There is also a great need for patience when making hand planes the traditional way, but the end result makes it all worth while. Its a rare skill nowadays so if you can master it, you deserve some kudos.

Stewie.

[Stewie Simpson]

Your planes are quite the eye candy!! One of my next projects is a traditional plane, instead of another Krenov style.
Adam-Check out the book "Wooden Planes and How to Make Them" from Veritas. It's quite informative.
I've found that my Hock jack plane kit is pretty good as a shooting board plane, and it will work very well until I manage to build something like Stewie has. That iron looks like a vintage piece, where is it from?

Hi Mark. I purchase these through uk. ebay. They are new/old stock blades. If you cant find them send me a pm and I can supply you with the sellers link.

Stewie.

[Trevor Walsh]

I second this book, Making Traditional Wooden Planes. It's well done and covers all the important stuff, including making your own floats (very simple file and hacksaw work, think sharpening a really large ripsaw). I also found the section about screw arm fillisters really cool. They show a real neat lathe mandrel for shaping the threaded nut blanks.

[Mark Baldwin III]

I'll have a look around for them. I like the old stuff. How do you like the 40 degree bed angle for edge shooting? I was thinking about going much lower than that for my first mitre plane. However, my Hock kit is set at 45, and with a fresh iron it will cut end grain shavings from oak that fall apart as soon as you look at them (in other words...very very thin).

[Zahid Naqvi]

Stewie, both the planes you posted are super nice. Very nice fit and finish. I plan to make these one day.

So how hard is it to make the skewed bed/ramp on the planes?

[Stewie Simpson]

Stewie, both the planes you posted are super nice. Very nice fit and finish. I plan to make these one day.

So how hard is it to make the skewed bed/ramp on the planes?

Hi Zahid. The skewed bed should be treated no different to shaping out a standard plane bed. The critical step with both is the initial marking out. Always work inside the lines when cleaning out the waste. Correct shaping & flattening of the bed needs to be completed 1st before finishing off the wedge abutments. To make it easier to flatten the blade bed cut a piece of flat stock (say 1/8 to 1/4" thick) the width less than the blade, wrap & tape to the top side a strip of ink paper (type writer stuff).
If you rub this over the blade bed, any high spots will show up as an ink mark. Repeat this process until the blade bed has a nice covering of ink.

Happy to advice further if you need it.

Stewie.

[Adam Slutsky]

Mark and Stewie:

Thanks for the info!

Adam