Matt Benton
11-03-2009, 7:58 AM
After seeing David Gilbert's corian router plane, I thought it would be fun to see how corian translated into a more traditional bench plane. I've been planning to build my first plane for a few months now, and figured, why not.
This is 1/2" material laminated with plastics epoxy from Ace Hardware (cheapo stuff). It is bevel up with the bed in the 30 degree range (don't have a way to measure for sure). Add some 1/4" stainless rod and my LN LA jack iron, and I was good to go. Measures about 9" long, 3" wide and 2" tall.
The weight is no doubt a good thing. Heavier than any exotic I have every picked up. Others who work with corian will know better, but it seems a bit brittle for bench planes, although the weight and stiffness are definitely what you want.
I only used it a few times, and the sole seems to scratch. Not sure how well it would hold up to regular use.
The bed ended up a little out of square, as I kind of rushed through this, so the iron extends farther on one side than the other.
I roughed up the bed with 50 grit, and the iron doesn't move at all, which surprised me.
The sharp corners are quite uncomfortable. Rounding the corners would make it much more comfortable. Overall, I think its a good material for a plane. The only concerns I have are what would happen if it were dropped (I'll probably test this later) and how the sole wears over time. It could also get a little heavy during prolonged use, but this could be somewhat mitigated through design.
This is 1/2" material laminated with plastics epoxy from Ace Hardware (cheapo stuff). It is bevel up with the bed in the 30 degree range (don't have a way to measure for sure). Add some 1/4" stainless rod and my LN LA jack iron, and I was good to go. Measures about 9" long, 3" wide and 2" tall.
The weight is no doubt a good thing. Heavier than any exotic I have every picked up. Others who work with corian will know better, but it seems a bit brittle for bench planes, although the weight and stiffness are definitely what you want.
I only used it a few times, and the sole seems to scratch. Not sure how well it would hold up to regular use.
The bed ended up a little out of square, as I kind of rushed through this, so the iron extends farther on one side than the other.
I roughed up the bed with 50 grit, and the iron doesn't move at all, which surprised me.
The sharp corners are quite uncomfortable. Rounding the corners would make it much more comfortable. Overall, I think its a good material for a plane. The only concerns I have are what would happen if it were dropped (I'll probably test this later) and how the sole wears over time. It could also get a little heavy during prolonged use, but this could be somewhat mitigated through design.