Wooden Jointing Plane Project

[eric eaton]

I decided to build my own wooden jointing plane since I am still collecting tailed machines to complete my shop. I used some 10/4 walnut for the body and 5/4 birdseye maple for the sole that has been air drying for several years and seems to be pretty stable dimensionally. I didn't really use any one set of plans but just went for an algamation of what I have seen done on various websites. The iron is from a 20$ ebay plane that my cat broke (long story).

The plane is still not finished but I had to give it a spin, managed to get full width and length shavings after a few minutes of tapping. I know it is crude compared to what I have seen here at SMC but it is a major triumph for me.

Thanks for looking and feel free to critique my Frankenstein creation.

[Jeff Willard]

Crude? One could argue that Krenov's planes were crude. The shaving doesn't look so crude. Well done.

Now that you've teased us, tell the cat story.

[Doug Hobkirk]

Congratulations. Take pride in a job well done. And, like Jeff said, impressive shavings.

[Bob Glenn]

Looks nice Eric, I like the brass rod that hold the wedge. Will you epoxy that in place?

[Pedro Reyes]

Crude? No, very nice plane, beautiful.

I have not made a plane yet, I have some pieces drying (had them for 4+ years). But I have read how sole grain orientation is very important, among other things one important thing they recommend is that your sole planes "with the grain". I also have never worked with birds eye, only curly, so not sure if it would matter.

If it can make good shavings, well that's all that matters.

/p

[Brian Kent]

ERic, I made a wooden jointer plane that is beautifully polished, but doesn't work well. I'll take yours any day.

[Phillip Pattee]

It looks great to me--and it obviously works well. Great job.:)

[David Keller NC]

Doesn't look crude to me, either. The only thing I'd say is somewhat unusual is that from the photo it looks like your iron is bevel-up. On most woodies, the iron's mounted with the bevel down, and the ramp is steepened to yield a high planing angle.

Either way, looks good to me.

[eric eaton]

To answer a few questions;

The sole is actually ??? Curly, Birdseye ... I still am working on my species identification. It has enough reversing grain that it starts tearing out when it gets within 5' of my dewalt planer, I lapped the sole by using psa 4" sandpaper on my TS top. I tried truing the sole using a finely tuned block plane but that is a skill I am still working on.

As far as the sole grain, I am hoping some blo combined with paraffin will slick it up pretty good since it really has some wild grain in it. I keep a small stick of parrafin next to me when I am using hand planes and it makes a huge difference in friction.

The brass rod floats right now, I just cut it oversize so I could get it working, I think I might stay with it because I sort of like the look :).

Eventually I am going to get a hock iron and chipbreaker, I don't have chatter problems now but have never used an iron that is not the thickness of a couple pieces of paper like the one I have now. This iron is 2" but I am wondering if the 2 5/8" might be more appropriate, I prefer to deal in stock that is at least 8/4 and then resaw as needed so having a plane I can joint in 1 pass might be more appropriate.

I kinda view this plane as a stepping stone towards learning how to build others, part of me wanted to just call Lie Nielsen and drop a grand and be done with planes but my inner craftsman decided that the skills I am refining will be reflected in other projects. Not the mention the feedback from the War Department (LOML) on budgeting.

Now the cat and my prized Stanley plane. I just started woodworking about 7 months ago, I have a background in construction but really almost no practical experience in using hardwoods or fine woodworking. Well I spent 10,000 $ and had some amazing tools and equipment but then looked around my shop and realized I didn't have a hand plane. duh !!! Well off to ebay to find a user ... not knowing anything about what I was really looking for I found a $20 plane that looked kinda ok. Bought it and tried to use it ... argghghghh. Need to sharpen, went with scary sharp and learned how to do that ok. Went to use it and argggghhhh. Plane needed more tuning than a guitar dropped from a moving train. Well after hours of tedious lapping, judicious filing and a couple of sharpening woopsies (note to self ... when using the veritas jig don't grind the bevel with secondary bevel switch in the wrong spot :( 0. After all this I finally managed to get that plane make that magical whoosh sound and finely shave across the blade. I gently placed the plane above my workbench and out of the way of my 4 year old son. But not my Maine Coon cat who is so curious he actually jumps onto my table saw when it is running, I have had to knock him off when I have been in the middle of a rip. Anyways I came back from a weekend trip to find my ebay labor of love on the floor in 2 pieces, it broke straight across the mouth after falling 6' to concrete. I blame my lunatic but loveable maine coon who probably was trying to use it.

Anyways thank you for the kind comments and I will wrap this up with a finished view once I get it done.

Next step is a beech coffin smoother :) with a rosewood sole (deciding if I really want to try for that finger joint sole to body connection, looks hard to do but really nice.

[David Keller NC]

Eric - you might know this already, but if you've access to beech, skip the rosewood as a sole. A beech plane will easily last your lifetime and then some. I've several of them that easily exceed 200 years old that are in use in my shop.

And, while I agree that I'd be a bit PO'ed at my cat for pulling such a maneuver, what you learned was invaluable - how to tune a plane and how to diagnose what's wrong if a plane doesn't perform up to snuff. That's a skill many don't learn for years, or ever.

And if you need justification for the budget-setter, you can mention that a Lie-Nielsen or Lee Valley plane will not break as the Stanley did if it gets knocked off the shelf and onto a concrete floor.

[eric eaton]

Doesn't look crude to me, either. The only thing I'd say is somewhat unusual is that from the photo it looks like your iron is bevel-up. On most woodies, the iron's mounted with the bevel down, and the ramp is steepened to yield a high planing angle.

Either way, looks good to me.

david you gave me a cop heart attack on the bevel, it is installed bevel down. The iron is ground to 29 degrees and the bed s at 45 degrees. I noticed that some go steeper but I am still in the learning curve on how I like mine bedded. Or to phrase it better ... I don't know what I am doing but 45 seemed to work for other people.

[Richard Gillespie]

It's a fine looking piece of work that shows it can do the job. You're to be congratulated on your taking on the project.

[David Keller NC]

david you gave me a cop heart attack on the bevel, it is installed bevel down. The iron is ground to 29 degrees and the bed s at 45 degrees. I noticed that some go steeper but I am still in the learning curve on how I like mine bedded. Or to phrase it better ... I don't know what I am doing but 45 seemed to work for other people.

Must've been a shadow on the photo. There are a few, quite rare original wooden planes that have a bevel-up configuration - these are typically British wooden miter planes with a wooden mouth wedge installed at the front that allows the plane maker to cut a fairly wide mouth, but for the user to close it up in use.

Anyway, 45 degrees is what the vast majority of wooden antiques are bedded at. It's a compromise between the effort required to push the plane, the clearance angle at the back of the bevel, and tear-out on the work piece. The speculation is that this angle is intended primarily for carpenters of the day where surfaces did not have to be absolutely tear-out free. Antiques exist, however, that have cutting angles of 50, 55 and even 60 degrees. They are far more rare, and the thought is that these were intended for cabinetmakers working hard, figured woods where the show surfaces must not show any tear-out.

Since sandpaper was not in wide-spread use, and the abrasives available were considerably less effective than today's silicon carbide or aluminum oxide, the means of getting a perfect surface was with the use of a metal scraper. Since scraping doesn't take off much wood with each pass, it's obviously advantageous to have the plane leave as little tear-out as possible, though it takes considerably more effort to push than a 45 degree plane.