Jules Martin
02-25-2010, 10:29 PM
By a happy accident I found a great toolmaking book in a local university library. It's How to Make Carpentry Tools an Illustrated Manual, by Aaron Moore, ISBN 1-85339-173-5. It has a variety of step-by-step plans for building a variety of tools like marking gauges, bow saws, planes, clamps, and so on. It's written to help third-world craftspeople who can't afford what many of us can. The clear instructions are in metric.
I made a mirror pair of rebate planes from the book. I used a chunk of ash I had lying around and bought a cheap chisel for the blade. The instructions were easy to follow and the planes work very well. I've made a few Krenov-style planes already, so I did know what I was shooting for. They were made with hand tools except for thicknessing. The hardest part was making the wedges. I could have made the planes in a day, if I had a whole one.
They're no Clark and Williams, and no LV Skews, but they only cost me 12 dollars for the chisel and 5 or so for the ash. I'm very pleased with the planes, and hope to use the book to make a plough plane next.
I made a mirror pair of rebate planes from the book. I used a chunk of ash I had lying around and bought a cheap chisel for the blade. The instructions were easy to follow and the planes work very well. I've made a few Krenov-style planes already, so I did know what I was shooting for. They were made with hand tools except for thicknessing. The hardest part was making the wedges. I could have made the planes in a day, if I had a whole one.
They're no Clark and Williams, and no LV Skews, but they only cost me 12 dollars for the chisel and 5 or so for the ash. I'm very pleased with the planes, and hope to use the book to make a plough plane next.