My new favorite plane

[Gary Benson]

I finished assembly on my Brese Plane J-smoother kit this weekend. The Rosewood infill looks good, and it was a fun project. I was a little aggressive opening the mouth and ended up about .007, therefore the name of this plane is likely to be "James Bond". After sharpening the blade and polishing the sole, it really floats over the wood. Have used it on cherry and some gnarly maple, but nothing too exotic yet.

Gary

[Chris Griggs]

Let me be the first to say..... You suck!

Thanks for sharing. Nice work on the kit.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Beautiful looking! How long did it take you, start to finish?

[Jim Koepke]

Looks like a nice plane.

What is the bed angle?

jtk

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Looks like you did a fantastic job! Congrats - that has to be satisfying.

[Gary Benson]

Guys,
Thanks, start to finish it took 2 8 hour days. A friend and I built one each in his shop. The second go around would be faster. Bed angle is 55 degrees, as machined by Mr. Brese. It is really heavy for its size, very substantial. It was a lot of work, but worth it.
Gary

[Bobby O'Neal]

Beautiful work. Has to be a joy to use.

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Welcome in the club, Gary:D

You did a teriffic job on the little gem. Flawless work, it looks awesome! And: you will love the plane. It's not only the fantastic performance to make 1 thou shavings if you want, it's the easyness how it works, that amazes. The metal parts are machined that precisely that you don't need to give down pressure. It's enough to push the plane with the right hand and you will get a full width shaving. I've completed the same kit one year ago and am completely hooked with the tool. It's by far my best smoother that never left me alone even with the nastiest woods.

Here a pic of mine, it's filled with a special piece of Olive.

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Klaus

[Leigh Betsch]

These planes a very cool. How thick is the iron? Is it made by Brese also? And Gary did you make the hammer? I made a simular one out of brass, need to make one for a gift, maybe it will be steel, I like the looks of yours.

[David Weaver]

I really nice and useful plane, one that can do a lot more than its size would suggest.

Well done.

Full size kit next?

[Gary Benson]

Leigh, the iron is about 3/16 thick, supplied by Ron Brese in the kit. The hammer is from Lie-Nielsen, it is their unhardened A2 version.

David, something is in the works....stay tuned.

[Terry Beadle]

+1 on the suckage factor ! Beautiful !

Man are you going to enjoy that plane.

You are also lucky. I checked Brese's web site and from what I can tell he isn't selling the kits right now.

Take care and enjoy that plane !

[Casey Gooding]

It's a beauty. Ron's planes are probably the finest I have ever used. I had the pleasure of spending some time at his booth at WIA 2010. They were fantastic. I can't wait to own one (or, preferably, several).

[Ron Brese]

And another version of Gary's new favorite plane. I just finished this one with ebony infill. The iron specs are 7/32 nominal thickness ground to .210 after heat treatment. Made from Presco 0-1 from the Marshal mill. This 0-1 has a typical carbon content of over 1%.

Ron

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[John Lytle]

Awesome job. Ron makes his kits almost foolproof. Here is mine from a couple of years ago, in Ebony.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/jflytle/Brese650-JPlaneKit072009-02.jpg


I have his miter plane to complete this spring and am looking forward to that one in the shop.


Enjoy

[Don Inghram]

Fantastic job on the plane. I'd love to have one of these someday. Perhaps....

[Marco Cecala]

Seeing we are having a Brese smoother reunion, thought mine would like to come to the party.
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