Wooden Jointer sole wood - 3 choices

[Matthew N. Masail]

I hope I'm not driving you guy's crazy.... I decided to take your advice and build a laminated jointer. I trued up (only hand tools) a nearly quarter saw block of beech and I have some
teak to used as the cheeks. but I'm not sure what to do with the sole... I can:
1. leave the beech
2. buy a piece of Ipe decking board (I can get the Camero or Tobacco types)
3. use a Granadillo fingerboard http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Fingerboards&NameProdHeader=Granadillo+Fingerboard

Judging from a left over piece of Tabacco I have, I suspect the Ipe would make a plane that will glide like the wind and barely wear at all, but it is sooo hard I'm not sure I can work it.. planning the
edge goes well, but trying to plane the face, the blade just kind of scraps the wood and here and there lifts a fluffy narrow shaving.

the Granadillo seems harder than the beech, but I'm not sure by how much. it is much "waxier" than the dry beech though. I'm hesitant on using it for a plane I don't even know will work. so far I plan to make a swiveling wedge.
that’s it I guess, please help me choose based on your knowledge and experience.

[David Weaver]

Beech. The only place it'll possibly wear prematurely will be at the mouth, and you can always make an insert later. Life's easier when you use the same wood for the whole plane, and you already know that beech works well with "regular tools".

[Tony Shea]

I agree with David's suggestion in using just one species for ease of working. All though I agree with the suggestion does not mean I follow it. I wanted to try cranking out a Krenov style plane as I am truely a fan of the guy and have been sitting on a hock blade for far too long. I also have a piece of Cocobolo for this purpose. Well I wimped out and just used some maple to see how things went. I also had a scrap of Ipe so I thought this to be the place to use it. And I am glad I went through the trouble with the Ipe as it really does keep a nice slick sole. Most of the work was done with hand tools other than resawing. All the flattening was with hand planes, as long as my blades were sharp the Ipe was really no worse to plane than the maple.



232049232048

[Chris Vandiver]

I agree with David. It is good to use the same wood through out(except for a mouth insert). Ideally the wood used is from the same board and oriented properly. This way it moves in unison.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Tony that is a really nice looking plane. looks perfect to me. how high did you put the cross pin? and what did you glue the Ipe with? I'm thinking I'll just glue in a Ipe insert, it will be easy to do before the plane is assembled.

[Zach Dillinger]

Another vote for beech from me. Plenty hard enough for your plane, and easy to fix if wear becomes an issue later. But I'm hard-core old-school when it comes to my tools.

[Matthew N. Masail]

you know what.... I'll go with the beech... (-: I've also come to the conclution that I prefer 1 color planes (except to sole). however I'm breaking tradition with a teak/beech/teak construction, not because I wanted to but because the only other piece of beech I have that is long enough is bieng saved in case I mess this one up...