Woodie smoother with Tsunesaburo Iron

[Mike Allen1010]

Below are some pictures of a Goncalo Alves (?) smoother I built using a 2 3/8' wide Tsunesaburo blue steel blade from Stuart at Tools from Japan (~$50).

Most of my experience is with Western planes and A2 or 01 Blades, and I'm posting this as a separate thread because I thought others might be interested in seeing how this blade works, given folks might not have as much broad experience with western style plane using a blue steel blade as compared to the more typical A2 or O1 blades.

I built this plane following Derek's tutorial -- which was incredibly helpful -- thank you Derek!

Here are some pictures of the plane and mouth up close:

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Now the obligatory shavings pictures using a piece of curly maple that typically gives me a hard time achieving a smooth finish without tearout:
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I never would have attempted building a wooden plane were it not for the encouragement and knowledge I got from everyone here in the Cave (thank you Stu and David Weaver for the recommendation about the plane iron!).

I never would've guessed I would end up building two planes that I will actually use. I don't have a table saw and I thought without one I wouldn't be able to achieve the fit and tolerances needed to end up with something that works. I guess that goes to show you as previous posters have mentioned, that the accuracy you can achieve with hands and eyes is good enough -- who knew? - certainly not me!

All the best,
Mike

[Chris Griggs]

Geez Mike! Stop being so gosh darn inspiring!!!!! Looks like it it works incredibly well.... I also like the grip you put in behind the blade. Looks very comfortable to use.

[Mike Allen1010]

Here are some other pictures of a jack plane I built (rosewood with ebony strike button) for surfacing rough timbers and glued up panels using a A2 blade from Lee Valley:


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Thanks for looking and for the encouragement to give this a try.

All the best,
Mike

[David Weaver]

Yep, trust your hands, eyes and brain. They'll tell you if something doesn't work, and it looks l like that plane works pretty well.

It also looks like you've paired a nice heavy second iron with the tsune iron (and one that's flat) - a good idea in a woody plane with a edge. Now I see my comments earlier about working around the hump on the second iron were off the mark!

[Klaus Kretschmar]

You did a terrific job, Mike!

I do like this smoother a lot. It shows a nice, thoughtful and comfortable shape. Especially the rear part is shaped very elegant in your own way. I can see 2 benefits of the nicely shaped handle behind the blade. It improves the comfort while working with the plane and it is an additional support for the blade, a longer bed so to speak. The mouth is as tight as you want to have it on a smoothing plane and regarding the pics of the shavings it performs outstandingly good! Fluffy full length and full width shavings - what one can want more?

Great job!

Cheers
Klaus

[Brent VanFossen]

Very nice work, both of them. Thank you for sharing the photos.

[Christian Castillo]

That is one beautifully performing plane, I myself am considering buying the tsunesaburo iron, I love white steel/blue steel for sharpness and retention.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I highly recommend Tsunesaburo blue steel blade. It would be nice if a test blade can be sent from one person to another to get a taste of it. I got it a few years ago and I think it's one of the best HCS blades you can get for a Western type plane. I was raving about it here for a while, but I didn't get anyone's attention at that time I think. I really wished it was slightly thicker, but no chatter or anything. Mine's coupled with LN cap iron and reside in type 9 Stanley No.7. Wonderful blade.

[David Weaver]

It is the best carbon steel iron I have ever seen, by a good bit. I was worried about the thickness of the iron, too, but the chipbreaker stuff lately (supporting the iron all the way down at the cut) has made it perfectly stable in a cut, even if you accidentally set it way too deep.

It's my favorite iron for a smoother so far of any that I've tried, the surface stays nice even as it dulls. It's also easy sharpening as long as your stones can handle something hardened in the mid 60s. On the bevel it's so easy to sharpen, that at first you might suspect it's a bit soft (but use proves that it's not) - probably just a matter of us getting used to lapping A2, and despite being harder than A2 irons, it still laps easier on the back.

I think stu is probably cheapest by a good bit (he was when I got mine).

[Mike Allen1010]

It also looks like you've paired a nice heavy second iron with the tsune iron (and one that's flat) - a good idea in a woody plane with a edge. Now I see my comments earlier about working around the hump on the second iron were off the mark!

David, thanks for your kind comments and also for your recommendation regarding the Tsunesaburo blade. FYI, I used a Hock chipbreaker. Your comments were not off the mark -- I think if I used a Stanley type chip breaker with the rounded leading edge, I would've had difficulty trying to fit the wedge securely.

All the best,
Mike