Jessica Pierce-LaRose
12-31-2012, 5:28 PM
Been keeping an eye out for stock of decent size and quality to try making some wooden planes. Thinking I'd like to try my hand at making some molding planes, but Matthew's recent posts and having stumbled across some older threads here have piqued my interest in trying to make some bench planes. No idea if I'll actually follow through on any of this.
I know it's been covered here before but I'm having a hard time finding the quick answer through search.
When making a western-style wooden plane, would the preferred grain orientation be with the growth rings parallel to the sole? (i.e. - "flat sawn" if you counted the sole and the top of the plane as the "faces" of the lumber, "quartersawn" if you count the sides of the plane as the face of the lumber?)
My understanding is that's preferred in molding planes (which means hunting out quartersawn stock, which has been a bit of a hassle, or resawing the plane blanks off the edges of thick flatsawn stock) but is it preferred for a bench plane?
How far rift-sawn could you go before it's an issue?
Obviously the width of the stock is determined by the thickness of the plane blade, but how tall ought the plane body be? Seems most of the planes I see are almost square; should that be the way go, or is there a rule of thumb besides what just looks right?
I know it's been covered here before but I'm having a hard time finding the quick answer through search.
When making a western-style wooden plane, would the preferred grain orientation be with the growth rings parallel to the sole? (i.e. - "flat sawn" if you counted the sole and the top of the plane as the "faces" of the lumber, "quartersawn" if you count the sides of the plane as the face of the lumber?)
My understanding is that's preferred in molding planes (which means hunting out quartersawn stock, which has been a bit of a hassle, or resawing the plane blanks off the edges of thick flatsawn stock) but is it preferred for a bench plane?
How far rift-sawn could you go before it's an issue?
Obviously the width of the stock is determined by the thickness of the plane blade, but how tall ought the plane body be? Seems most of the planes I see are almost square; should that be the way go, or is there a rule of thumb besides what just looks right?