Olive Wood and Stainless Steel

[Ron Brese]

I received my "It's your birthday" notification this morning so I thought what the heck, post something. It's not everyday you turn 60.

This is a stainless bodied plane that I recently completed. Olive wood for the tote and knob, 1.875" wide iron pitched at 50 degrees. Overall sole length 8.125". Mouth Aperture .004

Ron

272686272687272688

[Joe McMahon]

Dang Ron, for an old fart you sure do make some nice planes!!!!!

[lee trevett]

Cracking craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing.

[Chris Griggs]

BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for posting it Ron, and happy birthday!

[Tony Wilkins]

Happy Birthday Ron. But shouldn't it be Blackwood for the big 60?

Nice plane

[Gordon Eyre]

Wow, it is a beauty. Congrats on your 60th.

[Stew Hagerty]

Happy Birthday Ron. But shouldn't it be Blackwood for the big 60?

Nice plane

Ouch!!! That's gonna leave a mark!

[Ron Brese]

Depends on your attitude Tony :)

!
Happy Birthday Ron. But shouldn't it be Blackwood for the big 60?

Nice plane

[Terry Beadle]

Happy Birthday!

Your gift in making planes is wonderful.

Man, that plane is a thing of great beauty. Work of art really.

[Tony Wilkins]

Depends on your attitude Tony :)

!

No offense meant Ron. Thanks for sharing your gift with us and best wishes for your 60th year!

[Ron Brese]

None taken Tony, all in good fun!

Ron

[Malcolm Schweizer]

WOW! That is just beautiful, and I absolutely love the handle design. I have always wanted to build a plane, and certainly will... one day. I have done much reading on the subject and am less fearful of it now that I have a better idea of how it is done. Your work is inspiring.

[Don Orr]

Happy Birthday Ron. What a beautiful piece of functional fine art.

[adam riley]

Absolutely stunning!
The grain in the front knob is awesome.
What thickness are the sides/sole?

Congratulations on both the plane and the birthday, and thanks for brightening up my day by posting this.

All the best.
Adam.

[Jim Koepke]

Happy Birthday Ron.


The grain in the front knob is awesome.

+1 on that and add that it is mesmerizing.

Any pictures with angel's breath shavings?

jtk

[Bill McDermott]

Happy Birthday Ron. 60 good years done, with lots of planes to go!! Admiring the sweet lines of the "S" curve in the handle I wonder what it would look like to maintain or strengthen that line by creating a small shadow line. Right where the handle buttress meets the S, the buttress could be thinned, perhaps a 16th on each side. I do not recall seeing that feature on a plane handle. It just seems like it might really pop that seductive S curve. Know what I mean? Also, If any of the ladies in your home ask for "just a tiny, thin slice" of your birthday cake...

[C Scott McDonald]

Wow! thats a nice one. For my birthday I got myself a Sausage McGriddle.

[Jim Matthews]

Pfftt... "Soap on a Rope" - again.
At least you could eat yours, Scott.

[Ron Bontz]

Well, I can only be jealous. Absolutely beautiful, once again. I particularly like the deep curve of the upper horn. From a functional stand point it seems like it would force one to apply more pressure forward once it is started. Either way. My compliments.

[Ron Brese]

I wish this plane was mine.....well they're all mine for a little while before they go on their way to the new owner.

Ron

[Leigh Betsch]

I've been away from here for a few months, following a another love or two of mine (machining and motorcycles). This looks like a good place to jump back in.
Great looking plane, as usual, Ron. I'd like try my hand a putting a olive wood tote on my next one I make. Do you have a source that would sell a hack like me a nice piece of olive wood?

[Ron Brese]

Thanks Leigh, when I buy Olive it's usually in bowl blanks and it's quite green. I rough it out and then put a couple coats of shellac on all the newly exposed surfaces and I usually leave the wax on the end grain where possible. I put it up on a shelf until the moisture content is below 20% (this can take a while) and then I put it in my finishing kiln. Depending on the time of year it can take as long as 3 to 4 months to dry in the cooler months it may dry to single digits in 2 months in the kiln. To answer your question I don't know of anywhere to buy plane size billets that are already dry so it's a long term pursuit.

When I introduced my first plane with Olive at WIA several years ago I was caught off guard as to how popular this wood would be and I didn't have nearly enough stock on hand to serve the demand. At present I have a good bit in different stages of drying.

Ron

[Leigh Betsch]

Thanks Ron for explaining the process. I've looked at bowl blanks but I couldn't get past the moister content problem and I feared the hidden checks. I found some big blanks but the price was crazy and to work around all the inclusions would have resulted in about 70% waste so I passed on that too. Looks like I gotta start to plan years ahead. And get a kiln, which could be a fun endeavor in its self!
So happy birthday, keep posting the pretty ones for inspiration to hacks like me. At a drying rate of 1" per year I'm only a couple of tote blanks from 60 myself.

[Roy Lindberry]

I received my "It's your birthday" notification this morning so I thought what the heck, post something. It's not everyday you turn 60.

This is a stainless bodied plane that I recently completed. Olive wood for the tote and knob, 1.875" wide iron pitched at 50 degrees. Overall sole length 8.125". Mouth Aperture .004

Ron

272686272687272688

First: Happy Birthday!
Second: That is magnificent!
Third: If you can find time, I would love to read some details about your process. Do you machine all your own parts? Is the body cast, or fully machined from a blank? What kind of equipment do you need/use to turn out such amazing work? How long does something like this take?

[Bill Houghton]

I received my "It's your birthday" notification this morning so I thought what the heck, post something. It's not everyday you turn 60.

This is a stainless bodied plane that I recently completed. Olive wood for the tote and knob, 1.875" wide iron pitched at 50 degrees. Overall sole length 8.125". Mouth Aperture .004

Ron

272686272687272688

It's a sign of something - I'll remember what in a minute - when you need the computer to remind you that it's your birthday.

Very, very - oh, just very times ten to the millionth - nice plane.

[george wilson]

A mere babe in the woods at 60!

You have an excellent sense of curves in the handle and knob. You are still on my mind as possible customer for the large boxwood I have and can't bear to cut up!

[Ron Brese]

I'd be a willing customer George. :) Thanks for the comments.

Ron

[Winton Applegate]

​You made my day !

That's beautiful !

When first starting out I saw olive wood and told myself I was going to make all my tool cabinets and boxes out of it because it is so beautiful and I wanted to look at it often.
Then I priced the wood and found there wasn't much around, in my area at least.

I can not think of a better use for olive wood than a plane handle. Perfect choice.

[Bruce Haugen]

Well, for my 60th, I got a plane, too, but it sure wasn't that one.

That plane is gorgeous, Ron, and btw Happy Birthday!

Which one was it you had in Iowa? That was the best plane I ever had my paws on.

[Ron Brese]

Bruce I had a Winter Smoother in Iowa with KOA for the tote ad knob, but I also had a large assortment of planes at that show and the plane with Olive at that event was the 812-50S stainless plane.

Ron

[Jamie Cowan]

It feels like I'm turning 60 every day when I wake up. Anyway, happy birthday. And that plane looks amazing, and I'll bet it works even better. Thanks for the pix.