Steve Voigt
11-01-2013, 3:10 PM
I just finished building a single-iron fore plane. For a long time, I've wanted a roughing plane that would combine the best features of a #5 and #6, plus have a closed tote and no chipbreaker. So, here it is. I've made a number of planes, but this was my first try at an unlaminated, traditionally-made plane.
The two sources that really helped me were Whelan's Making Traditional Wooden Planes, and Derek Cohen's tutorial on his strike block plane (thanks Derek).There is still a dearth of detailed information on the Interwebs about making planes the traditional way, so I thought it would be nice to post some detailed photos of the build. If you just want to see the plane, skip to part 3.
The plane is rift-sawn padauk, with a jatoba handle and a Tropical Mystery Wood wedge. The blade is an old single iron I got off ebay. I didn't really set out to use exotics; it just turned out to be easier to obtain than beech. The padauk is pretty coarse, and it probably wouldn't be a good choice for a tight-mouthed plane, but for a fore it's excellent.
After laying out the block, I started by drilling a bunch of holes at different depths (the first of many ideas I got from Derek's build). Note the OCD layout and idiot proofing. I used a cross-slide vise on my drill press.
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The holes were really useful, and I'd do it this way again. It was pretty simple after this to split out most of the waste.
The next thing that really helped me was a simple chisel guide with 2 angles, 50* for the bed and 60* for the throat. note the exquisite joinery. :D
274128
Taking little paring cuts didn't work too well for me--the chisel tended to just lift out of the cut. Maybe if I had real paring chisels, it would be different. Anyway, what worked best was to take a hefty cut, skewing the chisel and paring slowly. This left a near-finished surface. The next pic shows about 2/3 of the way through the final cut on the bed.
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Next, I cut the slots for the abutments. A flush cut saw seems th be the best way to go, but I didn't have one, and my tool budget was totally tapped out for the month. So, I dug into the drywall bucket and came up with this:
274130
Ugh. A drywall saw is not a fine woodworking tool! But, I used coarse sandpaper on a flat surface to grind all the set off both sides, then resharpened the teeth with 15*/20* rake/fleam. This all took less than an hour.
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The repurposed saw cut slowly (because it had no set and an .065-thick blade), but it left a very nice surface. Here's a shot part way through (I've knocked out the waste on the left side with a chisel):
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I also made a couple angled cuts at the front of the throat. The scrap of maple wedged in the kerf shows how the cut slants inward toward the bottom. I used the maple scrap to protect the front of the throat from excessive scarring while I pared the sides of the abutments.
274133
Continued in part 2…
The two sources that really helped me were Whelan's Making Traditional Wooden Planes, and Derek Cohen's tutorial on his strike block plane (thanks Derek).There is still a dearth of detailed information on the Interwebs about making planes the traditional way, so I thought it would be nice to post some detailed photos of the build. If you just want to see the plane, skip to part 3.
The plane is rift-sawn padauk, with a jatoba handle and a Tropical Mystery Wood wedge. The blade is an old single iron I got off ebay. I didn't really set out to use exotics; it just turned out to be easier to obtain than beech. The padauk is pretty coarse, and it probably wouldn't be a good choice for a tight-mouthed plane, but for a fore it's excellent.
After laying out the block, I started by drilling a bunch of holes at different depths (the first of many ideas I got from Derek's build). Note the OCD layout and idiot proofing. I used a cross-slide vise on my drill press.
274126274127
The holes were really useful, and I'd do it this way again. It was pretty simple after this to split out most of the waste.
The next thing that really helped me was a simple chisel guide with 2 angles, 50* for the bed and 60* for the throat. note the exquisite joinery. :D
274128
Taking little paring cuts didn't work too well for me--the chisel tended to just lift out of the cut. Maybe if I had real paring chisels, it would be different. Anyway, what worked best was to take a hefty cut, skewing the chisel and paring slowly. This left a near-finished surface. The next pic shows about 2/3 of the way through the final cut on the bed.
274129
Next, I cut the slots for the abutments. A flush cut saw seems th be the best way to go, but I didn't have one, and my tool budget was totally tapped out for the month. So, I dug into the drywall bucket and came up with this:
274130
Ugh. A drywall saw is not a fine woodworking tool! But, I used coarse sandpaper on a flat surface to grind all the set off both sides, then resharpened the teeth with 15*/20* rake/fleam. This all took less than an hour.
274131
The repurposed saw cut slowly (because it had no set and an .065-thick blade), but it left a very nice surface. Here's a shot part way through (I've knocked out the waste on the left side with a chisel):
274132
I also made a couple angled cuts at the front of the throat. The scrap of maple wedged in the kerf shows how the cut slants inward toward the bottom. I used the maple scrap to protect the front of the throat from excessive scarring while I pared the sides of the abutments.
274133
Continued in part 2…