A plane for a Creeker

[Steve Voigt]

A neat opportunity recently came up. A gentlemen contacted me through the Creek. He liked the pictures of the mini coffin smoother I posted a couple months ago, and wondered if I would make him one.

I was skeptical at first, but the guy was very cool; he didn't try to nickel and dime me, and left me a lot of latitude as far as design and wood choice were concerned.

I decided to make the plane out of jatoba, since I had it on hand. Never again! With one possible exception, I'm done using jatoba for planes--it is just too hard to work. The end result is great, but I'm going to stick to woods that are a bit easier.


Anyway, here's the plane:

283301

283302

283304

The project gave me the chance to fine tune the design and really improve the ergonomics of the plane. I shortened it a bit, to 5 3/4", radiused the top of the iron, and curved the sides slightly in the vertical plane (along with the more obvious horizontal curve). These changes made a big difference…the plane is more comfortable than the first version. The only thing I regretted about the project was shipping the plane--it was painful to see it go! But I guess I can always make another.
Questions/comments welcome, of course.

- Steve

PS sorry, images are bit blurry-I clearly need to work on my photography skills

[David Weaver]

Looks good. Very tidy!

[Chris Griggs]

Very nice my friend!

[Frederick Skelly]

Beautiful!

Thanks for the warning on that Jatoba. I was about to make my first plane out of it using the LV hardware kit. Ill use maple instead.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks very nice.

I am sure the person on the receiving end will be happy to use it.

jtk

[Andy Cree]

That plane is beautiful!! I really like the design and it looks very well crafted.

Andy

[David Peterson]

Steve, I admire your skills. It's a really handsome piece - great form and crisp as can be!!

[Mike Brady]

It looks very inviting to the hand, and a pleasure to just look at. Not your first rodeo, obviously.

[Steve Voigt]

Thanks for the good vibrations, everybody.
Fred, I think hard maple would be a great choice for your first plane.

- Steve

[Pete Hotard]

Man I really like that plane. The older I get the more I appreciate the look of a simple, clean, no frills design. Have about 250 bdft of Jatoba in the shop right now, and in can attest to it's stubbornness. It can be frustrating to work with but I really like the way it looks when finished! Great looking plane!

[Mike Allen1010]

Steve, as others said very tidy and well executed! Very cool to of you to provide a fellow neander the opportunity to experience a well tuned hand tool! Something you can be proud of.
All the best, Mike

[Jim Matthews]

I'm the proud owner of this.

It's slightly heavier than my ECE block plane, and much more stable.
Where the ECE chattered and often made for more card scraper work
(I hate card scrapers) this acts like a min-smoother.

I try to incorporate knots, alternating grain and other figures in the boards I select
mainly for visual interest. This plane has a nice Hock iron that sharpens beautifully
and skates through things that otherwise have me struggling.

It's easy to set the depth of cut, and perfectly stable.
The oval shape of it makes it easy to handle, but sure footed where the blade does its business.

The size is slightly larger than the Hock block plane kit I made
(which is a hopeless twiddle - it's never adjusted well for long).

The only thing I have against this plane is that I hesitate to hit it with a hammer.

It's a joy to use, and FAR superior to the laminated planes I've tried.

Get one from Steve while we can still afford them.
Just don't ask for Jatoba.

Jim
Westport, MA

[Steve Voigt]

Jim, thanks so much for posting this. I'm really glad you like the plane!

- Steve