Krevov style ' racing ' jointer plane build

[Dave Beauchesne]

I am having trouble posting more than one picture at a time, so I hope this doesn't disappoint-
I spent the past six weeks at a WW school here in BC Canada - part of the curriculum was building three planes a la Krenov style - a 1" jointer, a 1-1/2" smoother and a curved bottom plane. I posted a couple pics on a previous post. They were all Acacia with Hock irons.
I had a nice piece of Cocobolo and I wanted a bit wider jointer with more heft for shooting. I had to widen the centre section as it was a hair narrow. This the racing moniker as I used some Gabon Ebony I had.
The result is a 16" long x 1-1/4" cut x 1-7/8" high.
The start is the two centre sections and the two cheeks.
BTW, David Finck's book on the subject is a good reference if you need more details.

[Dave Beauchesne]

The next shot is a close up of the centre sections - the 45 degree ramp will get a slot milled for the CB screw, the front ramp is 60 degrees and curved as well as card scraped smooth to facilitate shaving removal.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Next is laying out the ramp location, blade / CB allowance and the layout requirements for the cross pin.
Note the Cocobolo is very dark - it was an old piece of wood I guess - heavily oxidized for the first 1/4", but spectacular on the inside.

[Dave Beauchesne]

The next step is to locate the 45 degree ( rear ) ramp and the back of the two cheeks flush and clamp. The CB slot has been milled at this point.
The front ramp is located so the blade and CB, when positioned, meets the front ramp at about 1/16" up from the bottom.
The excess will be removed with a jointer later and finish sanded.
Clamp the front block at that spot securely.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Four clamps are used and everything double checked.
There are four locator pins drilled at the top of each corner - these are trimmed flush after a final check is done. 1/4" dowels were used.

[Dave Beauchesne]

With everything clamped and dowelled, the cross pin is cut.
The stock is 9/16" square, in this case African Blackwood with some sapwood for show.
The pin has to be fit snugly between the cheeks on its shoulders, but rotate freely on the 5/16" pins I filed onto both ends in excess of the shoulder width. The pins are about 1/8" below the level of the cheeks once the holes in the cheeks are drilled.

[Matt Lau]

Really sexy!

Nice progress.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Glue up next.
Used a work bench as the base, and a nice heavy caul for the top. Half a dozen beefy Wentzler clamps do the work.
I scarified the glue surfaces with a ratty 32tpi Zona saw blade, and wiped several times with acetone right before a liberal slathering with Tite Bond III.
Clamp up, careful to keep the inner blocks from drifting out of place and let it set up overnight.

[Pat Barry]

Very nice. Hope to see the finished plane. Would you do anything differently the next time?

[Dave Beauchesne]

Pat:
I will continue the posts. It is done, and I have the obligatory shaving picture at the end.
I was getting only one reply, so, I was going to stop, but will have a few more posts.
And, no, I think it turned out well. The heft is good and it cuts like a dream.

[Dave Beauchesne]

I have taken it out of the glue up, sliced off the top 1/16" to leave a band sawn surface ( for grip ), and scraped any extra glue off the bottom, as it will be jointed.
Using a gauge, you determine the length of the wedge and cut it out of the block left over when you separate the two ramps. It is too wide; you need a bit of clearance for lateral movement.
The Ebony/ Cocobolo/ TB III worked well - I flexed the top trimming back and forth vigorously and it stayed put.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Wedge shot - the bulbous part is a bit too bulky, but an easy fix.

[Dave Beauchesne]

The next step is to scrape the band saw marks off the wedge.
A nicely sharpened card scraper on a skew makes short work of this task.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Cut off the ends where the locator dowels are exposed, ease the edges and get ready for a test run.
First, run it over the jointer with light passes till the blade just about goes thru the mouth. Then, with the blade assembly and wedge in place with the blade 1/8" above the bottom of the plane ( Wedge tapped snug so you ' torque ' the body as if planing ) carefully sand with a strip of self adhesive sand paper on a reference surface till you can get the blade to just peek thru the mouth.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Take her for a spin!!

[Dave Beauchesne]

This is the first half dozen shavings on a piece of poplar.
I'll keep this one.

[Luke Dupont]

Nice! I've been thinking about making narrow, easy to push hand planes as well. Do you find the width is working well for you?

[Dave Beauchesne]

Luke:

The one we made for class was a 1'' version in Acacia. We used it for shooting, edge jointing and the convex side of the door we fabricated.

The Cocobolo / Ebony version with 1-1/4'' blade - I wanted a bit wider and a lot more heft for shooting - haven't used it yet on anything ' real ' but it works fine so far.

I had to go back to my real job after six weeks at school - that is a drag!

Dave B

[David Dalzell]

I made a number of Krenov planes while attending the "other" Krenov school in Ft Bragg Cal. The techniques they taught were the same. However it never occurred to me to laminate contrasting woods as you did. The visual result is beautiful. The next one I make will have that feature. Thanks for the idea.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Love it! Love the contrasting stripes. It needs to have yellow lines painted on the board as it screams down the drag strip!

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

It is a beautiful plane, what blade are you using ?

[Dave Beauchesne]

It is a beautiful plane, what blade are you using ?

Lasse:

A Hock Iron and Chip Breaker made for this style of plane. Ron Hock collaborated with Jim Krenov on these several years back - they work very well.

[Dave Beauchesne]

I made a number of Krenov planes while attending the "other" Krenov school in Ft Bragg Cal. The techniques they taught were the same. However it never occurred to me to laminate contrasting woods as you did. The visual result is beautiful. The next one I make will have that feature. Thanks for the idea.

No problem David. Thanks for the feedback---
When did you go to CR??

[Dave Beauchesne]

Love it! Love the contrasting stripes. It needs to have yellow lines painted on the board as it screams down the drag strip!

Thanks Malcolm - I like it as well. Something different.

Dave B

[Jeff Heath]

That is a very nice looking plane, and your efforts appear to have paid off. Nice job.

[Will Boulware]

Stunning work! Functional art, truly.

What am I missing about what you're describing... a 1" wide plane iron on the jointer you made for class? Why the narrow width?

[Bill McDermott]

Cool plane Dave. Nice, crisp post - with all the right photos. Thanks.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Stunning work! Functional art, truly. What am I missing about what you're describing... a 1" wide plane iron on the jointer you made for class? Why the narrow width?

Will:
The 1" jointer was used a lot actually. With a slight camber to the blade, we jointed, shot and smoothed with it.
All the wood is machined initially, but every surface is either planed, spoke shaved, chiseled or gouged at some point. The only sanding was a light rub between coats of shellac with 1000 grit.
I wanted the 1-1/4" for a bit more width and heft with the Cocobolo for shooting.
Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.

[Dave Beauchesne]

That is a very nice looking plane, and your efforts appear to have paid off. Nice job. I had great instruction, and I am a pretty good note taker and listener. More than half a century on this planet taught me those habits.
Thanks for the feedback.

[David Dalzell]

I was there from 2011 to 2012.

[David Dalzell]

I also made and use a 1" wide jointer plane. It is about 14'-15" long. I use it for edge jointing boards to be glued up.

[Dave Beauchesne]

I also made and use a 1" wide jointer plane. It is about 14'-15" long. I use it for edge jointing boards to be glued up.

They work well for that purpose. Nothing fancy required.