Luke Dupont
04-15-2016, 2:05 PM
This isn't my first attempt at making a hand plane, but it's my first "good" attempt ;)
I used a little lie-nielsen mortise plane blade that is a little under 1" wide. The body of the plane is just under 6".
I like to work on little projects and do a lot of small detail work, so I thought a small plane would be quite handy; and I have to say, I'm pretty pleased so far!
335758
It's not quite "finished" yet; I may do a bit of shaping to the wedge, and will probably sand and finish everything. I thought about adding some kind of totes or knobs to make it easier to hold since it's so small, but I don't really know what would look good and be functional, so I may just keep it as is.
Surprisingly, though it doesn't have a chip-breaker, it's less prone to tearout than any of my other planes, I find. I suppose that is just due to a thin(narrow) mouth opening, and the narrowness of the iron itself?
I do find it difficult to get started when surface planing hardwood sometimes, though. It takes a lot of downward pressure to get it to bite in maple sometimes, I find; and there's a thin line between biting enough to take a good thin shaving, and biting too much. I guess that's mostly a matter of skill and getting a knack for adjusting it, though! Each wooden plane has a different feel in terms of how forceful/gentle you need to be when adjusting it, I find.
Feel free to show off your wooden planes and share your experience with them! If any of you have never tried making one, I highly recommend it! It's quite fun, if not a bit tedious to tune it at first. I find that I had to keep trimming the wedge to find the right size; the fibers will compress, and the cross pin will bend as well, making the wedge scoot further and further forward and blocking shavings until you find the place where it "settles". I'm a complete novice at this, though, and have never even read/watched a proper how to on making wooden planes. So, I'm sure pretty much anyone can do this ;)
I may try making a larger plane if I don't go find an antique Stanley to restore. Or, may do both. I have a modern make No. 4 that I've been using which... works, but isn't all that great. Doesn't have a chip-breaker, and uses a spoke-shave style adjustment mechanism. It'll make a good scrub plane when I find or make something better. However, as good irons that come with chipbreakers are a bit expensive, and considering the performance of this plane, I'm kind of wondering if I even need a chipbreaker for a larger plane. I was considering using the blade from the ECE Gent's plane, and making a similar styled plane with the front horn/tote.
I used a little lie-nielsen mortise plane blade that is a little under 1" wide. The body of the plane is just under 6".
I like to work on little projects and do a lot of small detail work, so I thought a small plane would be quite handy; and I have to say, I'm pretty pleased so far!
335758
It's not quite "finished" yet; I may do a bit of shaping to the wedge, and will probably sand and finish everything. I thought about adding some kind of totes or knobs to make it easier to hold since it's so small, but I don't really know what would look good and be functional, so I may just keep it as is.
Surprisingly, though it doesn't have a chip-breaker, it's less prone to tearout than any of my other planes, I find. I suppose that is just due to a thin(narrow) mouth opening, and the narrowness of the iron itself?
I do find it difficult to get started when surface planing hardwood sometimes, though. It takes a lot of downward pressure to get it to bite in maple sometimes, I find; and there's a thin line between biting enough to take a good thin shaving, and biting too much. I guess that's mostly a matter of skill and getting a knack for adjusting it, though! Each wooden plane has a different feel in terms of how forceful/gentle you need to be when adjusting it, I find.
Feel free to show off your wooden planes and share your experience with them! If any of you have never tried making one, I highly recommend it! It's quite fun, if not a bit tedious to tune it at first. I find that I had to keep trimming the wedge to find the right size; the fibers will compress, and the cross pin will bend as well, making the wedge scoot further and further forward and blocking shavings until you find the place where it "settles". I'm a complete novice at this, though, and have never even read/watched a proper how to on making wooden planes. So, I'm sure pretty much anyone can do this ;)
I may try making a larger plane if I don't go find an antique Stanley to restore. Or, may do both. I have a modern make No. 4 that I've been using which... works, but isn't all that great. Doesn't have a chip-breaker, and uses a spoke-shave style adjustment mechanism. It'll make a good scrub plane when I find or make something better. However, as good irons that come with chipbreakers are a bit expensive, and considering the performance of this plane, I'm kind of wondering if I even need a chipbreaker for a larger plane. I was considering using the blade from the ECE Gent's plane, and making a similar styled plane with the front horn/tote.