Making a LA plane?

[Tom Jones III]

I was trying to plane some end grain the other day to make some drawer fronts fit better. The best thing I have is a new Stanley block plane from Home Depot.

Has anyone ever made a wooden low angle plane? It seems like holding the iron in place will be tough in a wooden low angle plane. I was hoping that someone already had a design that worked well.

[Javier Gonzalez]

I think the bed of a wooden plane would be too weak to properly support the
blade, especially the area nearest the throat.

[Brad Olson]

You can actually use a regular bench plane for the task you describe.

I actually prefer to trim the dovetails of drawers down with a bench plane and not a block plane because there is a LOT more control with the bench plane over the block plane.

There is also a myth that you need a low angle of attack to plane end grain, but I find that it actually works as good if not better to use a york pitch or higher angle of attack. Regular 45 degrees works just fine as well although the number of planes that remain in my collection with this angle is dwindling.

The key to success is a sharp iron and a reasonably well tuned bench plane, but if you are new to handplanes, I'd start with a good quality bench plane instead of a block plane, since you can get a bit more mileage out of it over a LA block plane.

Making LA wood planes is extremely difficult, this is why I mention that you may just want to make a regular bench plane instead if you aren't interested in buying a metal plane. It requires an extremely skilled plane maker to even think of getting a LA woodie to work. On the otherhand, making a bench plane is fairly straight forward and can be done for very little $$ especially if you purchase your own O-1 tool steel and temper it yourself.

[Michael Fross]

Making LA wood planes is extremely difficult, this is why I mention that you may just want to make a regular bench plane instead if you aren't interested in buying a metal plane. It requires an extremely skilled plane maker to even think of getting a LA woodie to work. On the otherhand, making a bench plane is fairly straight forward and can be done for very little $$ especially if you purchase your own O-1 tool steel and temper it yourself.
At the risk of hijacking this thread just a bit, I'm in the process of building my first plane (a 20 inch jointer). Any idea on finding information on self-tempering or suppliers of the steel?

Many thanks. Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread......

[Leif Hanson]

On heat treating steel - there's some good info here:
http://www.threeplanes.net/toolsteel.html
and here's a ton more info on many different aspects:
http://anvilfire.com/FAQs/
Specifically dealing with heat treating from that page:
http://anvilfire.com/FAQs/heat_faq_index.htm


For a supplier, you could ask Johnny (aka rarebear on woodnet) at rexmill.com - I know he's been making some plane blades recently. Another good source is old planes where the wood had gotten bad beyond repair - often the iron is still in pretty good shape, save for some rust.


On making a low angle plane from wood - you can go down to about a 35 degree bed safely (with a good wood), but below that the angle gets too severe for the wood's ability to stay together at the mouth.

One pointer - always have the iron before you make the plane...

HTH
Leif
www.norsewoodsmith.com (http://www.norsewoodsmith.com)

[Derek Cohen]

Tom

It is indeed possible to build a LA wooden block plane but, as others have stated, it may not hold up. I have one I made for chamfers and this has gone strong for a few years now, and does not look like falling apart. The bed is about 12-15 degrees and I made it out of (hard) Jarrah. Picture below.

It sounds as if you need to tune your new Stanley block plane - I am sure that you could tweek it way beyond your current experience.

Brad

You are correct in that a HA plane can cut endgrain. However, I would much rather use a LA plane to do this since it will be easier and leave a smoother surface. I have used a wide range of planes on my shooting board (from 60 degree HNT Gordon Try Plane to 37 degree LV LA Jack) and there is no contest which is easier/better to use. You can do the same experiment with chisels - try a few with 30/25/20 degree bevels and then tell me which you prefer. I will use a mallet on the 30 degree, and just push the 20 degree.

Having said that, consider: HNT Gordon make a wooden block plane that is 55 degrees. I have not hear anyone complaining that it cannot cut end grain. Further, the HNT Gordon shoulder planes are bedded at 60 degrees and cut hard endgrain timber as easily as anything else out there. Makes you wonder at it all!

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Pedro Reyes]

Michael,

for metal, try onlinemetals.com. They sell tool steel, the other sites you got are great for info on steel.

r/Pedro

[Tom Jones III]

Thanks everyone for the input. I've worked over the last several months to get my irons sharpened well, and the situation is improving on that front. It is interesting that using a bench plane was suggested, as an experiment I grabbed my Record #5 and gave it a try. The results weren't half bad, but I'm not sure if that is because I have spent so much more time tuning it up, or if I had better control with the #5.

Derek, that is a great looking plane. Did you do anything special with the nut and bolt holding the iron? Is that plane meant to be pulled or pushed?

[Harold Beck]

Look under Carbon Steel, Precision Ground Flat, Grade O-1 on the McMaster-Carr website for details. That is where I got some from.

www.mcmastercarr.com (http://www.mcmastercarr.com)

I also made a wooden plane, wedged blade, bedded at about 20 degrees, bevel up to use for end grain on a shooting board. Made with a hard maple body and cocobolo sole. It was a technical success, making the blade, assembling the body, etc. I never did get the mouth correct though, the chip ejection path was off somehow, it always clogged.

HB

[Derek Cohen]

Derek, that is a great looking plane. Did you do anything special with the nut and bolt holding the iron? Is that plane meant to be pulled or pushed?

Hi Tom

The plane body has a metal thread insert into which the bolt is screwed to hold the blade down. One cannot use a wooden wedge on a plane like this since the blade projection is constantly being increased in small amounts (to create a deep bevel). The screw makes adjustment very quick and easy.

It can be either pushed or pulled.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mike Henderson]

Just a comment about the Stanely plane you purchased at the borg - I bought one a while back and I never could get it to hold an edge. I'd sharpen it with the same techniques I use for other planes but when I'd use the plane, the edge would crumble and leave lines on the wood in the cut area, especially on end grain. I've talked with others who bought new English made Stanley block planes and no one had good things to say about them.

Mike