Wood hand plane questions

[Reed Gray]

I will be making some wood hand planes in the next year or three. There is one thing That seems obvious to me, but I have never seen or heard of it. We all know that any wood 8/4 or thicker never reaches moisture content equilibrium, the inside has a higher moisture content than the outside. Any antique hand plane, made with 12/4 wood will have varying degrees of end grain checking. Over the years, the moisture content difference creates stress, and stress is relieved by cracking. So, for a 12/4 square block, why hasn't any one drilled a long wise hole about 1 inch diameter? That would make for the wood being pretty much the same thickness all around and stress would be pretty equal.....

robo hippy

[Edward Weber]

Why anyone hasen't done it, I don't really know for sure. I would say, it's not necessary
Now back to your original statement about moisture content.
Once the piece of 12/4 has reached EMC (equilibrium moisture content) this is where the wood is no longer gaining or releasing moisture. There will be a moisture gradient as you mentioned but it doesn't matter if the outside is X and the inside is X+1.
The only thing that matters is that it's not moving due to moisture transfer, which is when it settles at the ambient relative humidity (RH). Once the wood acclimatizes and is considered stable, the numbers don't really matter.
The EMC of the wood in my shop to be considered stable will be slightly different than in yours, due to the RH.

[Rafael Herrera]

As Ed pointed out, the gradient in moisture within the plane body is not large enough to cause significant movement if the plane is well cared for. Some will crack, but that is caused by more extreme changes in the environment the plane is placed at. One of my friends has gotten planes from the UK and several times a plane has developed a crack after a few weeks. On the other hand, I have several wooden planes, some even from the UK, and I have not experienced cracking problems. These are all Beechwood planes, by the way.

As per your idea, you could try to make a plane in that fashion and see what happens. Instead of drilling, the plane could be laminated to create a square hole too.

Rafael

[Dave Anderson NH]

One other notation about moisture content in thicker logs, boards, or blanks. Wood which is kiln dried in a vacuum kiln loses its moisture from the center first. This results in remarkably stable wood since the outside is the last to dry. There is almost no end checking. The downside is availability and price. Few places have vacuum kilns ands most commercial operations use huge steam kilns. Vacuum kilns are generally smaller in the range of 1000-2500 bdft and the results show in the end price.

[Reed Gray]

Well, when I make my first wood hand plane, I will have a hole down the length. I just have to experiment. As for beech, I have had one log I got some years back for bowl making, and it pretty much shattered. I do once turn my bowls, to about 1/4 inch let them dry about a week, then sand and finish. This does work for some woods, but not all. American yellow wood tree is one. While wood can and does reach equilibrium, eventually, wood never stops moving, due to changing climate. In an 8/4 board, this doesn't create too much of a problem. With 12/4, this is more of o problem because of the bigger difference. To me, that means stress, which even though it is minimal, it probably is enough so that over time, it will need to be released. It isn't as much of a difference as you would have in a whole log, which is impossible to dry without lots of checking.

I did pick up an AC Bartlett 20 inch jointer plane, or maybe it was just the plane iron that was made by Bartlett. It came from Ohio, and probably the later 1800s. I was able to get a few shavings with it, but the sole is in bad shape. Current plans are to put a new sole on it. I don't want it for collectability, I want to use it and to use it for a model for making another one, or other ones..... Looks like it is oak rather than beech.

I did have a local business for a while that used a vacuum kiln. The wood from it worked like air dried lumber. Wonderful stuff. Rip a board on the table saw and you get shavings, not dust.

robo hippy

[Edward Weber]

Reed, I think this will be an interesting experiment, though I don't think there will be much difference, if any. The center of a 12/4 piece of timber will be below the FSP of roughly 30% and probably much lower, closer to 20 would be my guess. Your target dryness for your area is probably about 9%. The differential in MC is not going to be much more than 10%.
One word of caution, don't mill to final size before drilling. After you bore out the center and cut out for the iron there may be additional movement, especially with Beech, allow for it.

IMO, Beech really isn't the best species for planes, it moves too much, as Rafael pointed out

[Reed Gray]

I had thought about doing a glue up of staves, leaving maybe a 3/4 inch opening, and then drilling out the center with a 1 inch bit. There would be glue squeeze out that I would want to clean up. I have wondered about beech. At the store where I buy my kiln dried wood, they checked and sugar maple is not quite as hard as the beech. No idea if it is more stable or not. I want to try a block plane or two first, then a 5 1/2 of some sort, and maybe a jointer plane or two. I do have a chunk of lignum that I could make a whole jointer's plane out of, but think I will save that for other things. It would make an excellent sole, but I would expect the glue joint to fail eventually. I have some iron wood chunks too. Much more experimenting ahead.....

I did pick up an AC Bartlett plane, or maybe that was who made the irons. I couldn't find anything about that name. It needed a lot of work, but I was able to get it to take a few shavings. The modern planes do have some advantages....

robo hippy

[Rafael Herrera]

I wouldn't go as far as make the claim that Beechwood is not a good timber for planes. After all, for several centuries the majority of planes were made of Beechwood.

The plane design (or tradition) calls for the bark side rings to face down and to be parallel to the sole. Also, for the grain to be straight, no runoff. All these presumably to control the wood movement. Letting a plane sit on a barn shelf for decades or subjecting it to sudden and extreme moisture change will likely damage a Beechwood plane. It does not mean necessarily that the type of wood is wrong for a plane, it means don't abuse your tool.

The behavior of a relatively small block of wood, planes, compared to the boards used for a table, door, cabinet, etc. is also not exactly the same.

I've a few blocks of rift sawn Beechwood and Applewood for plane making. It's part of long term plan to make a few planes. I don't really need more wooden planes, I've more of them than shelf space to store them at the moment. There's satisfaction in making your own tools though.

Your idea may or may not have merit. If it's of enough interest to you, why not pursue it? We're not all driven by the same things in this hobby. Making the next dovetailed box or seeing one by someone else is not what makes me get out of bed every morning.

Rafael

[Jack Dover]

I made planes out of beech and maple. Hardness isn't a factor I think, I've seen red oak boards denser than beech, but stability probably is. In my experience maple was way less stable than beech, but that might be just a particular board (all my planes could have been made from a single board and more than half of the board would be unused) - all maple planes had to be reflattened and trued several times before they settled.

Not all planes have checked btw. This probably has something to do with a quality of source material and then the environment these planes lived. I have a woodie from 1960-ies which has checked almost to the point of being the Grand Canyon stunt double, and I have planes from late 18xx that don't have a single crack.

Also remember that a body is supposed to be throughly oiled, practically infused with oil. Either submerged in BLO for a few days, or mouth sealed and oil poured until absorption stops. Many planes didn't get oiled. The oiled ones I have don't have a single crack, not even a hairline.

[Edward Weber]

I wouldn't go as far as make the claim that Beechwood is not a good timber for planes. After all, for several centuries the majority of planes were made of Beechwood.

Rafael

I didn't say not good, I said not the best.
The easy availability of numerous species today is why I can easily make such a claim.
For the several centuries you mention, Beech was a good choice for many reasons.

I would choose a species that is less susceptible to movement.
Check out any wood dimensional stability chart and see where Beech lands in comparison to other species before you commit to using it. IMO, there are better (more dimensionally stable) options.
Which is where this conversation started.

[Rafael Herrera]

Could you post a link to the chart, please?

[Warren Mickley]

Well, when I make my first wood hand plane, I will have a hole down the length. I just have to experiment. As for beech, I have had one log I got some years back for bowl making, and it pretty much shattered. I do once turn my bowls, to about 1/4 inch let them dry about a week, then sand and finish. This does work for some woods, but not all. American yellow wood tree is one. While wood can and does reach equilibrium, eventually, wood never stops moving, due to changing climate. In an 8/4 board, this doesn't create too much of a problem. With 12/4, this is more of o problem because of the bigger difference. To me, that means stress, which even though it is minimal, it probably is enough so that over time, it will need to be released. It isn't as much of a difference as you would have in a whole log, which is impossible to dry without lots of checking.

I did pick up an AC Bartlett 20 inch jointer plane, or maybe it was just the plane iron that was made by Bartlett. It came from Ohio, and probably the later 1800s. I was able to get a few shavings with it, but the sole is in bad shape. Current plans are to put a new sole on it. I don't want it for collectability, I want to use it and to use it for a model for making another one, or other ones..... Looks like it is oak rather than beech.

I did have a local business for a while that used a vacuum kiln. The wood from it worked like air dried lumber. Wonderful stuff. Rip a board on the table saw and you get shavings, not dust.

robo hippy

I think with this tunnel you are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

I have had my beech double iron trying plane since 1979. It is now about 120 years old. It was in great shape when I got it and though it has been used hard is in great shape now. There are a few very thin cracks in the endgrain.

I made a double iron jack plane in 1978, used very hard. It is the only jack plane I have owned. No cracks in either end (it has only been 45 years).

Beech has been the premier wood for bench planes for centuries. This was figured out not by engineers looking at charts, but by users with long experience.

[Edward Weber]

Could you post a link to the chart, please?

Google wood dimensional stability chart or view them separately at a site like the wood database. Look for the last section, Shrinkage (https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/dimensional-shrinkage/):
Beech, Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 11.9%, Volumetric: 17.2%, T/R Ratio: 2.2
Sapale, Radial: 4.8%, Tangential: 7.2%, Volumetric: 12.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.5
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/dimensional-shrinkage/

Examples, most are hardwood flooring sites that rely on this information. I know a 12/4 blank will act differently than a 3/4 floor board but the values are what they are.
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/F-72-11
https://sullivanhardwoodflooring.com/wood-flooring-stabibility
https://mesquitehardwoodflooring.com/properties.html

[Richard Coers]

I will be making some wood hand planes in the next year or three. There is one thing That seems obvious to me, but I have never seen or heard of it. We all know that any wood 8/4 or thicker never reaches moisture content equilibrium, the inside has a higher moisture content than the outside. Any antique hand plane, made with 12/4 wood will have varying degrees of end grain checking. Over the years, the moisture content difference creates stress, and stress is relieved by cracking. So, for a 12/4 square block, why hasn't any one drilled a long wise hole about 1 inch diameter? That would make for the wood being pretty much the same thickness all around and stress would be pretty equal.....

robo hippy
Never is a long time. I'd assume any thickness of wood reaches equilibrium at sometime over a human lifetime.

[Alan Schwabacher]

I would agree that this is not as big a problem as you think. But if you are trying to ensure that the wood reaches equilibrium with humidity throughout, a lengthwise hole would be much less effective than an array of small crosswise holes.

A real problem with trying stuff like this is the difficulty in telling whether it made any difference, and whether any difference you see is related to the hole. You could make a lot of them with and without hole(s) and see whether the range of things you observe with the hole(s) is different from the range you see in planes without.

Over many years people who used these planes to make their livings have compared more planes than would be practical for you to, and over many hours of work settled on designs that worked well. That's why you get suggestions to look at history: it is a big experiment, in a sense.

[Jim Koepke]

I think with this tunnel you are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

Agreed, if there was a problem this would solve, antique planes would have a hole through the center.

jtk

[David Carroll]

If you like to experiment, there is nothing wrong with that. It is your plane after all. But in terms of solving a problem, one thing to remember is that planes were made long before wood kilns and vacuum kilns and moisture meters came into being. Looking at old woodworking texts, there are often instructions on re-flattening wooden plane soles and eventually inlaying blocks to close up the mouths of planes that had worn, and been re-flattened repeatedly, opening the mouth.

So, regular work to keep wooden plane soles flat was likely just a normal part of maintaining planes in a world with wild shifts in seasonal humidity, no HVAC systems and made from wood that was air dried. JMHO.

DC

[Reed Gray]

All of these comments are food for thought. I do have some Mountain Mahogany, which is as hard as the desert iron wood from the SW. Most of it is not straight enough for a stable plane, but it might make a good sole. I actually have some iron wood that I could turn into a plane. Also some boxwood. I may even try some Oregon myrtle wood which is actually a California bay laurel. It is pretty hard, and has an inter locking grain. The quest begins!

robo hippy

[Rafael Herrera]

Ed, those charts are for green to oven-dry shrinkage. I'm not sure the reason those flooring sites are quoting them since a consumer would have no use for that information, flooring is bought dry. Once the lumber has dried, its rate of shrinkage and expansion is presumably smaller. None of the sites above provide those figures. I don't really know what it is for Beechwood.

It is also worth mentioning that early in the 20th century and any time before that there was plenty of old growth wood. If there was anything better than Beechwood, it would have been used. It should also be pointed out that the British islands were pretty badly deforested a long time ago. They imported large amounts of lumber.

In China and Japan they use/used other species and different designs as well. So, Beechwood is not the only woood used in large scale plane making.

--

I was talking to a friend about this subject. He also pointed out that plane makers preferred the sap layer of the Beechwood tree for planes. Why? What is the difference between beech sap wood and heart wood? That's an interesting question.

Rafael

[David Carroll]

Birch was also widely used in plane-making, early on in America. At a farm museum, I once saw a birch plane (I assume it was a jack plane) made from a birch limb in which the stub of a branch was left on the plane and served as the tote. It was well-used with a mouth that you could chase a mouse through. I knew it was birch because there were still remnants of bark on it. I believe in one of Irving Sloane's books he did a drawing of a similar plane.

A plane like this breaks all the rules, but in the hands of a skilled worker, it did the job!

DC

[Edward Weber]

Rafael, I have no issue with Beech, I simply said it's not the best for this use IMO.

The dimensional stability charts are derived by compiling decades of saturation and movement studies to determine how different wood species behave. Knowing that, you can further determine what species is best suited for your purpose. Whether that be flooring or something else.

While Beech was the predominant wood for European and Colonial American plane making, there are many, many, other species with different properties that may be better suited for making planes today.
Many Japanese planes are made of a type of white oak, other eastern planes are made from rosewoods, ebonies, Blackwood or Ironbark to name a few, are they all wrong?

It's up to Reed what he uses. I would suggest Myrtle. It has good properties and is native to the region. Cut some bodies, one with a tunnel one without and see how they react over the course of a year.

[Rafael Herrera]

The dimensional stability charts are derived by compiling decades of saturation and movement studies to determine how different wood species behave. Knowing that, you can further determine what species is best suited for your purpose. Whether that be flooring or something else.
[...]
Many Japanese planes are made of a type of white oak, other eastern planes are made from rosewoods, ebonies, Blackwood or Ironbark to name a few, are they all wrong?


I'm not questioning those charts at all. Those figures are for shrinkage from freshly cut green wood to kiln dried. Those are useless figures for a consumer, we don't normally buy green wood.

In fact, if the site below is accurate, a quarter sawn American beech hand plane, 3" in height, will shrink 0.0354 inches (about 1/32") if it goes through a moisture content change from 14% to 8%, which may be an extreme swing, I'm just plugging in numbers.

For beech, the rates of shrinkage they're using is 2.55% tangential, 1.2% radial, when going from 14% to 8% moisture content. If those figures are correct, they are what a woodworker can actually take into account when designing.

https://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl

---
I didn't say the Japanese or Chinese were wrong, they use/used what they have access to.

I just mentioned them because English and American traditions are similar and mostly what we discuss, but they're not universal. In continental Europe they seem to have used beech bodies with hornbeam or lignum soles. Their plane designs are different as well.

---

From time to time exotic wood planes pop up, made by ship builders, or so goes the popular explanations. Are those better planes? it's anyone's guess.

Want to make a plane with Lignum Vitae, rosewood, or some other dense wood? They'll be heavy as lead, I don't think they'd be practical planes.

Rafael

[Reed Gray]

After pondering this for a few more days, the whole point of having a hole through the middle would allow the wood to 'adjust' both to general seasonal weather changes, and the more sudden changes if you move the plane to a different environment. An air hole through the center would make it much easier for the wood to equalize without building up enough stress so that it cracks. I will be making one, just out of curiosity. Ed sent me an e mail commenting about using 'decorative' plugs. They could add to the design, but the hole still needs to be open for 'breathing'. The end grain checking, which is a stress relief crack, might be at the very least, greatly reduced if not eliminated. I guess I could use a stabilized wood, that stuff that is polymerized in a vacuum chamber. No clue as to what that could cost....

robo hippy

[David Carroll]

"At a farm museum, I once saw a birch plane (I assume it was a jack plane) made from a birch limb in which the stub of a branch was left on the plane and served as the tote. It was well-used with a mouth that you could chase a mouse through. I knew it was birch because there were still remnants of bark on it. I believe in one of Irving Sloane's books he did a drawing of a similar plane."

Errata: Irving Sloane wrote books on Guitarmaking, I meant Eric Sloane, who wrote books on Early American Industries, and there is a Museum that bears his name in Kent, CT. This will be the site of the spring meeting of ATTIC (Antique Tools and Trades of Connecticut) on June 10th. I will hopefully be there.

[Edward Weber]

I'm not questioning those charts at all. Those figures are for shrinkage from freshly cut green wood to kiln dried. Those are useless figures for a consumer, we don't normally buy green wood.
Rafael

These charts reflect wood that has reached FSP, (roughly 30%) Only below 30% is where dimensional changes occurs, no more free water is being lost, it's no longer considered green.
Once the drying of the cell walls starts, that where the shrinking begins.

Beech moves quite a lot in this range, much more than many other species. This is fact, not opinion, as documented in the various studies and charts.
This is why I said, I don't think it's the best. that's my opinion based on facts.

So again, dimensional stability is how much a species moves in the range between the FSP and Zero, although we usually only focus on the range down to the EMC.
Why you think these numbers are useless is a mystery to me. Understanding wood movement is a critical part of woodworking IMO.
https://owic.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/pubs/EM8600.pdf

Reed, I mentioned filling the hole with a plug, I meant to say after the blank had dried evenly.

[Rafael Herrera]

I must not be expressing myself properly.

I said they're useless to me, I don't go to the lumberyard to buy green wood when I have a project. (I have bought green wood, but that's just sitting in my shed drying for some future use.)

In the case of beech, the site I consulted shows that its movement is not extreme once dry. In addition, not just any lump of beech is used to make a plane. It is specially cut and oriented so its movement does not warp the plane to uselessness, see my post above.

Rafael

[Warren Mickley]

My beech trying plane is 2.977 inches wide as of 8PM this evening. The humidity is 43%. I wonder if anyone would be so bold as to
predict the width it will be in August when the humidity is 100%, given all the charts available on line.

I have a feeling that few respondents here have any idea why beech is favored for planes. One reason is the terrific wedging action. A beech wedge in a beech body grabs easily and holds. Harder stiffer woods have trouble compressing enough to hold without a lot more force. Ever wonder why Lie Nielsen chisels have trouble with the handles loosening? They even say on videos not to pick up their chisels by the handle lest the blade come loose. Traditional woods like beech and ash work better for holding in wedging.

The beech wedge is also good for easy adjustment. An experienced worker can advance or retract the iron in small increments because the wedging action is so good.

Ever wonder why saw handles are traditionally made of beech more than other woods? It has to do with shock absorption. A beech saw handle or a beech plane or a beech chisel handle will absorb shock so that the work is easier on the worker's frame. This is not something you would notice if you hardly ever use these tools. Some of the woods proposed in this thread as superior to beech hurt my arms just thinking about them.

[Tom M King]

European Beech is wonderful stuff to shape too. I don't know about domestic Beech because I don't remember ever working with any. The old molding planes I've had to tweak or even completely reshape the profile on were just wonderful pieces of wood to have to do that with. Most of my molding planes came from the UK.

[Jack Dover]

Not just in America. In some places yellow birch is still tools wood de-facto.

But the issue would be finding a suitable timber. I'd wager that getting straight grained QS yellow birch is way harder than getting suitable beech. Also more expensive: only maybe 3' at the stump area are good for plane making, while a birch tree can be used whole, even branches.

The birch family in general doesn't have a good abrasion resistance and the difference is just insane. It wears and birch planes become sole shot in just a few years. I guess if the only available wood to me was birch, I'd add brass wear plates right away.

[Rafael Herrera]

You can source quartersawn European beech at this site, https://www.inventory.horizonwood.com/set-detail/beech/lumber/391630. You can get a smoother and either a jack or a jointer out one of those blanks.

Red Rose Reproductions is also a source, but they sell American beech. They often are out of stock. https://redrosereproductions.com/tools/Plane-Billets-c19456188

[Edward Weber]

This topic has been discussed quite a bit. Here are some links to previous threads. Some content is the same but there is always something different for those interested.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?247234-Wood-Hand-Plane
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?283515-Making-wooden-hand-planes
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?179297-which-wood-for-hand-planes

[Edward Weber]

My beech trying plane is 2.977 inches wide as of 8PM this evening. The humidity is 43%. I wonder if anyone would be so bold as to
predict the width it will be in August when the humidity is 100%, given all the charts available on line.

I have a feeling that few respondents here have any idea why beech is favored for planes. One reason is the terrific wedging action. A beech wedge in a beech body grabs easily and holds. Harder stiffer woods have trouble compressing enough to hold without a lot more force. Ever wonder why Lie Nielsen chisels have trouble with the handles loosening? They even say on videos not to pick up their chisels by the handle lest the blade come loose. Traditional woods like beech and ash work better for holding in wedging.

The beech wedge is also good for easy adjustment. An experienced worker can advance or retract the iron in small increments because the wedging action is so good.

Ever wonder why saw handles are traditionally made of beech more than other woods? It has to do with shock absorption. A beech saw handle or a beech plane or a beech chisel handle will absorb shock so that the work is easier on the worker's frame. This is not something you would notice if you hardly ever use these tools. Some of the woods proposed in this thread as superior to beech hurt my arms just thinking about them.

I don't see where shock absorption cones into play in a saw handle or plane, with a chisel it's in the mallet handle used to strike it, not the chisel handle.
Do you have any sources for the use of Beech because of it's shock absorbing properties?
Genuinely curious

[David Carroll]

Well, not to speak for Warren, but using a saw, a plane or a chisel will subject the hands to vibration from these tools. Sawing and planing are pretty obvious, as you push the tool through the wood, grain direction, differences in hardness between spring and summer wood, and differences in density between heartwood and sapwood will all cause the tool to jerk and vibrate somewhat. Since you are holding onto the handle or tote under tension, then these vibrations will be transmitted to the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder. Resilient woods will dampen this shock somewhat. Like Warren said, if you aren't doing this for extended periods of time, you may not notice it. But it does add to fatigue if you do a lot of it, for extended periods of time.

Chisels are somewhat different in that the shock is mostly due to the mallet or hammer striking the tool. If the blows are not entirely axial then the chisel handle will vibrate side-to side, which can cause discomfort. again over time.

Tradesmen who practiced before power equipment was widely available used the tools for extended periods and would naturally prefer tools that were comfortable to use. I'm sure that this was a factor in wood selection by manufacturers. Other factors of course would be availability, material pricing, tradition, durability, and the woods ability to be shaped and finished well.

Beech and Apple wood (for saws) apparently had the right mix of all of these factors, which must've accounted for their widespread and continued use in England and America in the heyday of hand tool woodworking. (JMHO)

DC

[Warren Mickley]

Yes David has the right idea. It is like standing on a concrete floor or wood floor. It does not seem much different, but the concrete floor is rough on someone who has to stand on it all day, day after day.

It is very odd reading about how people worry that beech will wear out in the sole or is unstable, when neither of these is a problem at all in a lifetime of use.

P.S. With a beech plane, the plane iron will wear out a lot faster than the sole.

[Reed Gray]

i like how these threads evolve. In discussing different woods, I was wondering if persimmon is ever used. I believe it is related to ebony, and it used to be used for the heads of golf driver clubs.

robo hippy

[Rafael Herrera]

i like how these threads evolve. In discussing different woods, I was wondering if persimmon is ever used. I believe it is related to ebony, and it used to be used for the heads of golf driver clubs.

I believe Matt Bickford uses Persimmon as boxing for his planes. Horizon, in the link above, stocks Persimmon.

I was chatting with David Weaver about this topic. He echoes Warren's comments regarding the properties of beech.

I've been known to dance at least 4 hours straight, even 6 on a few ocasions. I would not do it on a concrete floor. A good dance floor is a wooden one with a bit of give.

Rafael

[Edward Weber]

Yes,
Caleb James still uses it in some of his tools
https://calebjamesmaker.com/toolgallery

[Jack Dover]

Flattening is done because of wear, not because of changes in humidity. With changes in humidity the shape of a tool changes as if it was proportionally scaled a tiny amount, that is, the body might grip an iron or a tote can sink in, but changes in humidity won't change sole that much so it need to be re-flattened. Drying can cast the plane though, I have a couple of NOS woodies from 60-70ies, came never used in a storage box - these had some weird banana sole profiles, but once acclimated to a shop they stay true and flat. Just for the record humidity in my shop can swing from 30% to 100% and back during a day.

There's definitely a variation in beech density, so some planes might need sole flattening almost every week. Some stay flat for several months. One can tell it's a wear because it pretty much always in line with how we hold a plane. A human never keeps a plane perfectly inline with the planing direction, it's always askew, even if a little bit. The sole goes into a wind exactly in that direction.

The complete flatness of a sole isn't required though. Assuming a sole is not in a wind, the critical piece is 1" in front of the mouth and area directly behind the iron and maybe one spot at the heel (depending on what plane it is). This is why many users put a brass plate there, or sometimes a whole front part was made of metal - if this part of the sole stays flat the plane is always functional.

[Reed Gray]

I keep coming back to this and how the cracking is 'stress' relief. For sure, a 12/4 board will never equalize moisture levels. So, if there is much change in humidity levels inside the shop, that adds to the already existing stress in the wood, and stress is relieved by cracking. So, some time in the next couple of years, I will be making some wood hand planes, and I will leave a tunnel through the center. This 'should' greatly reduce the stress that would normally be found in a 12/4 board. In theory, this makes the concept of a jointer's plane that will not crack. I hope to have another 20+ years to see if it works.

robo hippy

[Rafael Herrera]

Maybe you should put a bit more research on how wood dries and how it behaves as the ambient humidity changes.

The moisture content of a piece of good is a gradient. I don't think it is expected to be 100% dry, nor the same % throughout.

[Jim Koepke]

So many wood bodied planes were set aside in the later part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century they probably weren't treated to a temperature/humidity controlled environment. They likely did not receive the regular care from an owner or user.

We see very few that were regularly wiped down with oil or wax.

The harsh environments where most of these planes were stored may have more to do with their cracking than anything else.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

Years ago I read about woods used for making planes. Lignum vitae and Rosewood were favorites, now we gotta use steel…

[Edward Weber]

Maybe you should put a bit more research on how wood dries and how it behaves as the ambient humidity changes.

The moisture content of a piece of good is a gradient. I don't think it is expected to be 100% dry, nor the same % throughout.
FWIW,
I know for a fact that the OP knows how wood dries and behaves.
Having said that, the entire thread is in reference to your second sentence. It's a given that the wood will not have the same moisture content throughout. The main point is of the thread postulating if making a tunnel in the blank will even out the moisture gradient differences, at the same time keeping a stable plane body.

[Rafael Herrera]

I really don't keep track of who's who when I post a response. I fail to see how that is relevant. Did I insult the guy?

Why would there be a need to address this moisture gradient in the first place?

The only planes I've found with catastrophic cracks look like they've been left out in the open. The wood blanks for planes was carefully selected Beechwood, quarter sawn, sapwood, in the best quality planes.

I've old planes that exhibit a crack. These cracks have not changed in the few years I'v had the panes, nor do they affect the plane's function.

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I think the OP intends to make his own planes and is concerned with moisture issues. I also intend to make a few planes at some point. I think selecting properly milled beechwood is a more important factor and it addresses the behavior of the wood with respect to moisture changes due to the environment. There are several hundred years of experience accumulated on wooden plane design and use.

[Reed Gray]

I am not insulted. I am Irish, and we don't get insulted about anything.... I have a lot of experience drying my wood bowls, and some experience drying dimensional lumber over the last 30 years. While wood will reach an 'equilibrium point' where the weight is stable, on 12/4 wood, the difference between outside moisture content and inside content can be a couple of % points. This puts the wood in a constant struggle/stress condition. The point of having a hole/tube through the center of a thick body plane would be to even out that stress. Air drying 4/4 wood takes about a year. 8/4 takes about 2 years, then inside the shop for another year. 12/4 never gets all the way there. You are correct about 10% moisture content for most areas of the country, and that can vary seasonally. Here in the Pacific NW, 12% is the norm for air dried outside. I am one who is blessed or cursed with having to experiment.....

robo hippy