Wood for Handmade planes

[Brian Kent]

I am starting to build three wooden handplanes using David Finck's book on Krenov-style planes. I am using blood wood for the block plane, purple heart for the smother, and paduak for the jointer.

My question - are these all hard enough or will I need a harder sole on any of them? I am going to the Janka scales and getting widely varied information.

I'll take pictures as I go along. Right now I am preparing stock for all three, but will probably make them one at a time.

I ordered a 1 1/2" Hock blade and breaker for the block, 1 3/4" for the jointer, and I'm using a very thick 2" blade and breaker from an old coffin plane for the smoother.

[Steve knight]

padouk may be a bit soft though I have enver tried it for a sole. the others woods are plenty hard.

[Brian Kent]

Thank you Steve!
I have a 1/4" piece of Bolivian Rosewood that I'll put on the Padouk. The color and grain are a nice complement too.

[Zahid Naqvi]

I have used Maple, Oak and Ash for Krenov style planes using the same book. All woods worked fine. Even Cherry, which is much softer, works pretty well. I think the hardness of the wood for wooden planes is over played. For recreational users a wooden hand plane will last almost a life time even after several flattenings of the sole. Plus they are easy enough to make so that you can make one over a weekend.
If you have never made one of these before I suggest you make one with a less expensive wood to fine tune the technique. David Fink does a good job of explaining useage and adjustment of several hand tools but leaves out a few key details on handplane construction, plus it is spread out over so many pages you need 20 sticky notes to get access to all the steps.

[Sue Wise]

Zahid,
I too am planning on make planes using the instructions in the book. Can you tell us what details he left out?

Thanks.

[Zahid Naqvi]

A few things that come to my mind immediately, i.e. the deviations I made from David Fink process are listed below. One of these days I plan to write an article about it, if I can find time between projects :(

1. The guide holes to keep the cheeks aligned with the center block, during the post glue up clamping, should be made when the plane blank is in a single block form and not after the cheeks have been cut. It is much easier. If your drill press can do it make the holes go all the way through.

2. The angle on the front ramp should also be 45 degrees, 62/65 degree is too steep and doesn't allow enough space for you to stick your finger in and clean out shavings. Grabbing a pencil or a stick to do this every time can get tedious very quickly.

3. Use a chisel to initially form the mouth, once it gets close to your desired size fine tune with a file. I have gotten to a point where I don't use a file at all.

There are some more variations, but I think as you go through the proces you will incorporate a few of your own, either to adopt to the tools you have access to or the techniques you are comfortable with.

[Brian Kent]

Zahid, will there be any problem setting the throat size if I drill the guide holes before cutting off the sides? I'll be cutting the angles with a well-tuned table saw rather than a band saw since I don't have a band saw.

[Steve knight]

a tablesaw is good or a chopsaw. but unless you remove a lot on the second cut (just start it so you don't remove any off the sole) then you will still have to open up the mouth. better to have to open then to close your mouth in this case :)
also after you cut the ramp for the iron lap it on a sandaper surface to get it really flat. and of course check it for square too.

[Zahid Naqvi]

Zahid, will there be any problem setting the throat size if I drill the guide holes before cutting off the sides? I'll be cutting the angles with a well-tuned table saw rather than a band saw since I don't have a band saw.

Brian, just to make sure there is no confusion about terminology. The guide holes I was referring to are drilled at the two upper corners of the plane blank. After you slice/cut off the cheeks and make the 45 degree cuts for the front and tha back ramp you will need to put everything together for glue up. At this point you stick a dowel through the guide holes to make sure the allignment of the center block and the cheeks is exactly the same as it was before you made all the cuts.

I am slightly confused about what you are asking here, because the guide holes you make on the corners will be cut off when you start shaping the hand grip and the front of the plane. Not sure how that can have anything to do with the mouth, I am also not sure what part of the plane is the throat (I am assuming it is what some of us refer to as the mouth).

As for cutting the ramps no matter how accurate your table saw or chop saw is you will almost always have to either sand or plane the ramp to get it perfectly square with the sides. I make these cuts by a handsaw, followed by trueing with a block plane. When cutting the ramps on your table saw make sure the cuts are on the waste side. Table saw blades have a thick curf and two of these combined at a 45 degree angle can create a bigger than desired mouth, DAMHIKI :o

If you make the guide holes before you cut the ramps (either when the plane blank is a single block or after you have cut the cheeks) you will not have the option to move one of the ramps back and forth to compensate for any errors you made while cutting the ramps. Hence you have to be real careful about the cuts you make for the ramps, you can always widen the mouth if it is too narrow, but you can never grow it back if it is too wide. I find it helpful to draw the outlines (including the saw cuts, outline of the blade and chipbreaker etc) on one of the sides.

I always recommend that you make your first plane as an exercise to fine tune you method. I have probably made more than 10 planes by now and still not sure about several things, and developing new tricks with everyone I make.

Steve, thanks for chiming in, I got to play with a couple of your planes during a local WWing get together, awesome tools.

[Derek Cohen]

A few things that come to my mind immediately, i.e. the deviations I made from David Fink process are listed below. One of these days I plan to write an article about it, if I can find time between projects :( ......

2. The angle on the front ramp should also be 45 degrees, 62/65 degree is too steep and doesn't allow enough space for you to stick your finger in and clean out shavings. Grabbing a pencil or a stick to do this every time can get tedious very quickly......

The ramp angle also depends on the thickness of the shavings and, therefore, the size of the mouth. The HNT Gordon front ramp is about 75 degrees, which should be too steep but works perfectly. Then, again, the mouths are very tight.

I am in the process of building a 30" Jarrah jointer. This will be a razee (the rear cut out yet to be shaped), influenced by both Steve Knight and Terry Gordon. 2"x 3/16" Hock blade. The tote is just for show at this time, and the lever cap screw is temporary.

Current status:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Articles/Building%20a%20jointer/Gluedup.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Kent]

Zahid, I was talking about two separate things - the guide holes which are cut out and the saw cuts on the mouth. I see what Steve is saying about making the second angle cut carefully so that it doesn't remove any of the sole.

I'll take your advice on the practice piece. I have a nice straight-grained piece of oak that I'll laminate together the same size as my purpleheart blank, and try everything on it first.

I really appreciate you all helping along the way. I am honored.

[Steve knight]

the second angle does best the larger the opening is no matter what. but depending on the wood you use how close the wedge/screwcap to the edge of the iron and such will make a difference. but it does not hurt having the opening large but it can hurt having it tight.
but I would make a 90 degree angle on the end at the mouth to keep it from opening up fast.

[Zahid Naqvi]

That's a good looking plane there Derek, I noticed that grain on the shoulder is dropping on the front side, is that by design or grain direction doesn't make a difference in your experience. I am hoping you will post some finished pictures when this is done. I still haven't tried making a plane with a handle yet, hopefully I will figure out how to make and then attach one.

[Brian Kent]

I finished the practice plane today. It is a wide smoother made of laminated white oak. I think I followed all the advice offered here. The most important advice was that I tried it on practice wood first.

It works!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Hey Brian, that looks pretty good, you should keep it as a historical reference as your first plane.

[Al Mock MD]

Quickly, where is everyone getting these beautiful brass threaded caps? Surely not everyone owns a mill (I certainly don't...but could be convinced that I need one). Awesome thread. Gorgeous planes. al

[Zahid Naqvi]

Al, coincedentally I am going today to meet a friend for making these hammers. We got a couple of rods of brass, of appropriate dia, from eBay. It will be cut into 2" or 2.5" lengths and a hole drilled through the center for the handle. I have never worked with brass before, but Tim Caley (who uses it some for the model toys he makes) said it is easy to work on with common shop tools. Use a hacksaw to cut the bars and a drill press to drill the center holes. No thread needed, just stick a wedge through the tenon that fits into the hammer head.