Jeff Wittrock
06-08-2008, 6:28 PM
Some time ago, Ron Brese (http://www.breseplane.com/) was good enough to provide me with one of his real nice 1.75" wide, 1/4" thick irons.
I've been wanting to make a body for it for some time, and finally finished this one. I'm kind of new to using just hand tools, but I thought I would have a go at making this one with just hand tools. The one exception is the cross pin hole (and the cross pin itself). I don't own a brace yet, so I did this with a drill press.
The material is Padauk which is a first for me. My brother in law does trim in houses and often provides me with some scrap poplar and oak, but in the last batch he gave me was this small 3/4" thick piece of Padauk, a rare treat. It had a bit of twist to it and some cupping as well, but after cutting it into short pieces I was able to flatten it with another plane, and glue four pieces together to form a block large enough for the body.
I made the cross pin from some scrap brass I had laying around which I salvaged from a discarded trophy. The pin was originally a fluted column on the trophy, so I ground the flutes off, chucked the pin up in a drill press and polished it with vary grits of sand paper.
I ended up making the bed angle about 55deg. I wanted something I could use on slightly figured wood, so I hope this was a good choice. I made the back of the plane a quite a bit higher than my last plane to provide a little better purchase for my hand. So far, I have found it pretty comfortable to hold on to.
With the pretty wood, I didn't have the heart to leave a rough surface on the back to keep my hand from slipping. I have been thinking of stippling or checkering the surface like you would do to the grip on a gun stock. Even without this, I have found it pretty easy to maintain a good hold.
I have to say I love the 1/4" thick iron from Ron. I have found it very easy to hold a good angle while honing freehand. My sharpening skills still need some work, but I think the thick blade makes it easier. The small brass knob he puts on the end came in handy. Its purpose is to keep the blade from accidentally sliding out the bottom of the plane, and I can tell you that it worked :o.
I've been wanting to make a body for it for some time, and finally finished this one. I'm kind of new to using just hand tools, but I thought I would have a go at making this one with just hand tools. The one exception is the cross pin hole (and the cross pin itself). I don't own a brace yet, so I did this with a drill press.
The material is Padauk which is a first for me. My brother in law does trim in houses and often provides me with some scrap poplar and oak, but in the last batch he gave me was this small 3/4" thick piece of Padauk, a rare treat. It had a bit of twist to it and some cupping as well, but after cutting it into short pieces I was able to flatten it with another plane, and glue four pieces together to form a block large enough for the body.
I made the cross pin from some scrap brass I had laying around which I salvaged from a discarded trophy. The pin was originally a fluted column on the trophy, so I ground the flutes off, chucked the pin up in a drill press and polished it with vary grits of sand paper.
I ended up making the bed angle about 55deg. I wanted something I could use on slightly figured wood, so I hope this was a good choice. I made the back of the plane a quite a bit higher than my last plane to provide a little better purchase for my hand. So far, I have found it pretty comfortable to hold on to.
With the pretty wood, I didn't have the heart to leave a rough surface on the back to keep my hand from slipping. I have been thinking of stippling or checkering the surface like you would do to the grip on a gun stock. Even without this, I have found it pretty easy to maintain a good hold.
I have to say I love the 1/4" thick iron from Ron. I have found it very easy to hold a good angle while honing freehand. My sharpening skills still need some work, but I think the thick blade makes it easier. The small brass knob he puts on the end came in handy. Its purpose is to keep the blade from accidentally sliding out the bottom of the plane, and I can tell you that it worked :o.