Anyone make a set of hollows and rounds?

[Todd Trebuna]

Lost Art press has Matt Bickfords book “Moulding in practice”. I have not read it, but Chris Schwarz recommends it in his book “Handplane Essentials”.
based on the quality of Schwarz book, I have it on my list to pick up. The other thing highly recommended is the DVD series Making traditional side escapement planes. According to Schwarz, it essentially gives away all the secret secrets to making moulding planes. It’s available on DVD or streaming from Lie Nielsen.

[Paul Mosteller]

Hi Dan, I have an extra DVD - Classic Plane Making - Hollows & Rounds with Tod Herrli. It has a lot of good information including how to make your own floats. I took a class with him about 5 years ago and found him to be a great instructor. PM me your address and I'll send it to you. Paul
Edit - just searched for Tod on YouTube and it looks like someone has a series of videos there that are recent. The DVD is 15-20 years old.

[Anthony Watkins]

I'm still pretty new to hand tool woodworking and I've been investigating hollows and rounds recently as I want to try to duplicate the moulding on some early Edwardian skirting board in my house to replace a missing section. I expect to just keep watching eBay until the right sizes come up (I'm not fussed about have a matching set) as my skills are not yet anywhere near what they need to be to make moulding planes (I've just started a Paul Sellers-type router plane). But I do find plane making very interesting, hence I'm reading this thread.

All that is to preface what may be a staggeringly ignorant newbie question: since it's hard to make a traditional English-style moulding place without floats, and the French style is potentially weak, could one not make a laminated version along the lines of a Krenov?

[Rob Young]

I'm still pretty new to hand tool woodworking and I've been investigating hollows and rounds recently as I want to try to duplicate the moulding on some early Edwardian skirting board in my house to replace a missing section. I expect to just keep watching eBay until the right sizes come up (I'm not fussed about have a matching set) as my skills are not yet anywhere near what they need to be to make moulding planes (I've just started a Paul Sellers-type router plane). But I do find plane making very interesting, hence I'm reading this thread.

All that is to preface what may be a staggeringly ignorant newbie question: since it's hard to make a traditional English-style moulding place without floats, and the French style is potentially weak, could one not make a laminated version along the lines of a Krenov?

They won't be the cheapest but check if Jim Bode's site has a "harliquin half set" available. His stuff is generally of good quality but typically priced near the top of the value scale.

A harliquin set is generally made up of planes that while they do match and follow a size pattern, may not be all from the same maker. And a half set is less expensive than a full set by, well, about half.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Anthony and welcome to the Creek.

Yes, it is possible to make a laminated version of a molding plane:

Laminated Molding Plane.jpg

This is one that was sent to me by another member here.

There are some good posts on making molding at Lost Art Press > https://blog.lostartpress.com/2018/0...-best-friends/ < for one of them.

jtk

[Cory Newman]

I just signed up for a class with Red Rose Reproductions on making a pair of hollows and rounds in September. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Richard Hutchings]

Price near the top??? I guess you need to be a serious collector with deep pockets to by from him. What has the world come to. I guess I should have been buying these things up 30 years ago for 2 bucks a pop. Good grief.

They won't be the cheapest but check if Jim Bode's site has a "harliquin half set" available. His stuff is generally of good quality but typically priced near the top of the value scale.

A harliquin set is generally made up of planes that while they do match and follow a size pattern, may not be all from the same maker. And a half set is less expensive than a full set by, well, about half.

[Jim Koepke]

Price near the top??? I guess you need to be a serious collector with deep pockets to by from him. What has the world come to. I guess I should have been buying these things up 30 years ago for 2 bucks a pop. Good grief.

Yes, if there was more money available to me back then buying more would have been done and now would be profitable. Thankfully most of my planes were purchased before prices became so high.

There are two or three sized pairs in my assemblage of Hollows & Rounds from the same maker. In my set there are also a few with a different blade pitch.

Still, it looks like all of Jim Bode's H&R sets have sold. Some for ~$300 for a set of 18 planes. That is less than $20/plane. That is a price that would keep me from wanting to sell any of my Hollows or Rounds. (Some of the sets on the Jim Bode site have sold for over $1000)

My understanding is a Harlequin set has sized pairs from the same maker though all pairs can be from different makers. A double Harlequin set includes paired sizes being from different makers. Not sure if all sellers follow this convention.

jtk

[Richard Hutchings]

That $300 set was the only reasonable thing I saw on his site. I may have bought them had I been aware. My plan is to build my own set someday, how hard can it be.

[Eric Rathhaus]

Dan there are white a few plane makers on Instagram who seem very approachable, M Bickford Red Rose productions. For plane floats, you might try asking David Weaver if he would make you some. He has a youtube channel and a website.

[Warren Mickley]

I

All that is to preface what may be a staggeringly ignorant newbie question: since it's hard to make a traditional English-style moulding place without floats, and the French style is potentially weak, could one not make a laminated version along the lines of a Krenov?

I made some French style moulding planes in 1975. They are not weak. I have also made English style moulding planes without floats. Your question is not as ignorant as some of the comments that spawned it. I have not made a laminated moulding plane; they are designed for a maker that has more machine tool experience than hand tool.

Tod Herrli used to teach classes on making laminated moulding planes and produced a video on how to do it. Larry Williams took Herrli's class in 1996 when he wanted to learn how to make moulding planes.

[Rob Young]

Price near the top??? I guess you need to be a serious collector with deep pockets to by from him. What has the world come to. I guess I should have been buying these things up 30 years ago for 2 bucks a pop. Good grief.

As mentioned, there are sometimes $20/pair sets listed. It takes patience. Took me maybe 3 years of patience to find such a set and that was a while back. It was, however, when he still ran his storefront through eBay so I could use eBay's search and notify tools. So mostly it was down to me to jump on a deal if I saw it in time.

Now I think you'd have to write some web skimming code to get notified.

I forget the name, but the tool shop above The Woodwright's School frequently has pairs for sale. No on-line inventory search, you have to email or call. Which would be easier if I could remember the name...

Edit to add : https://www.woodwrightschool.com/the-tool-store

[Richard Hutchings]

Thanks, I'll look into that for sure when I get some more cash.

[Rafael Herrera]

In Patrick Leach's monthly list there are occasionally H&R full, half and partial sets. In the May list there is a half set for about $700.

Considering that a brand new pair costs in the region of $425 per pair, and a new full set is $7500, it makes sense to do some research and buy vintage and precisely the planes that you need.

[Tony Shea]

I know this has already been posted on but the DVD "Making Traditional Side Escapement Planes" is by far the most comprehensive video for making these planes that I've seen. Larry Williams is an absolute master and he explains the steps in the perfect amount of detail. If you watch and follow this DVD you will be on your way, there just isn't any better resource other than an in person class.

Making the Edge Plane float is doable for most people but the cheek and bed floats is were is gets a bit more tricky. It is really unfortunate that Lie Nielsen stopped making their floats, they are so well made and fit the bill perfectly. I would look and ask around here and other places if people have some that they are willing to sell you. They are invaluable for this task. As others have said, you will also need the 1/10" Chisel. Another tool Lie Nielsen used to make that is perfect for the task. Red Rose also made some of these chisels. I would contact him and see if he has one laying around or if he plans on offering them again. He should also be able to tell you where to get some floats, wood, and whatever else you might need for plane making. He also has tapered molding plane iron blanks. Some sizes are not in stock at them moment but he should be able to tell you when. Lie Nielsen also used to offer the tapered irons as well. IMO it is worth buying these tapered iron blanks as it just makes life much easier for a woodworker doing much less metal work than I would like.

I have not made a full half set yet but have made 3 pairs. The last pair def came out the best but all 6 planes are very usable. I also made a 3/4" rabbet plane that came out great. If I was to make another plane I would probably make a 1" or 1 1/8" rabbet. The wider plane would be a little easier to steer around making moldings. That hardest part for me was hardening the steel. The first 3 attempts at hardening I ended up failing at. Getting a feel for how hot and what color the steel needs to be at for the critical temperature takes a bit of experience. The first 3 attempts I never got the steel hot enough, I was worried about overheating the steel. My furnace setup was just some fire bricks stacked with a Map gas torch therefore I didn't have a ton of control. Eventually I figured it out and now have all my irons plenty hard enough, which is incredibly satisfying. It's like finishing a piece of furniture, the instant satisfaction of a properly hardened iron just amazed me. I made so many needless shavings with my first successful attempt just because I was blown away at the difference between my failed attempts.

Making your own molding planes is so much fun and I hope you can successfully source the tools and materials that you need. But be careful, it can become an addiction as you can see by guys like Matt Bickford, Larry Williams, and the guys behind Red Rose. Good luck!