20" Wooden Jointer Plane Build - WIP - Lots of photo's

[The_Stig]

I've been toying with the idea of building a plane for quite a while now, I had originally wanted to use maple and wenge but after finding two nice sized offcuts in the scrap at work it was decided that my first plane would be made from oak and black walnut.

I started by planing the boards square which took quiet sometime as I refused to use the thicknesser at work but I got there in the end.

I then glued the two sections together and left them alone for two days as its been really cold in the workshop and it appeared that the glue simply wasn't going off.

Once the glue was dry I planed the two sections flush and using my new bandsaw blade ripped the walnut base to the required thickness. It took me 90 minutes to change the blade mainly because I'd never done it before and secondly because it was absolutely freezing cold.

Unfortunately I accidently lost the photo of the finished thickness #-o I checked that everything was square and proceed to rip the main section of the plane which went incredibly well as I was starting to doubt my bandsaw skills.

With the sides now cut off I marked out the angles for the throat... I did this using my new marking knife that I proceeded to put through my finger... lesson learnt there! Using the bandsaw again I this time cut the required angles and planed the end-grain square which left me with something that is starting to look like a plane.

I have order a section of brass which I am going to fit into the sole of the plane when it has been glued together and late last week I was given a section of wenge so that will go into my next one once this prototype has been completed.

I have something special and secret up my sleeve but its still in the planning stages but if I can do it then you'll all be in for a nice surprise by the time the project is finished.

It is my intention to have the plane ready for gluing by Friday night so that it can be then cut into shape and finished the following week.

 

[Kalimna]

Am watching this with interest
What width blade are you using for this? I suspect future updates will inform, but are you going with the Krenov style blade+chipbreaker, or just a single iron?
Could you give a little more info regarding bed angle, mouth position along the sole, reasoning for doing so?
Ive made a couple of planes, one of which works well, one doesnt, and these were both fairly thrown together after reading Fincks' book. And Im trying to gather up as much info as I can to build a few more to use up a small stash of blades I acquired.

Cheers.
Adam

 

[The_Stig]

I've got a few SketchUp designs of how I imagine its going to turn out but this is subject to change depending how it feels in my hand.

 

[The_Stig]

I like the idea of using a single 1 3/4" iron although a part of me want to use a blade and chipbreaker... this is actually the main reason I've not done any work on it for the past two days, I'm stuck weighing up the pro's and con's although I think for this one, being my first I will use a blade and chipbreaker as I've found one kicking around in the workshop.

 

[Kalimna]

Fair enough - the reason I used a single iron on both planes was that I had a couple of them, and not having to rout a slot for the chipbreaker bolt/nut was one step (and therefore possibility of cock-up) less!

Cheers,
Adam

 

[The_Stig]

If I'm completely honest, the routering scares me because it's not something that I'll be able to easily repair if it goes wrong.

Do you have any pictures of your completely planes?

 

[Kalimna]

Here's a couple of links to the two planes, gratuitously posted up on the forum previously

www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/wip-round-b ... 41148.html
another-novice-plane-builder-t37015.html

Although I notice that the image links seem to not be working now, so here's a link to where they are currently hosted
s841.photobucket.com/albums/zz332/hairygecko/PurpleheartYew%20Plane/

Cheers,
Adam

 

[studders]

You don't need to Rout the slot and it's better if you don't as it's tricky to hold etc. Much easier to drill with a forstener bit and cleanup with a chisel.

 

[The_Stig]

You don't need to Rout the slot and it's better if you don't as it's tricky to hold etc. Much easier to drill with a forstener bit and cleanup with a chisel.

The thought of doing this or using the mortiser did actually cross my mind as I'd have a lot more control over the process.

 

[jorgoz]

I'll be following this thread with interest as i've got a 110x60x6 jointer blade on the way for my next plane built. Shape looks very promising.

 

[woodbloke]

If I'm completely honest, the routering scares me because it's not something that I'll be able to easily repair if it goes wrong.

Why?...it's just a short slot along the bed to take the bolt head. Get the set-up correct and it'll take about 30 seconds to do. Even if you didn't want to rout it out, the slot could be chopped out by hand with a couple of chisels - Rob

 

[The_Stig]

I'm unsure about the brass rods that I've considered putting in for decoration, I'm hoping that they will give a nice feature against the oak body. I have never worked with metal apart from making a pen/candle holder at school so its all a bit of experimentation.

 

[OPJ]

Looking good so far, Jamie.

Of the three designs you've posted, I prefer the third one. I think you might benefit from having some 'bulk' at the toe end to hold on to. Then again, perhaps jointer's are different to short smoothing planes?

This is a smoother/large block plane that I made for British Woodworking magazine, a few months ago:

Actually, Nick said there should be more on the competition entries in this month's magazine...

 

[woodbloke]

If I'm completely honest, the routering scares me because it's not something that I'll be able to easily repair if it goes wrong.

Do you have any pictures of your completely planes?

Here's a few pics of 'Big Woodie' that I made a couple of years ago (28" long) from Mahogany with a Greenheart base:

...you can see the groove routed into the bed and tote for the cap iron bolt head

with the adjuster shown here:

The original plane had a small iron and chipbreaker, but it now sports a 6mm O1 carbon steel double iron Phillyblade - Rob

 

[The_Stig]

Its been a while since I've posted mainly because its been too old to do much in the workshop and secondly because I've been busy on other projects but the brass plate arrived the other day.

I brought it for £3 off eBay, I don't know if that's good or bad as I've never brought metal before.