Kalimna
Established Member
- Joined
- 18 Nov 2009
- Messages
- 1,275
- Reaction score
- 2
Greetings all,
For starters, what a fabulous resource this whole forum is - I feel rather ashamed to not have discovered it until recently!
I have firmly established myself in the 'complete beginner' section of woodworking, and am slowly progressing from being able to flatten and square up a piece of timber, to attempting something a little more complex (and probably beyond my current ability - but how is one to learn without attempting any challenges?)
Having read the planemaking book by Mr D Finck, and acquiring a couple of HNT Gordon planes (before I realised there are UK makers - sorry Philly!), I wanted to have a go at building my own wooden plane. Something about using a tool that I had made really appealed to me.
So, a fortuitous find in a local tool merchant that was closing down (a box of unused Marples & Sons warranted cast iron blades for less than a small round of drinks) gave me the business end - 2" blade.
The body I made from a sandwich of purpleheart, hornbeam and yew (last two being locally felled timber). Partly I wanted to have contrasting colours in the plane body, and partly because I drift towards making things awkward for myself....
I didn't use a chip-breaker as the book suggests, just an oak wedge simillar to the Gordon planes. With a padauk cross-piece.
Unfortunately, I didn't plan the width of the centre block too well, and it turned out to be about 8mm wider than the iron. Instead of reducing the width of the centre block, I glued in two hornbeam 'runners' to centre the iron.
Taking another cue from the Gordon planes, I sharpened the iron at 30 degrees, with a bed of 60. Whilst I haven't tried flipping the iron over to give a 90 degree scraping action yet, that was the idea.
Shaping of the plane body was done with a combination of microplane and belt sander (and hasn't been quite finished yet).
So, does it work?
Well, the whole plane turned out just a little bit bulkier than I had planned, though I am very pleased with the visuals (I note another thread roughly discussing the aesthetic vs 'how well does it do the job?' aspects of beautiful infill planes). However, I find the side a little high for a comfortable grip.
I don't think I have the wedge or crosspiece set up quite right, as it seems to come loose easily whilst planing. Perhaps I need to tap the wedge a little tighter? It almost feels like the wedge is too 'wedgey', and needs slimming down? Or the crosspiece is too close, relatively, to the sole.
Having said all that, I have just gone and taken a couple of shavings that read 0.02-0.05mm, and left a lovely silky finish on the walnut.
So, there you have it, my first proper post here, and once I am able to, I shall post some piccies. I welcome any advice/criticism and pointers for the next plane (possibly a scrub or a curved-sole). Be gentle!
Cheers,
Adam S
p.s. the other 'next' project is a rocking chair via Hal Taylors plans... deep end here we come.....
For starters, what a fabulous resource this whole forum is - I feel rather ashamed to not have discovered it until recently!
I have firmly established myself in the 'complete beginner' section of woodworking, and am slowly progressing from being able to flatten and square up a piece of timber, to attempting something a little more complex (and probably beyond my current ability - but how is one to learn without attempting any challenges?)
Having read the planemaking book by Mr D Finck, and acquiring a couple of HNT Gordon planes (before I realised there are UK makers - sorry Philly!), I wanted to have a go at building my own wooden plane. Something about using a tool that I had made really appealed to me.
So, a fortuitous find in a local tool merchant that was closing down (a box of unused Marples & Sons warranted cast iron blades for less than a small round of drinks) gave me the business end - 2" blade.
The body I made from a sandwich of purpleheart, hornbeam and yew (last two being locally felled timber). Partly I wanted to have contrasting colours in the plane body, and partly because I drift towards making things awkward for myself....
I didn't use a chip-breaker as the book suggests, just an oak wedge simillar to the Gordon planes. With a padauk cross-piece.
Unfortunately, I didn't plan the width of the centre block too well, and it turned out to be about 8mm wider than the iron. Instead of reducing the width of the centre block, I glued in two hornbeam 'runners' to centre the iron.
Taking another cue from the Gordon planes, I sharpened the iron at 30 degrees, with a bed of 60. Whilst I haven't tried flipping the iron over to give a 90 degree scraping action yet, that was the idea.
Shaping of the plane body was done with a combination of microplane and belt sander (and hasn't been quite finished yet).
So, does it work?
Well, the whole plane turned out just a little bit bulkier than I had planned, though I am very pleased with the visuals (I note another thread roughly discussing the aesthetic vs 'how well does it do the job?' aspects of beautiful infill planes). However, I find the side a little high for a comfortable grip.
I don't think I have the wedge or crosspiece set up quite right, as it seems to come loose easily whilst planing. Perhaps I need to tap the wedge a little tighter? It almost feels like the wedge is too 'wedgey', and needs slimming down? Or the crosspiece is too close, relatively, to the sole.
Having said all that, I have just gone and taken a couple of shavings that read 0.02-0.05mm, and left a lovely silky finish on the walnut.
So, there you have it, my first proper post here, and once I am able to, I shall post some piccies. I welcome any advice/criticism and pointers for the next plane (possibly a scrub or a curved-sole). Be gentle!
Cheers,
Adam S
p.s. the other 'next' project is a rocking chair via Hal Taylors plans... deep end here we come.....
