Block planes ?

[Trigs]

I use mine all the time a cheap record which I take on jobs and my prized lie nielson low angle blok plane, couldn't do without em. Just grip it and rip it.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I think you are expected to put a finger on it hence it is generally known as a finger rest. It's a bit small to grasp. But grasp if you want to - don't let me put you off!.

Of course Jacob, the indent is for a finger (or a finger and a thumb!) - but from which hand?!

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Jacob]

I think you are expected to put a finger on it hence it is generally known as a finger rest. It's a bit small to grasp. But grasp if you want to - don't let me put you off!.

Of course Jacob, the indent is for a finger (or a finger and a thumb!) - but from which hand?!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Made for the job!
Fits the hand very nicely and the direction of force is in line with the blade more or less - so you don't need two hands.
You can use both hands of course but the one handedness is what makes it so useful. And you can work other planes one handed but not so conveniently.
I never use a block pane for surfaces. Just edges. Or odd jobs like tool handle shaping where the red handled Stanley 102 suddenly becomes useful.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Jacob, see the Stanley #65 and the itsy bitsy Little Victor?

You'd think that the Little Victor was a one-handed plane. But it's not! It is a two-handed plane (when you seek a controlled cut)!!

To see you you do this: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReview ... Plane.html

Even the teeny-weeny LN #violin makers block plane (based on the Stanley #101 .. sort of ) gets used with two hands (remember the indent? ) ..

Sometimes it gets used one-handed ..

... and then, again, two-handed ...

Now here is an interesting one ... one-handed ... but with seven fingers on the hand ... :shock:

One more ... guess what ... two-handed again !!!

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Jacob]

:......

You'd think that the Little Victor was a one-handed plane. But it's not! It is a two-handed plane (when you seek a controlled cut)!!

TBH I think the Little Victor is a useless novelty plane. It looks so badly designed that you'd need 7 fingers!
Is 7 fingers an Australian thing BTW? I know many things are different down there what with wombats, echidnas, billabongs, etc.

That's an interesting collection of novelty planes all round. Tempting but I've already got too many planes I don't really need - mainly a bargain boxful of old woodies which I must attend to before the woodworm get warmed up.

 

[houtslager]

When I was young Barbers and Surgeons were the same trade.

PMSL

 

[woodbrains]

I think this American bloke is another example of a lot or the more respected wood workers around the world, who seams to of been put on a pedestal by his peers and now thinks he can make sweeping statements, which should be adhered to as if he was god. It's not something that all Americans share though, Chris Shwartz write about how he really wanted to hate the block plane but soon found he didn't like being without it.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

Hello,

I think Chris Schwartz was actually referring to shoulder planes in this quote and referred to another American furniture maker who said he didn't use these as all his tenons fitted straight from the saw. This statement was blown out of the water when a visit to the workshop of the perpetrator revealed a shoulder plane in his tool cabinet! You have to take the 'advice' with a pinch of salt, as it is often an ideal to aim for rather than a set in stone rule.

The funny thing is, shoulder planes are quite often used one handed and shooting planes always used this way, so saying that a tool is not a furniture makes tool because of dual handedness is spurious. What should be realised is that these articles are often written to spark debate and gain notoriety of the author as part of self promotion and marketing of their business as much as anything. Chris Schwartz writes for the same reason and is guilty of a fair bit of nonsense too.

I have a few block planes which I use regularly, but I could see, whilst working at the bench, you might never want to use one or need one. If Mr. Lowe never uses one, I could believe him, however.

I almost only ever use a LA block plane and two handed. I own a regular block plane, but don't think I ever have used it, a number 3 or 4 smoother would do everything that plane would do. The only thing I would miss a block plane for, in reality, is flushing protruding dovetails and the like. It's low angle blade is advantageous here, rather than its size. Now that LA smothers are available, I think one of those would be preferable to the block plane in most instances. For very small scale work, a block is very handy, though still used with two hands, for me, at least.

Mike.

 

[János]

Hello,

Block or thumb planes were small wooden planes. The metal block plane is quite modern development. And some of these metallic ones has got back handles in the form of "squirrel tails" and ball handles, just to facilitate comfortable two-handed use.

Have a nice day,

János

 

[G S Haydon]

Just finished revamping my e-bay record block plane http://www.record-plane-reviews.co.uk/r ... o-0120.php and gave it a go this evening. FWIW for removing an approximate arris or some loose shaping I found one hand was very comfortable. However when I wanted to get an accurate full width end grain cut or a long grain cut I found two hands better. When wanting that long consistent cut the extra pressure up front ensured I got the result I was after. BTW, not saying it's right, just seemed to come natural to do it that way.

 

[dannykaye]

Let's face it, we all do things our own way. A few years ago Ron Hock made a blade available to the Galoots forum for $25 (if Ron is reading this I would like a couple more please). It was about 1.5" x 1/4" x 3.5".

The idea was for us all to make a plane and upload pics. I decided, against all wisdom, to make a low angle, bevel up, block woodie. As expected the back of the mouth broke away, I just got round to making a brass insert for the mouth and it is a nice user, tho not as pretty as it was

Rosewood body, boxwood wedge and pins. It's quite nice with one hand but better with two

 

[Duncumb.fc]

Given that block planes arguably stemmed from English Mitre Planes, often boxwood, which dates back hundreds of years, I would hardly agree with the fact that they're modern.
Personally, as an instrument maker, my block plane is probably my most used tool. It is often the first plane I grab, even when my work is clamped (not often! :mrgreen and I use it both one handed and two handed.
Mine is a standard angle (Stanley 18 1/2), although lower is better blockplane wise IMHO.
It's very useful for end grain, especially when combined with a pot of water!

In the quest for a lower angle plane, I made the two planes below. The larger one is the same size as my 18 1/2.
They borrow the design from an American Strike Block, in that the blade is seated bevel down, but bedded at a low angle. In this case 32˚.
Both planes work a dream, and as you may notice the larger one is wooden soled , it glides like it's on ice!

Fraser

P.S. a pat on the back for the first person to point out the bit that's unfinished!

 

[G S Haydon]

Sweet work!

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Nice work Fraser. I especially like the simple, clean lines of the small strike block, although it does not look very comfortable - I'd shape the wedge to make it friendly.

You'd probably like using this little block plane I built for a recent LN Tool Event. It was to demonstrate the Krenov design. They are just 5" long and uses a 1 1/4" wide and 1/8" thick Mujingfang blade. The blades are bedded at 40 degrees bevel down (in other words, cut at a low angle similar to a Stanley 60 1/2). The wood is Jarrah and they have a brass mouth.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Duncumb.fc]

Wow, they're lovely Derek!
Actually the small strike block is so small that it fits in the fingers... So I just have thumb on one side and fingers on the other... It's only about 3 inches long...

Fraser

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Fraser .. 3"! That is tiny. It is difficult to grasp the scale in these pictures. Very nicely done - small is much more difficult.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Phil Pascoe]

That's why it's a good idea to drop a £ coin or a match box or something into the picture for scale.

 

[Duncumb.fc]

Good thinking!
I shall try to do that next time!

Fraser