Making wooden planes in India

[AndyT]

I just read a fascinating blog post on the Early American Industries Association website.
It describes small scale production of a range of woodworking planes, using pre-industrial techniques. I think it's worth a look if you are interested in how things are made now and could have been made in the past. And for anyone wanting to have a go, the pictures will help you not to put a foot wrong.

http://eaiainfo.org/2018/02/01/branded- ... -in-india/

 

[custard]

"His father was using discarded high speed still drill bits to forge chisels and gouges"

:shock:

Blimey! It's good to be reminded just how lucky we are.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Smithy]

Thanks for a very interesting post. I am in awe of these people who are able to achieve so much with simple tools. I don't think we realise how lucky we are.

Smithy

 

[bugbear]

"His father was using discarded high speed still drill bits to forge chisels and gouges"

I didn't think that HSS was any good for forging?

BugBear

 

[D_W]

It might not be ideal, but I'm sure you could do something with it. George Wilson mentioned making some carving tools or chisels or something out of it and smashing it (by hand hammering) at relatively low heat.

 

[D_W]

Thanks for a very interesting post. I am in awe of these people who are able to achieve so much with simple tools. I don't think we realise how lucky we are.

Smithy

Planes like that are easier to make with relatively simple tools. They're similar to what I make with "relatively simple tools".

I could suggest a few changes to the planes that that guy makes such that a US retailer would take them on and sell them for at least a hundred bucks or so.

When I thought about making a few planes (never seriously, but pushed numbers around), I figured I'd want about 30 bucks an hour in the actual time making (and I would eat the time sourcing beech and iron), which would put the price of a jack plane around $400 and a try plane around $475 (figure iron and wood are $100 of that).

I'm sure I could sell a couple of planes for that, but you have to make a market and that also takes time (and I'd rather see someone get a $10 used plane and rather follow the making videos to fettle such a plane for use - for free). At any rate, if this guy is making his jack plane for the equivalent of a buck-twenty, he could get it closer to my plane design and get ten bucks for it pretty easily, which would be big cake to him. A retailer in the states would be able to sell it for at least a hundred bucks (and a new, tight jack plane would be a useful plane to a woodworker for a hundred bucks - if it would actually be used for jack work).

It's worth a chuckle that the writer makes a big deal about the maker trying the planes before calling them done. You *have* to. It's part of the fitting process, and the old-days practice of leaving final perfections to the user is long gone.

 

[GLFaria]

Fascinating indeed!
Besides being very instructional and highly entertaining, this puts to shame anyone who complains of not making things for not having the "proper tools"

 

[JohnPW]

Just in case anyone didn't notice, the price list is dated 1999. The author probably made that visit nearly 20 years ago.

 

[D_W]

well, too late for that suggestion then. I wonder which western manufacturers they were talking about making period planes. Were there any other than larry williams?

 

[AndyT]

I think the comparison is with US makers in the 19th century - 150 years ago, as the title puts it.

 

[D_W]

I may have read it too early in the morning.