Wooden plane builds anyone?

[MIGNAL]

Mine were the result of long development and a lot of experimenting. The first half dozen ended up in the bin. Not because they didn't function but purely down to ergonomics and appearance. The experiments consisted of two horn handled designs, very similar to the ECE. I also made a Plane that consisted of homemade plywood, standard 0.6 mm veneer sheets that had been lying around for years. Consisted of all sorts: Lemonwood, Rosewood, Maple, Pear. It's amazing how thin and strong that type of ply ended up. Like an extremely high quality Plywood. It was certainly void free. Alas, that Plane ended up in the bin too.
After many incarnations I decided that the palm pads and finger grips gave me the ergonomics that I required. I lost interest in trying to improve the model. I think I made around 18 in total, maybe a dozen survived.

 

[AndyT]

Three pages in and nobody has mentioned the only first hand account by a working plane maker - W J Armour. Published in "Work" magazine in 1898, his four terse articles describe how to make bench, moulding and plough planes. A few thousand words and a handful of engravings. All you need to know! (Surviving planes with his mark turn up in the usual places from time to time.)

Available online here http://www.handplane.com/32/practical-plane-making-1/ and eventually to reappear in Tools for Working Wood's republishing of Work, where some other plane making articles have already appeared - http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/blog/WORK/title/The Work Magazine Reprint Project

 

[J_SAMa]

...how to make the pin if you haven't got a lathe.

It's called "whittling". :wink:

Regards from Perth

Derek

Well, care to be more specific? Can't imagine making that with just a knife...

 

[AndyT]

And for yet more plane making instructions, may I also recommend a visit to Alf's Cornish Workshop site where you can read a selection of projects from The Woodworker in the 1920s:

http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/galootishgleanings.html

Some will find the style of those articles very familiar - they were by Charles Hayward who seems to have written most of the magazine himself for several decades.

If you would rather have his plane designs brought together in one handy booklet, you can, with Hayward's name on it, courtesy of Gary Roberts here:

http://toolemera.com/Books & Booklets/booksplans.html

and on the same page you can find more articles from Work magazine, generously scanned and shared by a helpful collector!

 

[MMUK]

...how to make the pin if you haven't got a lathe.

It's called "whittling". :wink:

Regards from Perth

Derek

Well, care to be more specific? Can't imagine making that with just a knife...

Mount an electric drill in a vice, stick the timber in the chuck and turn it down.

Or buy a length of dowel :mrgreen: gets coat

 

[Corneel]

...how to make the pin if you haven't got a lathe.

It's called "whittling". :wink:

Regards from Perth

Derek

Well, care to be more specific? Can't imagine making that with just a knife...

Acording to the Finck book. I did this once also.
Take a square length of wood. Mark a circle on the ends. Mark the shoulders where the round pins end. Then use a chisel to wittle the two ends of the pin round. Finally shape the square middle part to your liking.

A pin like this doesn't leave a dent in the wedge as a round pin does. That makes for a longer life of the pin and the wedge.

 

[mickthetree]

If you have a look at the link I posted to my plane build you will see I used a dowel plate.

this is really just a hole in a piece of metal. Ok so its got a back taper, but thats not essential.

Get a piece of metal, drill a hole in it, cut a bit of wood (square if you like) to just over the size of the hole, then bash it wood through.

I have found that putting the wood stock in a hand drill driver and pushing it through the hole works as well as bashing it.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

...how to make the pin if you haven't got a lathe.

It's called "whittling". :wink:

Regards from Perth

Derek

Well, care to be more specific? Can't imagine making that with just a knife...

I have an original Krenov smoother. Jim whittled his pin with a knife or chisel ...

The plane ...

Start with a dowel, flatten one side, then pare away the tenons.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[MIGNAL]

I thought you bought that years ago Derek. What's taking so long to get it finished?
I'm outta here. . .