Wooden Planes

[verhoevenc]

So after admiring Mr. Setch's signature padauk plane for quite some time, and loving my two new Ibex ones, I figured "Why not me!?"

So, I gathered up some scrap wood today, sent Setch a PM for said link, and headed off to work. Now they're only one day in, so they're not 100% done... but I liked what I had so far and decided to share regardless.

That's what I've got so far. And if you're going "What is that!?" I shall explain. Cut it right in the middle, and flip the right side up-side-down and you've got two copies of what you see on the left half. Then put in a center-pin, add the iron and wedge, and voila! Two planes!

The woods are mahogany (with some fleckling... cool) and bird's eye maple (eye-y enough to see some of the figuring from the side ) for the centers. And then that's some gorgeous rosewood for the side woods. And so you can size this fun up, the two Ibex planes are the 90mm and 47mm concave bottom planes. My two wooden planes will be a happy medium between the two, they'll be 65mm long, with a blade size in between that of the two Ibexes as well. However, one will be concave bottom, the other will remain flat... to switch it up a bit, don't want two of the EXACT same plane.

Chris

PS: All inclines are 45 degrees.

Edited December 31, 2006 by verhoevenc

[Jon]

Hey, that's really cool. Unique (to me) and very innovative!

[fryovanni]

New planes...... Very Cool Chris

[AlGeeEater]

Looks like I have some work to do now.

The plane you made looks gorgeous though.

Chris

[Setch]

Here's a bigger version of my avatar for reference:

I've made a few since then, they're great simple projects, and ideal for using up those odd sized scraps you get from guitar building.

[verhoevenc]

Please enlighten us Setch:

That's Padauk and mahogany right? I didn't have any maple scrap (besides flamed) that I was willing to use for this cause if was still good for other things, so I ended up using mahogany for that bulk of the center wood. But I've gotta ask, if that is mahogany center, how has that held up to wear and use (cause I figured maple would better... and had a FEW qualms about using the mahogany). Also, what angles are your inclines? Looks about 45 ont he cutting edge, but much steeper on the chip-out edge (which is good, cause I'm not sure I like the 45 degree there, takes up too much real-estate).

And now for the most importantt question:

Did you also, as per the links instruction, make your blades out of simple a piece cut from a scraper and then sharperen? Cause if so, that's awesome, cause I've just bought a Grizzly 6-pcs. scraper set, and some of those I don't forsee EVER using.

Chris

[jay5]

The planes look great! I'll add a pic of my atempt a little later. Mahogany would make for a good body. If youre worried about wear, laminate a harder wood for the sole and then shape it accordingly. Rosewood fingerboard cut-offs work well. My blades are replacements for the ibex planes but I would be very interested in seeing how scraper stock would work.

[Setch]

OK, blade angle on that one was set to match the bevel on the blade, which was a 10mm ibex. I think it ended up around 30 degrees, like most bench planes.

The chip clearance was nearly 90 degrees, but on more recent efforts I've gone for a smaller angle, and consequently, more room for chip clearance.

The 90 degree version still works very well, and IMO the key to good chip clearance is to fit and shape the wedge carefully, so it comes to a knife edge, like the chip breaker on a bench plane. On my planes the wedge ends just a hair behind the cutting edge of the blade - less than 1/64". I think it's a waste of time to use anywood which isn't *rock hard* for the wedge. I tried padauk, which is very hard, and it still dented under the pin and wore to quickly at the bevel, so now I only use ebony. I imagine lingum vitae, persimmon or osidge orange would work well too, but I don't have nay to try.

My first carving planes were maple with mahogany sides, and the mahogany looks pretty worn now. I imagine your planes will wear quite quickly, but how much depends on what you use them on. I wouldn't worry about it, since you'll inevitably refine the design and find that your first attempt ends up sidelined before it wears out. Besides, a rub over some sandpaper will reflat the sole if needed. This is expected with wooden planes, and it's certainly easier with a thumb plane than a fullsized jack or jointer!

I used ibex blades for the 1st 2 planes, but since then I've used bits of hacksaw blade, which work pretty well after lapping and honing. I plan to replace them with blades made from scrapers, but all my scrapers are in active service, and I haven't got round to buying one to chop up!

[jay5]

Here's a pic of my plane. Its all maple and is essentially a prototype (as it doesnt work as good as my Ibex yet). My angle is a bit too high and the troat is a bit big. I incorporated a little support handle kinda' like the D'Angeleco planes. I really like it. The thumb screw is there to make up for the maple wedge not holding all that well. The next one will probably be Padouk with an ebony wedge like Setch's planes and the correct blade angle.

[Jon]

I agreed to do a carve top on my friend's 7-string guitar and purchased two Sloane replacement blades off StewMac. I'll be building a couple fingerplanes with the blades, I've been wanting to do this for a long time! I'm going to attempt Wenge bodies with Padauk sides and Ebony wedges. I'll probably build 3-4 with different angles and test how the blades work at the different angles.