How To Make My Body Thinner

[SynysterCT]

I'm starting my first build and my body blank came in the mail. I went with a 2 piece maple blank that came in around 22" x 15" x 2". I have it rough cut and smoothed out a little, but I find myself wishing it was a little thinner. I don't have access to a planer but I'm willing to put in the time for a good outcome. Does anyone have a good way of thinning out my body a bit but also keeping it uniformly flat?

[ihocky2]

Call some local cabinet builders and see how much they would charge to run the boards through their planer.

[dpm99]

Do you have a hand plane? That's what I use. It does take time though.

[pauliemc]

Do you have a hand plane? That's what I use. It does take time though.

+1 to that. Get a plane & thin it yourself. takes a little time but its worth it. By the time you track down a woodshop that will thin them for you they will be down to size, & you will have the plane for good measure.

[dpm99]

If you do decide to buy a plane, get some advice first. With most tools, it's not quite as critical, but planes are tricky. My own recommendation would be a pre-war Stanley.

[SynysterCT]

I am going to go to Home Depot this weekend and see what I can find. I'm concerned that I wont be able to plane the top uniformly But I do have some scrap to practice on.

[dpm99]

I am going to go to Home Depot this weekend and see what I can find. I'm concerned that I wont be able to plane the top uniformly But I do have some scrap to practice on.

Avoid the Depot! What you'll find there is a Buck Brothers plane that will do nothing other than make you hate hand planes. Ebay is your friend here. These are a few Stanley Bailey planes you might look at. I just glanced at them, but they look right:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stanley-Bailey-No-5-Wood-Plane-/150627221932?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23121501ac#ht_6123wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.com/STANLEY-BAILEY-No-5-1-4-JACK-PLANE-/310327675402?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4840f88a0a#ht_500wt_922

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Stanley-Bailey-5-1-4-Cast-Iron-Bench-Plane-VG-/350474509593?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5199e89d19#ht_500wt_922

http://cgi.ebay.com/1910-ANTIQUE-BAILEY-NO-5-PLANE-ESTATE-FIND-NO-RESERVE-/300573272878?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fb902b2e#ht_4424wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-STANLEY-BAILEY-NO-5-PLANE-/120744575239?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1cf00107#ht_500wt_1156

http://cgi.ebay.com/STANLEY-BAILEY-NO-5-PLANE-VINTAGE-NICE-/280704903052?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415b50e78c#ht_1959wt_1139

It should be noted that a hand plane is also unlike other tools in that it won't work correctly right out of the box. You have to tune it up, which can take several hours. Here's a good tutorial:

https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/tuneup/tuneup.htm

David

[FireFly]

Some Lowe's shops carry stanly planes. Its where I pick up blades. I think Ace Hardware carries them too.

[dpm99]

Some Lowe's shops carry stanly planes. Its where I pick up blades. I think Ace Hardware carries them too.

Yeah, but the new Stanleys are low end hand planes. Ever since WWII, they've been pretty lousy.

[Tim37]

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=18537

[SynysterCT]

That planing jig looks perfect. I've got most of the pieces already too. It also seems like much less work than the plane.

[FireFly]

Some Lowe's shops carry stanly planes. Its where I pick up blades. I think Ace Hardware carries them too.

Yeah, but the new Stanleys are low end hand planes. Ever since WWII, they've been pretty lousy.

*shrug*

The one I had was out of tune when I got it, but after I got it flat and sharpened, it works just fine.

[dpm99]

Some Lowe's shops carry stanly planes. Its where I pick up blades. I think Ace Hardware carries them too.

Yeah, but the new Stanleys are low end hand planes. Ever since WWII, they've been pretty lousy.

*shrug*

The one I had was out of tune when I got it, but after I got it flat and sharpened, it works just fine.

I've heard of people getting good results from well-tuned new Stanley planes. I've never owned one, and am just going on what I've heard, but from what I understand, after WWII Stanley started saving money by using less metal in their planes. But if it works, it works, right?

[Muzz]

Router on rails, flattens it down in no time

[SynysterCT]

The reason I was looking to do this is because I have a maple body carved out that is currently a full 2" thick and is a little heavy. Im not sure how much weight I would save thinning it out by about 1/2" or so. Though the more I think about it, would leaving it the full thickness add a little sustain? I'm not in a band or anything and I mostly play sitting down so the weight may not end up being that much of an issue as long as I give it the contour to be comfortable.