Making a plane

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:08 pm

Has anyone made a metal bodied wood plane? I believe there were plans in either Wood magazine or Woodsmith on a metal bodied plane. I think the base was steel and the sides were brass or vice versa.

I'm getting the urge to make a plane. Something free hand but with a needed qualifications to be a useful plane. I'm thinking wood but I keep coming back to the metal plane idea.

I'm looking for feedback from plane builders. Any advice will be much welcomed.

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:40 am

I made a few woodies last fall with blades from Ron Hock and mesquite and osage orange from Gene Howe. Hock Tools makes great blades and I love the planes.
They are a joy to use. I also had to make a nice box to keep them in of course. Make no mistake these are excellent working planes ... not just another pretty face.

[ATTACH]24453[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]24454[/ATTACH]

I also made a toothing plane with a blade I got from Patrick Edwards (American School of French Marquetry) and a router plane with an allen wrench blade.

[ATTACH]24455[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]24456[/ATTACH]

You can find them all with more photos and descriptions in my Lumberjocks projects

I would encourage you to make some (wood or metal) if you are leaning toward it. They make very rewarding projects that keep giving you pleasure every time you pick them up.

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:51 am

Here's a link to a metal / wood infill plane construction blog on LJ Ed.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 2:48 am

Paul:

Is the router plane 'blade' made by grinding the short arm of the allen wrench flat across the 'points'(bottom with slight relief) and a bevel ground on top?

Looks like a thumb screw with drilled hole holds the 'blade'.

I like the simplicity of it. I have been considering getting one.

Is it possible you also ground the sides(original wrench points) to desired blade width?

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 5:16 am

That's pretty much it JPG. This is the article I worked from. Mine is a totally different shape because of the scrap I had on hand and the way I wanted it to fit in my hands but the works are all made just as the article describes. It works remarkably well.
Better pictures of it here.

paulsgreenbarn · Post by **paulsgreenbarn** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:40 am

Those planes are beautiful.Very nice work.

steve4447 · Post by **steve4447** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:39 am

Beautiful wotk...They would be pleasing to look at even if they weren't functional....

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:17 pm

shipwright wrote:That's pretty much it JPG. This is the article I worked from. Mine is a totally different shape because of the scrap I had on hand and the way I wanted it to fit in my hands but the works are all made just as the article describes. It works remarkably well.
Better pictures of it here.

Thank You for the article link!

Are they 'always' pushed? Can they not be pulled as well?

Would not a slot in the wooden base behind the 'blade' assist the thumbscrew in keeping the 'blade' vertical?(cutting edge horizontal)

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:41 pm

Planes are simply gorgeous as is the rest of your work!
I noticed the vise on you bench.

Now I have all kinds of questions.

How did you do the inlay?
Have you made any all metal planes?
Will you tell more about the vise?

Thanks for making me realize how uncraftsman like my work is.

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:46 pm

I had just been reading my copy of 200+ shop-Tested Tips & Techniques from the Editors of Woodsmith (got mine 12/13/2012).

So when the posting got to router planes I remember having seen that, found it again now, page 51. Seems pretty simple enough and I have all the parts needed. Of course I already have a commercial version so this would just be for fun.

I still so some projects by hand, at least one per year and sometime more.

Yesterday I was working on making some handles for the lathe tools I'm building and the project required some hand planning......... I noticed it some already yesterday but then today I felt it even more. Forearm and shoulders don't care for much of the sort of thing anymore.

So Ed if you do get around to the project we would like to see detailed pictures along the way, the more pictures the better.

Ed