Hock Plane Kit opinions?

[Tony Shea]

I am seriously thinking about making some Krenov style hand planes in the imediate future. I have no experience and believe my biggest downfall is the fact that I don't own a bandsaw. I do have a table saw, router table and was thinking I could probably pull it off with these tools along with my hand tools, which is usually the way I like to go anyways.

Since I have no experience and lack a bandsaw I have been contemplating buying the kit the Ron Hock sells that is all cut and ready to be put together aside from a small amount of detail work. The kit is made of Jarrah which is another thing I have no experience with. Has anyone here tried this kit out or seen any information on it? I can't seem to find anything that tells me anything about this kit other than from the Hock website itself. I also thought this might be a good guide to go by to try my own hand at making some from scratch out of Hornbeam. Some opinions on this kit would also be great.

[Casey Gooding]

Krenov style planes are great fun to make. I haven't used the Hock kit, but use his irons. I would imagine the kits are pretty straight forward and easy to put together. I prefer to save my money and use my own wood. Anything hard and stable is a good choice. I have had good luck with oak (both white and red), maple, jatoba, cocobolo, hickory, sweetgum, beech and my favorite, mesquite. I want to try hornbeam, dogwood, osage orange and ebony.
Pick up a copy of David Finck's book Making and Mastering Wood Planes. It will walk you through the process very clearly.
I think you will do just fine with a table saw instead of a bandsaw. You just have to allow a little more room for the blade kerf.
Have fun!!!!!

[Dale Osowski]

I received the kit as a gift and it really is a great kit. The only thing I would do different is make the main body blocks a bit more narrow. They are about a strong 1/8" wider than the blade.

[Phillip Ngan]

If I'm not mistaken, you'll still need a bandsaw with the Hock Kit to round off the corners. From the picture on his web site the sides of the plane look rectangular.

You might also consider the Knight Tools plane kits. They are a bit cheaper than the ones from Hock Tools, and come in a range of wood and sizes. The Knight blades are thicker than the Hock ones, but do not have a chip breaker. The nice thing about that is that you can flip the blade around and use it as a scraper plane.

[Tom Henderson2]

I think rounding off the corners can be done with a sander, rasp etc without a bandsaw. It may not be as easy or pretty, but I don't think a bandsaw is necessary.

This is a timely thread as I've been interested in the Hock kits for a while...

-TH

[Rob Young]

I am seriously thinking about making some Krenov style hand planes in the imediate future. I have no experience and believe my biggest downfall is the fact that I don't own a bandsaw. I do have a table saw, router table and was thinking I could probably pull it off with these tools along with my hand tools, which is usually the way I like to go anyways.

Since I have no experience and lack a bandsaw I have been contemplating buying the kit the Ron Hock sells that is all cut and ready to be put together aside from a small amount of detail work. The kit is made of Jarrah which is another thing I have no experience with. Has anyone here tried this kit out or seen any information on it? I can't seem to find anything that tells me anything about this kit other than from the Hock website itself. I also thought this might be a good guide to go by to try my own hand at making some from scratch out of Hornbeam. Some opinions on this kit would also be great.

You don't NEED a bandsaw to cut up a blank for a Krenov style plane. You can use a table saw, some patience and care. A narrow kerf RIP blade helps. The blank needs to be a bit wider due to the wider blade kerf. In fact you could do it all with handsaws but it IS more work.

Likewise you don't NEED a bandsaw for shaping the ends or the body. You can do it with a rasp and files. To remove a lot of waste quickly, draw the profile on the edge, saw down to the line (just above is better) with a dovetail saw with a series of parallel kerfs. Then chisel out the waste. Now go after that with the spokeshave, rasp, files, sandpaper, angry beaver, whatever.

All that said, his kit seems to be a decent value. Jahara is some hard stuff and will wear well. The newer style kit seems a bit more simple than the maple body version. Pricing things based on the cost of a 3x3 turning blank (expensive I know but this is an example) plus the blade and a few knick-nacks it would come out around $60-$75. So mostly you are paying for somebody at his end to do all the cutting for you. Including I would assume making sure the ramp is level and the relief groove for the capscrew is created.