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Thread: A Great Woodie Build Off

  1. #1
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    A Great Woodie Build Off

    What do you say to a Wooden plane build challenge? Anyone interested builds a plane. Any size, shape, construction, type, anything goes. No voting, no winning or loosing, only rule is you gotta make the base out of wood, and it's gotta be done in 3 months. Any interest? Maybe get some plane maker wannabes mixing in with some old pro's and see what comes up.
    The Plane Anarchist

  2. #2
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    This might actually get me to try my hand at making my own plane. Now the difficult part will be to choose between two good chunks of wood I have to build one with. Either the fat chunk of cherry I have or one of the chunks of zebrawood I just picked up from an estate sale this weekend.

  3. #3
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    I'm in! I've got all the books, an iron, some (hopefully) suitable wood, and I've just ordered a wooden plane for comparison. Of course, I've had most of those for months, so this challenge will get me off my butt to actually build something.

  4. #4
    I'm tempted to jump in, Leigh. Want to make a special woodie since a few months but never found the time. Maybe that build off would be the right motivation to do it finally...

    Klaus
    Klaus Kretschmar

  5. #5
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    Why would I want to do that?

    (Looks on shelf, sees a full dozen under utilized planes varying from "new, at their new home" to "well used, but not recently"...)

    Besides, I'm 2 weeks behind on everything...

    If I have a chance, I'll throw one together for the heck of it. Not like they take very long to throw together.

    Stu.

    (Only buys planes because they're quite inexpensive and has the maker on speed-dial. And has an email in his in-box with a list of 'outlet' planes. Or in other words "What the heck are we going to do with these? I know! Scrape off offending identification and flog them off cheap!")

  6. #6
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    I'll do it if I can get a big enough piece of wood. 8/4 is the thickest hardwood I can get around here. That's thick enough for a Krenov style plane if the blade is 1 7/8" or less right? I'd really like to build a traditional plane, but seeing as how I've never built one it may be good to start with a laminate.
    Question: The krenov planes I see always use those short double irons - why is that? Any reason I couldn't use one of these?
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 02-14-2012 at 7:06 AM.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Griggs View Post
    ...Question: The krenov planes I see always use those short double irons - why is that? Any reason I couldn't use one of these?
    If you use those, I'd consider building in abutments rather than depending on a wedge.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Curtis View Post
    If you use those, I'd consider building in abutments rather than depending on a wedge.
    I was thinking I might try a laminate with abutments like this. I think the HNT Gordon planes are made this way too. Out of curiosity why for a single iron plane would this be necessary over a pin? Do abutments support the blade bettter?

  9. #9
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    I'm not sure if I'll use one of the irons that I made or go with a Lee Valley one. I made a bunch of short irons for woodies but I used a Lee Valley iron on my Anarchy plane, and it was a lot easier since it was already flat. I like the Gordon abutment idea. But I also like the plane I made using a frog I robbed from a transitional plane.
    You can always do a glue up if you don't have thick enough wood stock. I'm leaning this way, depending on how my dwindling supply of mesquite looks when I get into it.
    The Plane Anarchist

  10. #10
    If I can find any suitable wood large enough to do a one-piece smoother, maybe. But laziness and desire to finish other projects will probably win out. I think building a one-piece coffin smoother would probably be a good skill builder for most of us - me included.

    Not a fan of laminated planes, but if I needed to build 3 in a day to do work, I probably would be.

  11. #11
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    Chris -

    I think the "Krenov" style planes usually use shorter blades because that's what Krenov used. His opinion, at least from his books, was that he preferred the low slung style, particularly because it it allowed a variety of grips in different situations, whereas a traditional style plane sort of forced you into a couple of simple grips. I'm not sure there's anything wrong with the grips a traditional plane presents, but if being able to hold the plane in a variety of different ways is important to you, a shorter iron and a low slung body makes it easier to get there. Certainly, if for whatever reason you want the "low slung" style Krenov appeared to like, a longer iron could dig into your hand in certain grips.

    Does anyone sell new tapered irons, or is the best source for those either making/tapering yourself or picking up a used vintage iron?

  12. #12
    I would buy a vintage iron if you want a tapered iron. I think the most I've ever spent on one was $15, and I know i've gotten 3 for $10 on ebay before.

    Having built a straight and short infill with a long iron, I agree on why the krenov irons are short - they'd be in the web of your hand on a lot of planes, and I guess he decided on comfort over longevity.

    It might be nice to build the kind of smoother george mentioned a while ago - a one-piece coffin smoother with a metal sole in the front.

    Who here really needs more smoothers, though?

  13. #13
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    How about a visual glossary to kick things off. Define things like "abutments" in the context of plane making (with pictures of course).

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Griggs View Post
    Question: The krenov planes I see always use those short double irons - why is that? Any reason I couldn't use one of these?
    They're too expensive?

    If you're willing to take a blade with a slot in it (but no chip breaker) let me know and I'll work out a deal. Offer open to all, won't be advertised openly (by ANYONE) though, since it'll be part of this here plane making event.

    Stu.

    (Who's got a line on some rather economical, very sweet plane blades that, for some unbeknown reason are not given a second look. Dave, they're 'those' blades...)

  15. #15
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    I am finishing up four woodies. Mine are made from old Steve Knight designs. I like Steve's designs better as they are made from two pieces of easier to find 8/4 lumber. Here are two made from 8/4 Purple Heart. Chris these planes do not use any kind of bar or chip breaker.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/1689105...3005/lightbox/

    I think I need to talk to Stu, my problem is the blades I have are short for the bodies, making it difficult to make small enough wedges.

    Here is the basic design for a Jointer. The long thin area is for a tote. One simply glues two boards with the following relief together. The black line indicates the area for the wedge, which is a little deeper in the wood.:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/1689105...ream/lightbox/

    These planes use a thick 1/4, 3/16 single blade with a wooden wedge, no chip breaker, kinda like many Japanese planes.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 02-14-2012 at 9:27 AM.

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