Gouge cuts on wooden planes

[Steve Voigt]

This thread is in response to a brief discussion I had with Oskar Sedell in another thread. This is very inside baseball, but it may be interesting to the few people who enjoy traditional woodie minutiae.

The gouge cuts I'm referring to are at the front and back of the plane, and their purpose is to terminate the stopped chamfers that run vertically along the edges, normally about half way down.

Due to the influence of Larry Williams, the style one sees most often on contemporary planes is a gouge cut that leaves a small step at the bottom of the chamfer. This is from one of my planes:

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However, there are many other possibilities. A lot of 19th C. planes omitted the step in favor of a smooth transition (image courtesy of Oliver Sparks):

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Here's an example from the Canadian planemaker Daryl Gent. It's similar to mine, but slightly more stylized, with a tiny bit of undercut.

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One can take the undercut idea farther, so the gouge cuts are actually deeper than the stopped chamfers. Her'es an example from Oliver Sparks:

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Some 18th C. molding planes have double gouge cuts. Here's an example, courtesy of Richard Arnold:

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And finally, here's the most extreme example I've seen. I'm in total awe of this 18th C. maker's skill. You need sharp tools for this one! (this image also from Richard Arnold).

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[ken hatch]

Beautiful,

Steve, thanks for posting I would have missed 'em if you hadn't.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

Steve, thanks for posting this. I have been wondering how this is all done. As usual it is the craftsman's skill with their tools.

jtk

[Kees Heiden]

And how about some Dutch flair? I copied this detail from the rear of a large Dutch moulding plane, and used it on all my bench planes. The Dutch benchplanes from the guild period didn't have these chamfers and gouge cuts at all.

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[John Vernier]

This reminds me that I want to thank you Steve for calling out Richard Arnold's Instagram feed in the skew iron thread. I've been riveted to it ever since, all his excellent photos of the details of 18th century tools. I haven't made a plane yet (beech billets seem to be seasoning well, though), but Richard's pics, and yours too, are an education as well as inspiration.

[Bob Glenn]

Around here, the chamfer pictured in the first picture is called a lambs tongue.

[george wilson]

I like yours best,Steve. We copied that same style from the 18th. c. originals we were supplied with. Picture #2 has nearly no style. The Canadian plane by Gent has nice undercuts. I don't care for the double undercuts.

[Gene Davis]

Isn't such a detail called a lamb's tongue?

[ken hatch]

A photo to add to the mix, a modern Jack made by Philip Edwards.

[Steve Voigt]

Isn't such a detail called a lamb's tongue?

Gene (and Bob),

It's similar, but a lamb's tongue is a double curve…it's basically an ogee applied to a corner. I've never seen a lamb's tongue on a plane, but someone must've done it.

[Mark Maleski]

Around here, the chamfer pictured in the first picture is called a lambs tongue.

Lamb's tongue has a full cyma curve and no fillet at the end. The gouge cuts that Steve shows (some of them, anyway, such as his first picture) have a gouge cut which creates a cove, that then ends in a step leading to the chamfer.

[Steve Voigt]

Steve, thanks for posting this. I have been wondering how this is all done. As usual it is the craftsman's skill with their tools.

jtk

Jim, you're welcome. Yup, if it's 18th C, the answer is usually simple tools and lots of skill.

[Steve Voigt]

And how about some Dutch flair? I copied this detail from the rear of a large Dutch moulding plane, and used it on all my bench planes. The Dutch benchplanes from the guild period didn't have these chamfers and gouge cuts at all.

foto (5).jpg

Kees, nice! Looks a lot like Daryl's with the moderate undercut. I did something similar on a strike block plane today, and realized I need to get a gouge with a tighter sweep to do it properly.

[Steve Voigt]

This reminds me that I want to thank you Steve for calling out Richard Arnold's Instagram feed in the skew iron thread. I've been riveted to it ever since, all his excellent photos of the details of 18th century tools. I haven't made a plane yet (beech billets seem to be seasoning well, though), but Richard's pics, and yours too, are an education as well as inspiration.

John, you're welcome. If you like Richard's feed, I hope you've checked out those of Oliver Sparks, Bespokeshave, jim.n.alfie, and…there are lots more, it's definitely a rabbit hole.

[Steve Voigt]

I like yours best,Steve. We copied that same style from the 18th. c. originals we were supplied with. Picture #2 has nearly no style. The Canadian plane has nice undercuts. I don't care for the double undercuts.

George, thank you, and I pretty much agree with the rest of your assessment. #2 doesn't look great, though it would look better if the long chamfers weren't so ugly! I'm not crazy about the double undercuts, but I like that they are extravagant and quirky. I guess what is fascinating to me is how the gouge cuts become this tiny little area for planemakers to express themselves, in a very individual way, in what is otherwise a very standardized form.