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Thread: Wood Hand Plane

  1. #1
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    Wood Hand Plane

    I just bought an old wooden hand plane, all cracked up with broken handle but still had original iron and chip breaker. So I thought with it being so cheap I could clean up blade, which looks pretty thick by itself, and use it to make a plane. First thought was copy existing plane, but I see that a lot of you guys start with a smoother, which is what is what is being made in the how to DVD I got.

    What woods are recommended for hand planes?

    What woods can be laminated together that wont split or fight each other?

  2. #2
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    I don't see why a smooth plane is the best first plane to make. A jack plane would be a lot more forgiving as it does not need to be so precisely tuned as a smoother. For instance if the plane's mouth ends up being a bit more open than you planned, with a jack plane it is of little consequence.

    Beech is the most common traditional wood for planes. Lots of hard, stable woods have been used for planes with varying degrees of success, but beech was the overwhelming choice of commercial plane makers in Europe and the US for centuries.

  3. #3
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    Hi Blake,

    As John points out, beech is the most common wood found in early wood bodied planes. It must have been plentiful at one time.

    Most likely any good tight grained wood of hard structure would work. Yes, a hard wood but some 'hard woods' are two soft.

    Not knowing your location it is difficult to determine what woods would be suitable and available in your location. Maple of ash might do the job. Not sure if there is much ash still available.

    Have fun and post some pictures if you can.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #4
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    We did a thread on this not too long ago if you want to run a search. Kees Heiden, Steve Voigt, and others had lots of good comments.

    There is a long series of videos on YouTube by DavidW, where he makes a jack plane.

  5. #5
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    There is no reason that maple would not be better than beech. I have done plenty of work with both. I think beech was just a plentiful,cheap hardwood. It certainly twists and warps enough when drying. Beech is not as hard as Northern hard maple (sugar maple) either.

    The trouble with maple is finding it 4" thick. And,when you do,it is high priced compared to some other American hard woods. They used yellow birch in colonial America in New England. I don't know your location.

  6. #6
    Beech makes a great wood for making traditional style planes with a hand chopped mortise, for fon reason, it is very nice to work. Maple would be quite a bit tougher.

    But I think you want to make a laminated plane, using the Krenov method? Then most any kind of wood can be used. I even know a guy who made a working set from Azobe, about the most "lively" wood I can think of.

  7. #7
    I would choose a species that has low overall movement, and a very low (even) T/R ratio. Beech is actually pretty bad, even though it was so commonly used. (Euro Beech is slightly better but still bad.) I'll never understand why it was so popular. Supposedly, because it's being diffuse-porous it wears better at the mouth, but there are more stable species that are also diffuse-porous. (Yellow Poplar comes quickly to mind)

    Birch is miles better, stability-wise, and it's also diffuse-porous. So is Maple, BTW, though Maple has a lousy T/R ratio so wouldn't ever be my choice.

    A small (incomplete) list of diffuse-porpous species: Beech, Birch, Maple, Apple, Cherry, Poplar, Alder, Cottonwood, Holly, Mahogany, Rosewood, Purpleheart, Blackwood, Ebony....



    Irrespective of porosity type, durability is almost a contradictory attribute to stability. - but that's why god invented the laminated sole. IMO that's the only way to go. Make your sole out of Lignum, Ipe, etc, (Beech, if you must) and then pick an ultra-stable wood for the main body. IMO, ECE got it right with their Birch/ lignum & Birch/ Hornbeam planes.
    -------------------------------

    If using a single species, (no lamnation) some tasty choices (Hard, stable, low T/R, and diffuse-porous, AFAIK) would be:

    Any Rosewood, Cocobolo, (well seasoned) Bloodwood, Brazilwood, Purpleheart,
    African Blackwood.

    notes:

    * Cocobolo is about as stable as it gets, and very hard, yet it can blow up on you. I think it has to be VERY well-seasoned.

    * Ebony is lovely, hard, and diffuse, and a very low T/Rof 1.3, but doesn't win any awards for overall stability.

    * I always meant to make some planes out of Black Mesquite, as it is stable & hard, but then I found out it’s only semi-diffuse porous. (sometimes even described as ring-porous, go figure) so it might need a laminated sole anyway. Same for Black Locust. You just can't win ....
    Last edited by Allan Speers; 09-19-2016 at 2:23 AM.

  8. #8
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    If you can't get beech,just use good,dry hard maple and you'll be fine.

  9. #9
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    The moisture content within the wood your working with is an important consideration. The ideal m/c target should be no higher than 8 -9%.

  10. #10
    I really hope that when newbies come here for advice, that they consider the source. You have a choice. You can listen to this clear, simple, unfussy advice from a guy who's built literally hundreds of planes and has demonstrated expertise in using them:

    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    If you can't get beech,just use good,dry hard maple and you'll be fine.
    Or, you can listen to a bunch of theoretical ramblings about how traditional planemaking woods are terrible, how you have to use expensive, unsustainable tropical woods, how difficult it all is, bla bla bla. Funny how the people with this advice never seem to offer any evidence that they've actually made planes.

    Your call.
    Last edited by Steve Voigt; 09-19-2016 at 10:54 AM. Reason: I knows good grammar
    "For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert

  11. #11
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    Or,maybe they can accuse me of holding people down!!!

    I have some very nice 16/4 hard maple. If I build another wooden plane(like I need another!),I'll likely use the maple.
    Last edited by george wilson; 09-19-2016 at 11:14 AM.

  12. #12
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    I wonder if anyone knows WHY beechwood became the defacto choice for wooden planes? I am hoping that one of the resident plane makers here might have some knowledge to pass on about this. I wonder at the same time why beechwood furniture isn't all that common - AFAIK anyway - maybe there is plenty of ti out there. Maybe its because beech was plentiful and reasonably tough material so it would hold up well for planes and other tools, but wasn't such a desirable wood for furniture that it was therefore relatively inexpensive. Who knows?? Maybe the people using it today are just using it because its traditional.
    Last edited by Pat Barry; 09-19-2016 at 2:24 PM.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    I wonder if anyone knows WHY beechwood became the defacto choice for wooden planes? I am hoping that one of the resident plane makers here might have some knowledge to pass on about this. I wonder at the same time why beechwood furniture isn't all that common - AFAIK anyway - maybe there is plenty of ti out there. Maybe its because beech was plentiful and reasonably tough material so it would hold up well for planes and other tools, but wasn't such a desirable wood for furniture that it was therefore relatively inexpensive. Who knows?? Maybe the people using it today are just using it because its traditional.

    Just read this:
    http://planemaker.com/articles_beech.html
    "For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert

  14. #14
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    The 5000 board feet of beechwood we cut for toolmaking in about 1986 or 87 was the WORST wood I have ever seen to warp,twist and deform than any other wood I have ever tried to dry.

    We cut it in February on museum property,using nice,straight 18"+ diameter beech trees. It was sealed on the ends and put into the attic of a large carriage house in the Historic Area that we used for storing wood for the trades. We left it there for several years before,in 1992,we began to make planes from it. FORTUNATELY,most planes are pretty SHORT!

    We had to make some cooper's jointers several years later,and,anticipating problems with the beech,we selected a 6"x6" and planed it nice and straight and square. It soon twisted in a propeller shape. after several months,we planed it up again. Again it twisted the same way. Now,this beech was a nice,straight grained piece,bear in mind. We repeatedly let the billet acclimate for several months,always having it return to the twisted shape. Finally,when we were down to the last size we needed to make the plane,it finally magically stopped twisting. We finally had a stable 4x4.

    This was the most obnoxious wood I have ever tried to use!!! As far as I am concerned,despite all the write up by Old Street,I think it was just used because it was plentiful,and still is.

    It is also a fairly miserable wood to turn on a lathe,getting a "hairy" surface from the chisel.

  15. #15
    ^ What George said.

    Additionally, have you ever seen what happens to a Beech workbench if you remove the end pieces and let it sit in a non climate-controlled room? I have, three times. (two of mine and one of a friends.) They basically explode. - And that's with European Beech.

    How many vintage Beech planes are full of cracks? Probably 95% or more. Yet I have seen many dozens of vintage Birch planes, and have yet to see a single crack.

    Beech clearly does have certain qualities that make it beneficial for plan making, but stability 'aint one of them.

    Whatever...

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