I’d like to try my hand at making traditional wooden planes. But after reading a number of books it is unclear to me what wood is best suited to plane making. Clark & Williams posted an article asserting that beech is best (I believe they use American beech). http://www.planemaker.com/articles/beech.html But I have been told that other woods such as White Oak and even Mesquite are as good if not better (plus easier to find).
Thoughts?
Replies
HoustonHeights, I built one recently from cocobolo and it worked well. It has enough oil content to glide across the work surface. The plane is fitted with a Hock blade which also makes a difference in performance.
I have a Japanese plane made from some sort of oak. It seems to be OK but not sure about white though. Another of my Japanese planes looks to be an exoctic.
It seems that Mesquite would be brittle. No experience to back this up. It would be stable though.
All of the moulding planes I have are beech. This would be a good choice.
I have always wanted to try one of the Texas natives such as Texas ebony or osage orange but have not tried yet. It seems that any dense stable hardwood would work. Some better than others I am sure.
For a first plane, I would pick something readily available and inexpensive and give it a shot. Maybe you can find a short to use at the local Rockler or Woodcraft.
Steve Pippins
A wood called " Hornbeam ". Up in Door County Wisconsin it's called Iron Wood. A saw mill, M & M Timber in Sturgeon Bay, WI. sold me some, 4" by 4" about 6' long.
John
I can't find a reference to M & M Lumber in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., there is one is Texas, however. -- I live near Door County, and would like to be able to find Ironwood -
M & M timber was a small saw mill just north of Sturgeon Bay. I was in Sturgeon Bay working at the shipyard about 12 years ago. It was winter time. I looked him up in the phone book went to the mill but the only wood he had cut was the Hornbeam. I got 2 4" by 4" for $5.
John
John
Hornbeam / ironwood is certainly hard enough, but lord help you when you try to work it - I've seen it dull a chainsaw in one cut
Dragoon
Yes it is, most have a lot of silica in it. Carbide tool only. I use it for chisel and hammer handles. But hand planes I make in bronze.
John
Hi I made a couple of Kernov style planes, one out of maple and one out of Pau Fero and they both seem to work well, The Pau Fero (not sure of the spelling there) is really heavy and harder to work. The expensive Japanese planes are made out of quarter sawn oak so I think you have lot of choices. Give it a shot on some less expensive wood and if you like the results keep on making them.
have fun
Troy
HH,
I just made a Krenov type plane out of walnut and birdseye maple. Below are two photos. Write if you have questions.
Enjoy.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Birdseye? That surprises me. I have found it to be beautiful, but also to have defects and clefts... I'd worry about it cracking under strain. I would favor beech or hornbeam. Just my 2p,Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Glaucon,
I only said that I made one out of Birdseye maple and walnut, and I attached a photo. I guess that I should have said that I wasn't recommending these woods as "the best" woods for a plane. My plane is only a month old, so it hasn't had much time for wood movement. I made the plane as a learning exercise, and not to give Philip Marcou any competition. As you know, I am a hobbyist, not a professional. I always have a problem with the term "Best". I am not sure there is a "best" of anything. Sometimes looking for the best keeps one from making anything good. The saying is "Paralysis by analysis". Defining the parameters for "Best" is often subjective, and it is greatly entertaining to join in discussions of these parameters. Often they go unstated, which makes the discussions even more fun, but not very productive. I am not a heavy user of handplanes, so unless mine warps beyond comprehension, or it cracks, I can just flatten the bottom every once in a while. Most importantly, my wife liked my plane. Maybe I'll give it to her for Christmas. :-)Enjoy,
Mel
PS - my plane is certainly not the best in the world, but at least I made one. I am planning future tool making projects, not that I have some confidence. I'll probably get better with experience.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Thanks to everyone for the responses. I like the idea of starting with scrap wood for practice.
Ultimately, I'd like to make a set of hollows and rounds. I was planning on using beech, but am having difficulty finding a source. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Also, like one of the earlier posters, I too am interested in the material and process for making the irons for molding planes. What do folks use?
HH,
These articles, from the Clark & Williams site, may be of interest to you, if you haven't already read them:
http://www.planemaker.com/articles/Tschüß!
Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen aus dem Land der Rio Grande!!
James
Mel,
The planes look good, where did you find the plans.
Greg
Greg,
I took a one day course from John Wilson. You can see who he is by going to his website at:
http://www.shakerovalbox.com/He is most well known for his Shaker Oval Boxes. But he has about six different classes for making tools. In one weekend here, John taught the Shaker Box class on Saturday, and the Plane making on Sunday. So the plans are his. It is essentially a Krenov type plane, so if you find a plan for a Krenov plane anywhere, that will do. You can make it out of a single block of wood, say 2 inches on a side, and slice off a quarer inch on either side. Now take the middle section, and make a 45 deg cut which will be the blade rest. Now you need to make another cut (look at the photo) which makes a V with the first cut, but which leaves about a 1/4 inch cutout on the bottom of the plane. That cut can be at about 65 deg. It is not so critical. Now you need to get or make a blade that is as wide as your block (after the two sides are cut off). Now glue the two sides back to the front and back pieces. Now you need to drill a dowel through that cutout made by the two angle cuts (again see the photo). The dowel is nothing more than something for a wedge to press against. Now make a wedge from the piece that you cut out from the body of the plane. It needs to be thick enough so that it applies pressure to the blade when you put it between the blade and the dowel. It is deceptively simple. Krenov is a bright guy. So contact John Wilson for the directions or find a set of plans for a Krenov type plane. Ron Hock sells a kit for a Krenov plane. See it at:
http://www.hocktools.com/products.htmAlso try:
http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/html_p/H!WOOD.htmAnother good place to go to learn about making planes is:
http://www.handplane.com/I hope that helps. You can tell that I am not an expert plane maker.
Enjoy,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
Thanks for the reply and I will look into making one.
Greg
What you want is a dense lumber that is stable. It's not only the species but the way it is cut from the log, quarter sawn being desirable. The plane won't work well if it twists or checks. This opens up a wide variety of possible choices. Many European planes are made from European beech, some have lignum vitae soles for the wear and slippery characteristics. Japanese planes are often sheoak, American, hornbeam, beech and hard maple. There must be hundreds of species that would make for a good plane. Don't forget to post some pictures.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
When you guys make wooden molding planes do you use old files as your blade stock or do you use old molding plane blades?
Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I'll remember, but let me try and I will understand.
The two planes I have made, and a couple of replacement irons for moulding planes, I have used old power hacksaw blades. The wide ones are about 2.5mm thick and hard. They can be cut with one of the new flexible cut-off wheels in an anglegrinder and finished on a grinder. The flexible wheels are only 1.6 mm and dont build up nearly as much heat in the metal as the old hard ones.
Dave
Hi HoustonHeights,
I have made a couple of different hand planes out of wood. I have used oak, purple heart, iron wood, bicote, maple, bubinga, ebony and lignum vitae.
I have used the woods in different combinations, and all of them work well. I will say that I believe that a sole made of lignum vitae is my preference, but have used others for asthetic reasons. They have all been Krenov style planes and you can get the plans for the basic plane off of The College of the Redwoods web site.
I would highly recommend making one, you will probably get hooked after that. They are fun to make and they work wonderfully.
Thoughts?
Well you've read the Clark And Williams article PLUS some books, so stop dithering about, select some timber that is well aclimatised, looks exciting and has desirable properties, churn out a plane or two and see how your findings compare with whatever you have read.... Then you can tell us.
Metod,
If one is thinking and not doing one is only thinking. One needs to do both, so one decides on a wood after suitable thinking and one produces a plane-then one gets to see if what someone else has written is applicable to one: one may be living in the Namib desert or Singapore, which means that the written word may not have covered the range of conditions one may encounter-or may be introducing irrelevant complications.Nothing ventured nothing gained.If I always followed the written word I would not have found that Wenge makes a nice plane handle and knob.
Visco-elasticity? I respectfully submit that you are confusing this with Hysteresis, Sire.Philip Marcou
Edited 11/17/2006 1:34 am by philip
Metod,
just don't confuse it with hysterectomy. I remember that someone once commented to Zaza Gabor that she hadn't had any children, and asked if she had ever had a hysterectomy. She answered in typical Zaza style, "On no, dahlink, occassionally a couple of Hungarians, but never a hysterectomy."
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Metod,
Glad you liked my humble little plane. It is good looking, and it works well. I use Scary Sharp, and I took it down to 2000 grit. I ran it across a three foot long board a number of times. Each time, it produced a paper-thin 3-ft long tightly-wound roll. I am thrilled with the results.
Thanks,
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
"Each time, it produced a paper-thin 3-ft long tightly-wound roll."
I seem to read observations of this nature quite regularly. I suspect that many folk think that this is the b all and end all of the way a plane should work.
Surely there is more to a good plane than this?
Philip Marcou
Philip,
Method asked me how well my plane worked. I told him what I experienced when I tried it. You quoted my statement about it making tight thin 3 foot long curls. Then you said that some people think this is the be all and end all of the way a plane should work. Obviously you have a better set of criteria for evaluating a plane, but you didn't spell it out here. I looked on your website and I didn't find it there. I looked on Holtey's website, and didn't get much help there.Please help me learn how to evaluate a plane. I have read extensively on Knots of people comparing Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley planes. They talk of how the plane feels in their hand. It's ability to be adjusted well. It's ability to take a very thin continuous shaving. I don't want you to just give me the answer without my doing some work on learning how to evaluate a plane. I have read extensively on Knots about comparisons of Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley planes, such as their shoulder planes, block planes, etc. I came up with the following as a possibly better set of criteria for evaluating my plane. Is this a better evaluation than my statement about long thing curls? Mine is a small Krenov-type block plane. On the positive side:
-It fits well in my hand.
- It can be adjusted to take a fine shaving.
- It consistently takes a fine shaving.
- It's blade takes a nice edge.
- It fits in the pocket of my apron and is neither too heavy nor too light for its function as a block plane.
- The bottom is square to the sides.
- It cost me less to make this plane than to buy a Lie Nielsen block plane.
- the "Fit and finish" is excellent.
- I learned a great deal by making the plane myself.On the negative side:
- it doesn't have the adjustment mechanisms that good metal planes have.
- it doesn't have an adjustable mouth.
- it's resale value on EBay is probably miserable.
- It is not made of the hardest, most stable wood.
- It does not have a sole of extremely hard wood, as some wooden planes do.
- It has oil hardened steel rather than the newer A2 steel blades that many of the better planes have.Am I catching on? Or am I still missing the boat on evaluating a plane?I do appreciate the help that you have given me so far, and I am really looking forward to your answer to the issue you raised of how one should evaluate a plane.Thank you very much.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel, actually I am unable to add to your evaluation list.In fact some of the negatives you have listed need not be negatives eg the existence or not of an adjustable mouth, especially on a block plane and the use of oil hardening steel. And many will argue that an adjuster is not necessary , especially with wooden planes.
I reckon one of the major positives is the fact that a plane is self made: although it still may not be a "good" plane it may give rise to improved versions.
Yep, definitely I am unable to improve on your evaluation criteria.Philip Marcou
Philip,
Thank you. I feel reassured that I am not completely in left field.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Aah Metod, I doubt if you are lagging behind at all, and I am pleased to have thrown some light.
Just between you and me, I reckon that this business of Visco Elasticity is possibly a halucinatory product of minds that have been doing more thinking than doing, what with the relatively huge clearance angles that most woodworking tools are provided with, not to mention the fact that the condition hardly exists for some timbers.
How's that for cyber-babble?
Dont think I've seen anyone mentioning Ipe yet (or I missed it). Some of the Knight planes are using it.
http://www.knight-toolworks.com/wooden.htm
If you build it he will come.
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