Here are a couple of new planes recently completed, for general interest.Number 32 shows them in comparison to my big bevel up smoother.
Both are small smoothers sized between a number 3 and number 4 . D2 blade bedded at 45 degrees. Medium tight mouth, versatile planes.
What to do next? I believe the right thing to do is to concentrate on making planes intelligently, so that I can make a years quota in a short space of time…..
Philip Marcou
Replies
Wow! Reallyl beautiful work!
WOW!!
those are really sweet
hey fine woodworking editors, how about an artcle on this guy and his stuff?
and the rest of you admirers, let them know too
Well Phillip I see you've been busy as well. Very nice work, those are nice looking tools.
Ron Brese
If you're too open minded your brains will fall out.
Edited 5/19/2007 7:17 am ET by Ronaway
Edited 5/19/2007 7:17 am ET by Ronaway
Holtey has nothing on you, brother.
Hi Philip
Beautiful work. As hard as it is to imagine that it can get any better, it looks better every time!
The #28 is very sweet and I like the shape of the tote. What is the screw under the rear adjuster?
And what is the rationale behind the design of #13? More info please.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek,
I am hoping you will have the opportunity to run one of your tests on these new ladies that Philip has wrought. I see there are now other tests of his S15A on the web, in addition to your original test. However, your original test still says more about Philip's plane than these latter comments (which were nevertheless extremely positive).
Philip, I hope Derek has persuaded you to elaborate on the rationale behind the design of these latest sultry sirens. Although their beauty sings across the waves to me, it is always good to understand the functional intent, as I know that "functionality" is top of your list of necessary plane attributes, just above "beauty".
At the risk of sounding a gloater, I must report that my S15A (and the M20 Mitre) have both performed faultlessly during the building of my Greene & Greene table - my baptism into handtool working. I cannot praise them enough, in terms of their ability to plane any nasty grain at any direction, with excellent (ie tear-out free and glassy) surfaces resulting. They are an absolute pleasure to use, even in the nastiest teak, iroko and afromosia.
I am saving hard, on the assumption that I cannot perform certain essential planing tasks without one o' them little lasses you have ilustrated, even though I have no idea at the moment why an S15A willl not do (I had come to believe it could do anything). :-)
Lataxe
Lataxe my friend
May I sign you as my agent, even if I never again star in any production, simply because you are the best tonic one could find.
Chris Schwartz (of that rival publication) wrote a fine piece on the Marcou S20. One thing in which we are all in agreement is, once sampled, a Marcou raises the bar so much higher that all else seems to be in another game.
One might cry "fowl" that you use such planes on your G&G. Where is the effort now, or the need to read the grain direction, and forgotten are the results once earned with scrapers and sandpaper. The good old days!
Regards from Perth
Derek
Dear friends,thank you for your interest-I am inclined to under estimate this at times.
To answer some questions:-
The little knurled steel screw under the adjuster serves to retain the adjuster post so that it cannot drop out or rise when one is removing the blade, and it also locks the lateral position as desired. The pictures show what I mean.
The shape of the sort of infill one is due to the constant search for alternatives to suit differing hands and ways of working, basically. That one feels fine at the front, but to me the back only comes into its own when that plane is used on its side as in shooting board application-maybe I should have put the infill at the front and a Stanley handle at the back....Or just two knobs?
I must say that the actual size of this plane has proved more pleasing than I thought it would-although the blade width is only 45mm I find the plane to be very handy. Both of them have the same weight-2.2kg, quite a lot of heft.
I decided on a 45 degree bed, being wary of the extra heft required to push planes as that bed angle increases , say to 50 degrees or more. Anyway, my S50 model has a 50 degree bed. Also, space in front of the mouth is difficult to find, that being a shortish plane-a 50degree bed would encroach on this even more.
No adjustable mouth on this model- it is really a more general purpose plane. When I made them there was the tightest of mouths, which I found to be of more practical use if that gap was opened slightly by reducing the thickness of the blade one thou at a time. I suppose one could have two blades of different thickness to provide a choice of mouth opening if desired.
Philip Marcou
Philip,
When I look at those lovely planes my mind wanders to my wood stash, where I've got some particularly wild-grained hard maple that I'd love to test those planes on!
Thanks for sharing the pics.
-Andy
Since they are new, they surely haven't been properly road tested. Send me one of each, and I will let you know what I think after giving them a proper road test, say, in a year or two!
I believe I'll be starting my Marcou collection just as soon as I get the last two of my offspring through college. I just hope the planes don't cost more than a new car by then.
Absolutely beautiful!
Jeff
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled