After paring chisels and spokeshaves, my favourite tool is a block plane. These tools all have in common “feel”, a more direct involvement with the wood.
My block plane collection of regular users centres on four planes, Stanleys #18 Knuckle joint (62 degree cutting angle) and #65 Knuckle joint (37 degree cutting angle), and Lie Nielsens #60 ½ (37 degree cutting angle) and bronze #103 (45 degree cutting angle).
The #18 is used as a small smoother for difficult face grain. The #65 (with a Hock blade) is probably the best performer of the lot. However, it is quite a large block plane and the LN #60 ½ is more comfortable in the hand. The little #103 is the one I grab first when I work away from the bench. Its small size disguises a plane with the heft of something significantly larger. It does lack the ultimate performance of its bigger sibling owing to having a larger mouth.
I was asked to review The Orange Block Plane by my son, Jamie, who has owned it since it was discovered in the bargain bin of Bunnings (the local borg) several years ago. At the time I felt that the $5 asking price was daylight robbery. Still, it does have some novel features, and I shall come to these in due course.
I had not used this plane in some years. It had originally been purchased for Jamie (then 6 years old) to practice on in the workshop. He stored it amongst his treasures at the back of his wardrobe under a pile of old socks. He is now 13 years old and was recently re-introduced to woodworking at high school by Ms Robinson. He seems keen.
Who manufactures The Orange Block Plane? Who indeed? It has no markings at all. Perhaps, this is a deliberate ploy of Triton (who shares this colour scheme) to manipulate everyone into using their ‘tailed routers instead!
Here is the collection of block planes mentioned above. See if you can spot The Orange Block Plane.
And in case you had any difficulty, here is a close up:
Important features of TOBP (The Orange Block Plane)
- Pressed steel construction that is even more durable than Ductile Iron.
- Bright orange colour will not get lost among the mess … uh work-in-progress of the average workbench. Here is a close up of the colour:
- No moving parts to wear out.
- Admittedly, a modification had to be made to the lever cap. The original black plastic knob broke after being subjected to a stress test (i.e. it was eaten by Rufus, the dog), and a steel bolt was used as a replacement. This has proved a very successful upgrade.
- The lever cap screw now doubles as a hang hole.
- Construction has been simplified so that it is possible to press all pieces out of the same piece of steel. Hopefully no one gets confused and sharpens up the wrong bit.
- The absence of a bed for the blade is a brave new design. The blade hangs in the air at 20°.
- There is a finger hole at the front for your finger. It is a single finger hole designed for a single finger.
- The sole has been lapped to .00000001mm deviation across its length of 6 3/8”.
- It has a blade. It is made out of steel. For the technical boffins amongst us, it is 1 5/8” wide and 5/64” (2mm) thick, or vice versa.
- It also has a mouth – somewhat reminiscent of the Grand Canyon:
- The edges are rounded (so that you do not cut yourself?).
Tuning up The Orange Block Plane
Surprisingly, the plane was not ready to go out of the box. It required tuning. The original bevel appeared to be honed at 45°. This was re-ground to 25° and I freehand sharpened it to 8000 grit.
The back of the blade had a low area throughout its length and width, a lot like a Japanese blade. I’m sure it was on purpose. It was possible to flatten it at the important back edge of the bevel.
I assumed that I lapped the sole all those years ago as it was flat against a straight edge. I made no effort to flatten it this time around.
The blade was place on the rear of the mouth and the cap iron tightened down. Fine adjustment was made with a mallet. The large mouth was ignored and the blade projection was considered sufficient once fine shavings emerged.
Making Shavings
Planing of pine face grain was completed by Jamie. Here is his style:
And here are the shavings he made:
A little later I attempted to cut pine endgrain:
The resultant surface was actually pretty good. Pine end grain actually has a high rating on the difficulty scale. The soft wood fibres do not “stand up” to be cut, and a clean slice is a good measure of the blades ability to penetrate these fibres. What we would call “sharp” is really a combination of the smoothness and the angle of the bevel. A lower cutting angle and a smoother bevel equate to easier penetration.
Summing up
One might assume that my regular block planes are in no danger of being replaced by The Orange Block Plane, but this is not certain. The Orange Block Planet does give them a run for their money under these conditions (I did do some planing with the #65 and #60 ½, and they really did not produce any better results on this piece of pine).
The Orange Block Plane is really more than just a paperweight. It is probably one of the more “distinctive” planes I have used – indeed the colour causes me to be transfixed like a kangaroo in the headlights of my ute on a dark night – I reckon that it would look pretty sharp in a belt holster made from a converted neoprene stubby holder.
There is definitely something machismo about this plane. One could saunter into the pub, lean against the bar, and attract admiring glances as you casually toss it onto the counter. It says “I am not affected by fashion … (I am cheap).” And to the kids, “One day this could be yours if you are good … (because I am cheap)”.
Well that’s about it. You were expecting more? For $5? Yeah … right.
Derek Cohen
Perth, 2006
Replies
Derek,
Proof again, that it is the blade that does the cutting! All else is to control the movement and angle of attack of the blade.
Sometimes we get too hung up on the tools and forget the purpose.
Thanks for sharing this.
Mike
great review! loved the pics and cutlines, so funny, i'm going to find all the different size of orange planes available and purchase them on sight.
ps do you have any trees down there to use for woodworking?
I enjoyed the review. It just goes to show that it's the woodworker and not the tool that makes the difference.
Can you flip that blade over and give us the bevel down comparison next? ;-)
Derek,
I must publicly admit that in the past I have badly misjudged your skill, prescience, authority, talent, and energy as a reviewer, and I feel remorse for my hasty conclusions.
That said, I feel as if I must ask the question which is on everyone's mind but has thus far remained as tacit as the character Nell attempting to order from the McDonald's Drive-thru line:
"Are you currently, or have you in the past been, a willing recipient of free copies of the orange block plane in order to produce a so-called review? How may we be assured that this review is produced from the bracing, righteous tonic of fairness and open-handed dealing, and not from the sickening corruption of creeping, incipient, cheap sell-out bias? Are you simply a shill for the Orange Block Plane Company?"
Otherwise, good review. I gotta get me one of those. Ed
PS: If one acquires an OBP 'in the wild' is it considered okay to polish and buff the (non-painted) bare metal parts of the OBP to a blinding glare or should one allow the development of patina?
Hi Ed
I can openly and honestly state that I have never received a tool from The Orange Block Plane Company to write a review. There is great misunderstanding about this. Just because it appears here one must not assume that it was there for that reason.
In the immortal words of Paul Simon in The Boxer,
All lies and jest.Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.
Ooops, I almost did not answer this: If one acquires an OBP 'in the wild' is it considered okay to polish and buff the (non-painted) bare metal parts of the OBP to a blinding glare or should one allow the development of patina?
I suspect that Collectors will consider it bad form to mess with the originality of this plane. Still, I am not a collector, evidence my modification of the lever cap. I am not sure what bad karma will descend on me in the years to come. Some might take the safe route and prefer to not use it at all in case they upset the Gods. I can't go along with this. A tool is a tool is a tool ..
Philip
That Rhodesian Ridgeback brings back so many memories since they were popular in my youth where I grew up. I always had a mixture of fear (since they were bred for hunting and had a repuation for being unpredictable) and affection (since the ones I knew were friendly).
I do have an early picture of Rufus as a bench pup. Already then he was into Jarrah. You can tell from the background that it was taken some years ago.
View Image
Regards from Perth
Derek
Edited 7/9/2006 12:17 am ET by derekcohen
Derek,
You may be able to find a replacement for the plastic knob on E-bay, wouldn't want to de-value the tool by using non-original parts....LOL!!!!!
Thanks for the GREAT post!!!!
-Paul
Kudos to LV on this, their 23rd Anniversary Commemorative model.
Folks, undoubtedly the review is designed to gauge the response of the assembled legions of planeophiles to this , er item.
My reponse? I believe the dog was either lazy or overfed. My special Rhodesian Bench dog , bred specially for the purpose, would have destroyed the whole item, leaving no trace, upon the word of command "KILL".Philip Marcou
Great stuff... far and away the best tool review I've seen in a long time. Thanx.
DR
Great review Derek. I once heard a story about Ron Hock attempting to develop a replacement blade for the OBP but he was unable to improve upon the quality of the original and therefore gave up on the idea. Much like your lever cap. That's why you'll not find a replacement blade listed anywhere for the OBP.
I also noticed in your review at one point you refer to "The orange block planet...". At first I thought it a simple typo, but upon further analysis I wonder if you didn't let slip the actual orb of origination. Is there something you aren't telling us?
Nanu nanu,
-Chuck
I also noticed in your review at one point you refer to "The orange block planet...". At first I thought it a simple typo, but upon further analysis I wonder if you didn't let slip the actual orb of origination. Is there something you aren't telling us?
Oh Geez Chuck, did I let that slip?! The truth is that I am an undercover agent for PLANET - The People's Liberation Army for Neglected and Estranged Tools. We roam the planet (pun intended) seeking out these abandoned tools, the one's considered past their use-by date or just inept. We restore their skills and resurrect their self-esteem. We are (fanfare in the background) .. PLANET ... (sound of applause drowns out all else).
KTF (keep the faith)
Regards from Perth
Derek
Don't tell me, let me guess.Orange costumes?
Hi Deidre
Never a costume! We're not crazy you know. Just the secret handshake.
Regards from Perth
Derek
PLANET - The People's Liberation Army for Neglected and Estranged Tools.
Nice one. :)
-Chuck
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