Woodworker: Juan Hovey

When his wife asked him to please stop making new furniture for their furniture-stuffed house, Hovey turned his attention to making handplanes. He says he spent a year and a half building 20 or so planes before he figured out all the nuances involved; he keeps the misfires on a shelf in his shop to remind him of all the ways you can go wrong in design and execution. This 3-in.-wide by 12-in.-long smoother took him 120 hours. The sides and sole are made from 01 tool steel, joined with dovetails and infilled with cocobolo. Hovey had the basic shapes of the sides and sole cut on a water jet, then refined the tails and pins on a machinist’s vertical mill before finally peening the pieces together. The brass lever cap and knurled knob hold a Hock blade tight to the bed. The cocobolo is finished with Danish oil.