Woodworker: Ben Bentley

A professional wooden boatbuilder who dabbles in plane making, Bentley made this 22-in., yacht-inspired smoothing plane for his boss. Specialized boatbuilding planes are typically long, narrow, and made with dense exotic hardwoods, which makes them less susceptible to rot. They aren’t as widely available as carpenters’ planes, so, like many shipwrights before him, Bentley made his own-first for himself, then for other local boatbuilders. This plane is made from a single piece of Pennsylvania cherry, an offcut Bentley saved from a boat project. He used a piece of lignum vitae, recovered from a log that was found sunk off the coast of Bermuda, to make the wedge and the strike button. The blade was manufactured by Baldwin Tool Company around the turn of the 20th century, but had never been used. Bentley sharpened it for the first time to use in this plane. The finish is Danish oil and paste wax.

Launch Gallery