Making a Wooden Plane
Marking Out the Blank
Part One
Careful marking of the blank is crucial to building a successful plane. Meticulous work here will pay back big dividends. Make sure your marking tools are accurate. It seems like an obvious statement, but many hardware store squares, and even more expensive ones are not! A good tape measure and square are critical to any woodworking project. I prefer a marking knife to a pencil, and I would recommend using a good sharp knife for all the marking.
The marking takes place in two stages. One set of marks are made on the outside, and another set of marks are made on the inner piece. We'll start with the outside marks first.
Clamp the three pieces together firmly, and make several marks for the dowel rods. The short dowels are used during glue up to prevent the pieces from shifting. Use fairly thin dowels - 1/4" are fine. Four dowels on each side are a good plan. Fewer will also work, but won't provide as much protection against slippage.
Mouth Placement
Notice the "trailing" side grain, and symmetrical end grain |
Mark the front and the sole of the plane. On the sole, make a mark across the width where you want the plane's "bed" to begin. I typically make this about 1/3 from the front, sometimes closer to 1/2. With a 12" blank, a mark that's 4 1/2" from the front works well. The extra length gives you some flexability during final shaping.
Bed Angle
On each side, continue the line (A) around the body at 45 degrees, then connect it at the top. If the lines don't meet at the end, the blank isn't square, or you've made a marking error. Double check this and correct it.
Some antique wooden planes (and some modern ones) have a blade angle of 50 or more degrees The higher angle produces more of a scraping cut, which supposedly works well on difficult grain. Is this myth, or fact? Arguably the finest planes every made are infill smoothers, and these generally have 45 degree blade angles. Common advice is to stick with 45 degrees, and this is what I recommend. You can always experiment in the future.
Pin Placement
Now we need to mark a spot for the pin placement. Accurately marking this on both sides is crucial. If the pin isn't parallel to both the sole and the bed of the plane, problems will occur. My approach is to keep this as simple as possible. I make a mark (B) straight up each side, starting at the the sole/side intersection of A. I then use a marking gauge to make a mark (C), 1 1/4" or 1 3/8" above the sole, and parallel to it. The intersection of B and C is the spot to drill for the pin. My measurements do not have to be used verbatim, but I've learned from experience that it works quite well for thick irons. A "thick" iron is one where the iron/breaker combination are approximately 3/8" inch thick at their thickest portion. If your iron is thinner or thicker, you'll probably want to adjust this mark accordingly.
Using a C mark of 1 3/8" will give you ~31/32" worth of space between the pin and the bed. You'll need to fit both the iron/breaker and the wedge into this space. Clearly there is leeway to work with. I'd discourage moving the pin up because that will affect your options for shaping the body. Moving it downward and/or towards the bed will compensate for a thinner iron and create more space for chip clearance. Personally, I like the ease of marking, and I prefer a slightly chunky wedge. I prefer to have it 1/4" - 3/8" thick where it will meet the pin.
I'd advise you to lay the iron/breaker on the bed line (see next page) and see if these measurements make sense to you. Adjust them as you see fit, but mark them carefully on both sides of the plane.
Dowel Holes
While you've got the body clamped together, go ahead and drill the dowel holes.
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Steve Spodaryk
Medford, MA
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article
12.10.2008
- Making a Wooden Plane
Introduction
Tools
The Iron
The Chipbreaker
Wood
Marking Out the Blank 1
Marking Out the Blank 2
Forming the Plane Bed
Drilling the Pin Holes
Making the Pin
Test Fit
Glue Up
Post Glue Cleanup
Adjusting the Mouth
Making the Wedge
Test Run
Shaping the Plane Body
Troubleshooting
Advanced Topics
- Making a Wooden Plane
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