Hand made Plane #1: Getting started

First of all let me say that this is the first hand plane I have ever made. I looked at some plans to get the
general idea, but basically I am making it up as I go. There are things I did wrong but I will be able to fix them.

I saw this type of sole on some planes in magazines and always wondered how they did it.
It took me a while but I figured it out. Simple once you know how.

I got ahead of myself didn’t get started taking pictures until later so I kind of went back over some things
for the pictures.

I started with a 1 1/2” hock plane blade and chip breaker. I added 1/4” to each side to make my plane 2”
wide.

I got started by basically making a long box joint on the router table. Not having done this before I started
with en extra wide piece of Sapele and Cumaru. I just moved the fence 1/4” at a time and alternated
between the two pieces of wood.

Then I took a 2” wide strip of thin plywood and layed it across the pattern until I fould an angle I liked and
then marked it. Using my new bevel gauge I transfered it to a piece of plywood to make a jig for the table
saw. You can see it in the third picture.

When you cut them make sure that the box joint is facing up on one piece when you cut it and facing down
for the other. Otherwise they won’t interlock at the same angle. Then I set my rip fence to 2” and cut them
to width with the freshly side against the fence.
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Here is where I made my first mistake. Well, not a mistake but a lack of foresight. To get the sapele piece
to line up, after I cut the throat for the blade, it has to be cut in exactly the right place. For example if
I were to move the pieces a little closer together they would slide in their grooves and not be aligned anymore.

Look at the picture below to get the idea.
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It was at this point I figured that I would use maple for the sides. One reason is that the maple will contrast
with the sole to show off the joint better. So back to the router table to cut another piece. Remembering
to cut it with the same box joint facing up like the sapele.
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I cut many strips because the groove starts at different places
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Just test fitting the iron.
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This is when I decided to just eliminate the grooves on the middle all together leaving a gap centered about
1/16” wider then that the iron. It just solves all kinds of problems that make my head hurt just thinking
about it. My router table still have the bit set to the correct height, so it was easy.
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A complete view.
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Then I just cut off the grooves off the sapele. Just test fitting them below. The face for the iron is 45
degrees wnile the other is 65 degrees. At this point I cut the groove for clearence for the iron screw.
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To make sure the I got a good clean surface I used acetone to clean the cumaru. Then glued it in place.
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To be continued…

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.