Wooden Hand Plane #2: Initial glue up

I don’t have a band saw, so I had to trust my less-than-accurate table saw, and I got to play around with my new jig saw.

I followed the steps outlined in David Marks’ European Hand Plane episode. I had to use my table saw to cut the cheeks and the two angles on the body. Then I used the jigsaw to cut the curve. Unfortunately the blade deflected during the cut, so it took a lot of filing and sanding to get it back to semi-true.

Next I need to drill the holes for the dowel, and cut the shim. Then I’ll cut the body to length, and then shape the body (without a band saw this will be minimal).

I still don’t know what this wood is. It is very heavy, and has streaks of harder grain and softer grain. This makes it very hard to joint, plane, scrape and sand. I don’t think this was the best choice of wood for a hand plane, but I plan on building another one once I get a band saw.

-- 10 fingers, 2 eyes, and healthy lungs. for now. :P