A couple more planes I made

They don’t look bad?! They look like pieces of jewellery to me. And you made the pair in a morning – Wow!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.

they are so cute :) I’m allowed to say that!

the size.. pretty cool. and yes, they are beautiful

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I’ve always thought handmade planes were the most satisfying.
Yours are beautiful!

Using a metal bar I think is almost a must. I like the look and feel of
a polished brass rod in most woods. The ‘silver’ steel rods I haven’t used
before.

-- Still learning everything

”The ‘silver’ steel rods I haven’t used
before.”

I used stainless steel. It matches my shiny irons.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

Really fine workmanship.

-- Bruce from Central New York

Beautiful little tools!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Can you teach us how to make one?!!! Those are so neat!

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Very attractive. Are you not concerned about the expansion of the wood on the sides as it appears to be oriented so the wood movement will occur vertically vs. horizontally on the infill wood?

I’m very interested in plane making at the moment. Just today I received two Hock irons in the mail.

Not to worry about the metal, the nicest infills made today all have lots of brass and bronze, etc.. in them. Where are you getting your irons?

-- Just another woodworker

My wife says they are soooo cute. Do you make your own blades or buy them from some where? Very nice mornings work!!

-- Woodworking is Life. Anything before or after is just waiting.--S. McQueen sort of

Aw heck making the planes is easy. I “made” the irons too (didn’t forge them, just cut and tempered them from old steel) and sharpened them on stones I “made” (well crafted them from stuff that is 400 million years old, sedimentary slate).

I think this may be too long a story for one project post. I am going to start a blog soon, my first ever. It may be boring to some but I will start from the beginning. These planes are not made from wood I usually use. They are exotics I swapped for. I make my own lumber from trees. I salvage old iron. To sharpen the iron I make my own stones…that is going to be my first blog. It seems sharpening is a big subject here, I know things about it I think I can share. It may not be directly lumberjock related, but for me as a hack woodworker it is part of my process, even making tools.

MsDebbieP asked in another one of my projects “What is a good stone ?” I will show that in my blog (in a few weeks ?) I will make one and blog it. Selecting and tempering steel. Finding/milling/drying wood from a standing tree. And lastly building a simple plane.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

Oh and yea, they are cute :)

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

Can’t wait for all the blogs that will be coming! Great planes!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Once again Darin, nice job. Please share some of your knowledge.

(And who came up with the rules of ‘cheating’? You don’t seem like the type of guy who needs arbitrary rules.)

Keep it comming.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Cute planes and I guess they are useful for small projects. Have you ever made one for trimming tenons?

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

NOT BORING!!! Please, don’t hold back any detail. We love that kind of stuff. I would really like to make some planes too.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

I agree. Especially the information about tempering. Great planes by the way!

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Great story and even better project. Well done Daren. I will be very interested in reading your blog on the stones.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Man, I have got to try this some time soon. Good work sir.

-- Maplewood, MN

Beautiful work Darren. Looking forward to reading your blogs.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.

Well done, such small tools but there is allways a need for the finest equipment.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Daren – All aspects of Tool making is definitely part of woodworking – I am sure a lot of people, me included would be very interested in how you made the planes from start to finish. All to often we just buy the latest toys on the market – but to make your own toys is far more rewarding. Please post the blog on how you made them, including the steel process

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

I second Blake and third Tony for a blog….........not many but on occasion I could have used a miniature compass plane(?) if that’s the right name. A nicely edged, arc soled plane to get into a tight inside radius. I always end up going to what’s on hand (rasps, files, carving tools) and never take the time to make such specific tool. I was just thinking…...a plane like that would be a real rocker :). Couldn’t resist.

Beautiful.

-- Jiri

Really impressive work. Thanks for showing them off!

I’m working on restoring some old hand planes I got on eBay, and a couple of the wooden bodies are cracked and unusable, so I’ve decided to reuse the blades/chipbreaker into a few handmade plane projects.

I’ll probably hit you up with questions when I get started.

-- When my wife ask's what I have to show for my wood working hobby, I just show her the splinters.