First handplane

Excellent first (or twentieth) attempt on a hand plane!

You can use any wood for the body of the plane, usually with
no problems with actual use. The sole is the area that’ll wear quickly.
You could easily plane the sole down a bit and add a harder species.
That would also tighten up the throat a bit for you.

-- Still learning everything

That is a very racy shape for a plane. It will be interesting to see how it holds up to hard work. Just a thought; I believe the reason that wooden planes have always been thick and wide is to maintain flatness through changes of humidity. A thick board does not change as much(flatness wise) as a thin one. I use Jarrah for the sole of my planes because it is hard and it will get really slick with wax. It also adds the stablity of a lamination. You could fix the throat by adding a 1/4 inch thick sole and re-cutting the throat. Mahogany would work just fine. I use 3/8 brass rod on my planes and when it is inserted, I take it to the anvil and center punch each end. This swells the brass a little and anchors it in the hole. Try to start the throat with the iron touching the front edge of the throat opening. Then open the throat until the iron will just clear. You can add shims to the side of the blade to tighten up that area. Keep it up. We will look forward to the next one.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

It is a neat shape, now your fingers won’t drag will they? my fingers are alittle sensitive today from the belt sander yesterday, so maybe i’m just being overly cautious.

-- If knowledge is not shared, it is forgotten.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the insight and suggestions.

I don’t think plane will get used actually. I wouldn’t have made this shape for use, rather it’ll sit on my shelf and just look pretty, and if someone happens to grab it and draw a shaving, so be it!

-- Just another woodworker

The form is appealing. Hopefully it will not find too much time on the shelf.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

keep posting your progres with the plane building, Im interested in making one myself.

-- bryano

I have quite a few made by my grandfather, he worked for Fisher Body
as an auto body modeler in the 1950’s
a few are in this image

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Great job! This practice of plane making is an addictive one. So I wll look forward to seeing a few more of these. One of the kids thinks it looks like it came from a Dr. Seuss book!!

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

That’s a nice plane. I’m anxious to see you progress as you make more.

Gary – that’s quite a collection of beautiful planes that your Granddad made. I sure hope that you use them.

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

Great model plane, and if it becomes a user then even better. But you better make shavings so you will know what works and what doesn’t work.

Sitting on the shelf gives you skills in making it, but not making it better.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

very cool shape !

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

I like it. Just glue a shoe of a harder wood on the bottom.

-- Maplewood, MN

Mike,

If I would get a plane like that I would promptly display it and show it to all my friends (it seems that this was your original purpose). I do not think the plane would be particularly convenient to use but I think wood planes in general are not convenient enough compared to modern metal planes (my opinion of course).

If looked at as an artistic object, I really like the end result and, especially for a man, it is a great gift. The fact that it could be used adds a lot of charm to the work but, at the same time, it is a nice display item that involves a great amount of skill to build and looks unusual. I think you should continue to explore this direction since interesting things are bound to result from it.

Oh, and please continue to write the sanding blog.

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

Beautiful. I would think I would want something more to grab on to, maybe more of a knob in the front, but that is really cool. Nice photo too.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Looks a little like the roman plane example that Yorkshire Stewart posted awhile back. Looks good!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Quite a collection of planes and the like! I like the plane you made it reminds of an old timey race car.

-- --Chuck