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I have wanted to make my own wood plane for a while now and this past week I finally got a chance to do it. I have a lot of bench and block planes so I decided to make a specialty plane that would do something different then my other planes.

I decided to make a chamfer plane. I didn't follow any plans for this I just made things up as I went along. I started by ripping a couple of strips of Maple at a 45 degree angle. I then glued the two strips of Maple to form the bottom of the plane. The top is made out of Mahogany and I forget the light colored wood that makes up the sides but its an exotic lumber. I cut the block of Mahogany at a 45 degree angle to form the plane bed and then the sides were glued on. After the body was glued up I used my dado blade to cut out a groove on the bottom to fit the chamfer guide. I glued it all up and cut out a wedge from a piece of scrap Walnut.

The body was shaped by hand with planes, rasp and sand paper. The front design just kind of happened so I went with it.

I made some mistakes and learned some things about wood planes during the construction of this plane. The first big problem I ran into was that I had not left enough room for shavings to escape. I had to go in with a chisel and carve out a notch for the shavings. Once the notch was cut the plane worked a lot better.

I finished the plane with a couple coats of shellac.

It took me a little time to get the hang of using this plane. To start the chamfer I have the iron set so its just barley making a cut. Once the chamfer is even across the edge the iron will no longer cut. To adjust the depth I just tap the iron with my hammer.

I was very pleased to see the finished results of the cut. I was able to cut a perfect chamfer, something that I couldn't quite do when using a regular plane freehand.

This was a LOT of fun. I really enjoyed the whole process of making this and I learned a lot. I am looking forward to making many more wood planes.

Gallery

Comments

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Hey Dan, that looks pretty nice. Did you make the blade? I've been thinking of making a chamfer like this and a round over type plane. Was there a reason you kept the blade so close to the front? One last question, how about a shot from the bottom. I just may have to copy this design.
 

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Very nice and a very interesting design.
 

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That is a most interesting front end to your plane. Like an art deco ship sailing into harbor. Good looking tool and I'm sure much satisfaction.
 

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Nice little plane. Love the colors and design too.
 

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Don, I put the blade close to the front of the plane so I could work a chamfer close to an edge of of an assembled piece. I looked at a number of different chamfer planes before I started and a lot of them were bull nose style. Some more complicated designs had an adjustable front which acts as a depth stop but I decided to make mine a little less complicated.

The blade I used is a blade off an old block plane. I did not alter it in any way. The plane will work with a smaller iron. The only reason I used the one I did is because its what I had extra.

Here is the bottom… NOTE if I were to do it over I would have ripped the bottom pieces so that they would have come a little closer together when glued up.
 

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18,702 Posts
Thanks Dan. Its a nice looker.
 

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Nice job Dan, like the style.
 

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Nice design…good work. It is very satisfying to make your own tools
Ray
 

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Thanks for posting this interesting plane !
This is a great looking hand tool much better then the " SLICK PLANE " I have been using for many years .
I will be making one of these soon but will make the bottom guide from one piece and have a groove in the centre which I think will guide it better, but there are other projects on my list .
Again great job and design.
KIEFER
 

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Different looking plane. It is always nice to be able to custom make the tools for those special jobs.
thanks for the post.
Pb.
 

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Hi Dan;

Having made a couple planes, I know how much fun they can be to make, and a real joy to use.

Real nice design here.

Lee
 

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Really cool Dan, I missed this one.
Lovely little plane.
Best thoughts,
Mads
 
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