Friday, November 22, 2013

A mini coffin smoother in cocobolo

Having finished my fore plane, I decided to build a small smoother, one that would be comfortable in one hand (but could still be used two-handed). A couple years ago, I built a laminated plane like this, but it came unglued. That was the decisive event that drove me to give up laminated planes and start mortising solid bodies.
Anyway, here is what I came up with:







I'm quite pleased with the look of this plane, but even more pleased with the performance! For one-handed work, I've always used a Stanley 60 1/2. It's very handy, but for any sort of long grain application, this plane has it beat hands down.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Making a single iron fore plane, part 3

Well, the fore plane is finished! I'm really happy with how it turned out.





















The plane is capable of very aggressive work, more so than my Stanley jack plane. And the chip clearance is fantastic, better than any plane I have ever owned. Here are a couple of action shots. First some pine:



And some elm:



Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I got some air dried elm! Had to drive 2 1/2 hours up to PA to get it. It will make some really nice seats for those chairs.