SHOP PROJECT Handmade Hand Plane How to make a small hand plane for precise trimming and surfacing. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ROSARIO CAPOTOSTO, Contributing Editor ‘© While there are many custom fixtures, jigs and small tools that you ean make for your shop, few offer the eontinu- ‘ous reward and satisfaction of a handmade wooden plane. Here's a tool that you'll use on nearly every project. you complete. And even when it's on the shelf, it’s @ constant re- ‘minder of quality craftsmanship and woodworking tradition, Our small wooden plane is specially designed for one- handed operation. Unlike a conventional steel block plane, though, we've set the eutter angle closer to that found on standard bench planes. The larger angle makes our ver- sion more like a miniature smooth plane and the tool is less prone to tearout when working along the grain. The real difference, though, is in the wooden body. Shaped to fit the palm of your hand with finger grips on the sides, this little plane is a joy to hold and use. Equipped with a sharp plane iron, it produces nearly transparent shavings at leaves the wood alky smooth ‘The body of our plane is Honduras mahogany, and its sole is maple. While there are many replacement plane frons available through mail-order catalogs, we equipped ‘our tool with a top-quality Hock handmade cutter. This high-carbon tool-stee! blade holds a very sharp edge, and its Sivin. thickness resists chatter. The plane iron comes with its own chip breaker and we used a knurled brass serew to hold the cutter in place. (For details on suppliers, see the Miscellaneous Hardware Souree List on page 82.)Constructing The Body While wooden plane bodies were tra- Gitionally made by cutting the blade throat through a solid block of wood, a laminated design is simpler to make and just as effective. With this ‘method, angled core body segments are sandiehed between sdepieces to reate the cutter throat, jen the body by etting a piece of 1B¢inethick mahogany stock to 3% wide and 16 in. long. Joint one ci square and glue a x 1% « 15-1 eee of maple to that edge. Use brad driven near each end to keep the strip in place while clamping. After the gle has dried, use ajolnter, thick- ness planer or hand plane to reduce the blank to 1% in. thick (Photo 1), ‘Mark the angled cutlines following the “Cutting Core Pieces” diagram on age 88. Then, attach an ausiiary fence to your table-saw miter gauge. Set the gauge for the first cut, align she ook wth the blade and lamp it to the miter-gauge guide fence to pre- vent the pieee from shifting during the cut (Photo 2). After the first cut has been made, reset the miter gauge and make the second eut. Follow this eut by sawing off the long section reserved for the sides of the body, and then make the fourth angled eut to form the shoulder piece (Photo 3). ‘To eut the body sides, first rip the blank to 3% in. wide. Then, set the table-saw fence for a Yin. rip, and set the blade height to about 1% in.— slightly more than half the stock ith. Then, rip the ¥-in.thick blank by sawing from each edge. Use an L- shaped pushstiek taped to the work for the second half of the cut (Photo 4). ‘MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE SOURCE LIST ‘914° No, O5E0111 brass smooth-insert knob: Lee Valley Tools Ltd., P.O. Box 1780, burg, NY 13609. 14.184 No, 38.0016 Hock plane iron with chip breaker: The Japan Woodworker, YT3I Clement Ay «Brass strip, Grats, P.0. Box 445, East Northport, NYMR ‘Ater gluing maple sole to mahogany, use ajointer to Marten faces of worsplece tng stock to hein ickness Clamp workplece to miter gauge auxilary fence to prevent shifting when making ‘core cuts. Here, frat cut is made. ‘Make four cuts to produce core pleces and blank for resawing sidepleces. Follow cutting Sequence shown in diagram. Make a 2 = 4 cradle to hold face of core block parallel to dri-press table. Bore the hole for the /4n-20 threaded Insert. Resaw sidepleces By cutting from each ‘edge of stock on table saw. L-shaped pusnstick supports work safely. Use a headless bolt in aipress chuck to Install threaded Insert In core block. Jammed nuts on bolt hold inert in place. Use waste core plece (marked X] to align core shoulder with rear block. Attach Shoulder with glue and two small nalts.BLOCK PLANE ppase ptany = oe ee ene AS a6 x34 x 1-916" MAPLE CAP GLEE PLACE AND SAND day x 6) Ps se sor Fan. 36 Oe OE Reva iooe FoReADED NERY fon SLC ASSEMBLY 1Us-20. 34" KNURLED BRASS NOB, 344 X27" MAHOGANY (CUT i716 X 1/16" St0 AND ROUND nex iaxs Ve Beass TaN 20) X EQUALS OSTANCE FROM EDGE OF ROUTER BASE TO EDGE OF 36-RAD. (CORE BOX ROUTER a ‘STOP(2REQO) RABGET feomer Orns rere coT sn SacBee sot aR ax ‘or accompa Reith news mocoramreon Steno err NG FOR ROUTING SIDE RECESSES AND RARBETSResaw the second sidepiece from the ‘opposite side of the blank, To glue the shoulder to the rear core block, first mark the shoulder position as shown in the “Rear Block Assembly” detail. Apply tape to the edge of the rear block below the shoulder position to shield it from ex- cess glue. Then, tape the waste block to the rear eore piece—at the shoul- der position line—to provide support when aligning the shoulder. Start two alignment nails in the shoulder piece, apply glue to the mating surfaces and slide the shoulder in place (Photo 5). Drive the nails, remove the waste block and clamp across the corners. To bore the hole for the '4-in.-20 threaded insert, first cut. a eradle to hold the angled face of the core paral- Jet to the drill-press table. Then bore a “senin, hole (Photo 6). Use a bolt with the head cut off as a driver for in- stalling the threaded insert, Jam two nuts on the bolt, twist on the insert and install the bolt in the drill-press chuek. Turn the chuck by hand while lightly advancing the quill (Photo 7). Finish the rear core piece by cut- ting the maple blade-alignment boss to size, Bore holes for the two %-in, To shape recesses In side blanks, use router and guide Jig. High fences on Jig stabilize router a its tilted Into work. brads, and glue and nail the boss in place using the cutter as a positioning guide (Photo 8). Move to the front core piece and bore a Ye-in, hole through it as shown in the “Front Block Assembly” detail. Then cut the ledge to receive the maple cap and remove the remaining ‘waste around the hole as shown, Cut the eap slightly oversize, glue it in place and sand the edges flush. Bore the "tz-in. hole for the 10-24 threaded insert and install the insert, Use three guide strips for cutting “swin.- deep brass-strip recesses In each side. Install a Yin. straight bit for this Jo. Cut the finger-grip recess sidepieces using a router and %- rad. eorebox bit. Build a jig to hold the sidepieces for routing as shown in the drawing. The 1¥-in.-high guide strips allow you to do the job with a non- plunge router (Photo 9). Angle the router with the bit away from the ‘work. Then, turn on the tool and lower the bit into the work. To cut the re- ‘cesses for the decorative brass strips, use a straight bit and shift the guide strips as required (Photo 10). the Assembly And Shaping Mark lines on the sidepieces that indid cate the position of the rear core piece, Then start a few small brads in waste areas of one side and let the points protrude about Yin, Stand the core block and right on a perfectly flat surface a ress the aligmed components together. ay the block on its side and drive the brads a bit farther. Temporarily in- stall the blade and lock it in place with its edge flush with the plane base. Position the front block so that there is a Ye-in. gap between its edge and the eutter edge. Tack the front block in place (Photo 11). ‘With nail points protruding through side- piece, align main core block on fla surface. Use cutter to help position front core. ‘After both side panels have been Joined to ‘the core blocks, lay out the plane profile ‘and cut to the line with a band saw. ‘A Contour sander 1s useful for smoothing belt sander fo smooth Round the comers ofthe plane body with tiharp chisel Then, move fo ae and harctovenafeas such asthe erate Use the end o concave surfaces at front of plane. Disc ‘ander handles convex surfaces. sandpaper for final smoothing, fon the inside comer of the plane back.‘Trace around the core blocks on the plane side. Then, separate the pieces, tpnly glu to the mating surfaces of the care pieces and side, assemble the parts and clamp. When the glue has ‘ried, nail, glue and clamp the second sidepiece to the subassembly. Lay out the body profile and cut the plane to shape on a band saw (Photo 12). Use a dise sander to smooth the saw marks on the convex portions of the body, and use a drum sander or belt sander to smooth the hollow ar- eas (Photo 13). Hand sand and file any areas you can't reach with the dise, drum or belt sander. Use a sharp chisel to round the edges (Photo 14) and finish smoothing, with a file and sandpaper. Also, a con- tour sander is useful for smoothing the concave surfaces (Photo 15). Final Touches Ct the brass strips to size and shay so they fit the recesses routed in plane sides, Use a dise sander to ‘Shape the radi on the ends (Photo 16), ‘To secure the strips, first roughen the track of each with 100-grit sandpaper. Then apply epoxy to the mating sur- fares and tape the strips to the plane. After the epoxy has cured, bore ‘in, holes through the plane for the rivets. Countersink the holes about ‘a in. deep. Then, eut three pieces of ‘ein-dia, brass rod 4 in Tonger than the plane width. Insert these pieces in the rivet holes so that they protrude ‘ssi, from each side. Then, back each riveton a vise anvil or stee! block and mushroom the rivet ends by hammer- ing lightly (Photo 17). Belt sand the rivet heads and brass strips dush with the plane body (Photo 18). Begin the front knob by first mak- ing a %4 x 2 x 2-in, mahogany block and then entting the corners in prepa- ration for turning on. lathe. Mount the blanc between lathe centers and tur one face 20 it fits the surface of the smaoth-insert knob as shown in the “Knob Detail” Bare afew shallow holes in the face of the knob to act as keys fo the epoxy and secure the block to the knot When the epoxy has cured, use a 4rll press with a No. 25 bt to enlarge the existing hole in the knob (Photo 19). Then tap the new hole for a 10-24 thread. To finish the top of the knob, insert a 10-24 headless screw in the knob, mount the assembly in a lathe chuck and turn the wood to size and (Photo 20) © complete the plane, use a hack- saw with doubled blades to eut a the brass serew. Mount the serew in a lathe and use a file to smooth and round the top surface. Finally, use a water stone or ollstone to hone the edge of the plane iron (Photo 21). To finish our plane, we applied a coat of Behlen’s Solar Lux medium red mahogany stain followed by two coats of Deft Semi-Gloss Clear Wood Finish. Don't apply the finish directy ‘on the plane sole. Rub each coat light- ly with extra-fine (0000) steel wool and follow with paste wax buffed with asoft cloth, Use a aise lof the brass strips. wo yng § a 3 round ends shape as you to Is recess. ts Use a eit sander to trim the ret heads ‘and brass strips flush with the plane Body. Work slowly to avoid overheating, 20 Install headless screw In knob and mount knob In lathe. Turn mahogany cap to finshed shape and sand smoot Adjustment ‘To adjust the plane iron, first rest the plane on a flat surface and Toosen the brass screw, s0 the eutting edge aligns with the plane sole. Then tighten the ‘serew so the cutter is held in position. ‘After securing sus with epoxy, bore holes through plane and insert brass rivets. ‘Mushroom ret ends by hammering lightly. with manogany blank glued to brass knob, enlarge screwnole with No. 25 dil Dit. Then, tp the hole for 10-24 threads. To move the plane iron out for a coarse eut, tap the front of the bod with a hammer. To move the blade i lightly tap the back of the plane. For lateral adjustment, gently tap the plane on either side.