Making a Wooden Plane – Episode 1

Posted 8 January 2014

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In this episode, Paul talks us through how to lay out all the parts of the plane. He goes on to cut the different sections of the body and make the wedge and wedge housing. This episode concludes with the gluing up of the plane body in preparation for the shaping

Previous: Making a Wooden Plane

49 Comments

      1. Please note that in the blog Paul states that the width of the steel should be 1 1/8″, but it should actually be 1 1/2″. He has a more detailed blog post on making the iron in which he states the correct width.

    3. Eddy, I believe Paul is using O-1 tool steel. Any high carbon steel could be used but from what I’ve read he will be getting into the heat treat and tempering process and that would be different for different alloys. I’d suggest staying with the O-1 for the sake of following Paul’s process.. But that is just my humble opinion..

  7. Great timing and looks to be another exciting project. I have a couple wooden planes and enjoy using them, I also have a couple basket case’s so now I know what to do with them. I want to make a couple of those stools and the 2 X 4 “compass” plane will come in handy.

    Steve

  9. I have been admiring the shop built frame saw used in these master class videos. I have a larger frame saw that works well, but is a bit unwieldy to use because of its size on smaller projects. Will there be a video set covering this frame saw’s construction, or perhaps some sketches to use as a pattern to build one’s own, in the future?

  10. Regarding the 60 degree angle for the front block and why it’s a good choice for a plane with a 45 degree bed… From what I’ve read in other sources it seems that the angle gives enough room for the user to get their fingers into the mouth to remove jammed shavings, while leaving plenty of wood on the plane for shaping. Angles between 60 and 65 degrees seem the most common.

    George.

  11. I’ve seen a lot of different kinds of wooden planes, all with wedges of course. I have seen a lot of planes that use a hardwood dowel drilled through the sides to act as a place to wedge instead of the dados showed by Paul. Is there any difference between these two designs in terms of how the planes perform? I bought a block of beech that will allow me to build 3 or 4 planes so I’m wondering if one or the other design is best suited to certain applications.

    1. Dave, I’ve used a couple that are made with the pin for holding the wedge and I’ve used a couple Japanese style where the blade is wedged shaped and wedges into the side grooves. I have not used one like Paul is showing. The main advantage that I see is that the body of the plane can be slightly narrower with Paul’s design. Plus, Paul’s design seams to be the predominant style in the historical record. The pin style was popularized by James Krenov and simplifies the construction. If Paul’s style was used for a couple hundred years virtually unchanged, it must work pretty well. I am excited to find out for myself. I don’t think that I answered your question but threw out some food for thought.

  12. Greg, am not questioning the design as I plan to build one but rather if these different designs have advantages for specific applications. I’ll probably build a couple of each just for the fun of it 🙂

  13. I didn’t think you were questioning the design. I was just pointing out that one style had been in use a lot longer than the other. I’ve not heard or read any negatives on either design and only have limited experience with the pin type. I think that this is going to be a lot of fun as well. I’m more excited to give the tempering process a try. That could open up a lot of other possibilities.

  14. Another great project and a very useful tool to have in my skills tool set. Even though I’m not making one yet, I can get mentally prepared. I noticed that the glue up can be a challenge and I do have a question.

    Would it hurt anything if I gave my wedge a good coat of bees wax (so the glue doesn’t adhere to my wedge) and leave it in the assembly during the clamping and drying stage?

    2. Sorry Sandy, I missed you posted question. I see no way that waxing the wedge will cause you any problems later. I just glued my blank up last night and took a close look at the wedge area. I know I saw a video that recommends waxing the ramp before glue up, but can’t remember what video it was, maybe on the Ron Hock site. They were addressing glue squeeze out and making it easier to clean it out.

      1. Greg, I was watching this video a couple of days and and Paul went to a lot of effort to line everything up using the wedge and then when he knocked it out things moved. when he went back into the vise he had to eyeball everything back to where it should have been. So if I wax it, I don’t have to worry about getting it out until the glue sets up. I know what would happen with me. I wouldn’t get things eyeballed into the right place and be back to square one…. Just curious if the wax it’s self would cause and problems.

        1. I think Paul rushed the glue up a little for the video, for the sake of time. If you take your time, and simply hold the pieces in place for about a minute. The glue will grab and hold all in place while you clamp it. Good luck.

        2. Sandy, I’ve seen a number of articles on making wooden planes where they drill dowels during fitting to aid in lining things up during glue up. I’m going to try this approach on my practice plane before I build one out of hardwood.

  15. I’ll through in my two cents worth on the question of design. It appears to me that the design that Paul is teaching gives more support to a larger area of the wedge which transfers to more stability for the iron. Reducing the chances of getting chatter when the plan is introduced to the work piece. I would think that to be able to get the same effects you would have to increase the thickness of the wedge exponentially.

    1. I wish they would put the edit option on his comment section the same as the forum so I could fix my screw ups….I have been known to butcher the english language. In my previous post I was pointing out what appears to be the advantage to Paul’s method over using the hardwood dowel method. Sorry, I can’t type and think at the same time…

  16. This series looks great! Congratulations Paul and the whole crew!!!!

    Recently I was looking veritas’s shooting plane, but it seems a little to expensive (Lie-Nielsen’s is even more expensive, about US$500!!!!!), and looking this series came to my mind to make my own wooden shooting plane.

    What do you guys think of skewed blades for shooting???

    Cheers!

  17. It must be Paul’s way of teaching. I’ve read several books on plane making and watched at least two other videos and I’ve learned more from Paul in this one video than I did in all the other media. I just need to go get some hardwood and start on making a real one. 🙂

  19. I hasten to add my two-pence worth here. Whereas I do like shooting planes, they actually present the bevel to the wood at a very similar angle as the Plane-Jane smoother like the #4 and all the others. Adding the bed angle of 12-degrees or so to 30-degrees or so combines at 42-degrees. The bed angle for #4 is around 44-degrees. Barely any difference. Many makers say to sharpen the blade to 25-degrees to enhance their sales potential. 25-degrees is a much weaker cutting edge that often fractures early on in use. That said, go ahead an make one for the enjoyment. They do work.

  20. Another really interesting video – thanks Paul.
    I was wondering – before the invention of wood glue, how would these planes be put together? Would they be carved out of a single piece of wood?

  21. This way is a practical and modern way and not too old. I think our method more mirrors the wedge of old whereas it was really Jim Krenov who revitalised plane making using split parts. Prior to the last three decades, most all planes were made from solid woods using special tools called floats that worked like massive toothed files that removed material to form the bed and the throat. Lie Nielsen makes floats that are very nice http://www.lie-nielsen.com/planemakers-floats/ if you want to get into that aspect of solid-wood plane making. Re the glue, the Egyptians used animal glue and other depictions in stone show animal glue being prepared as early as 1500 BC. Glues were used in paints and inks by the Chinese to waterproof them and even though we use more modern glues such as PVA and chemical adhesives, no modern glue actually replaces animal glues for the use in instrument making and some aspects of furniture making, conservation and restoration and so on.

    1. Thanks Paul – I had never heard of floats before. I have an old wooden fore plane and it looked to be a single piece of wood – I wondered how they did it; now I know! Those Lie-Nielsen tools really are beautiful….

    2. More things learnt. I was wondering how they made solid planes and there is an example on youtube where someone uses a drill and chisels but it seemed a lot of work.

      It makes sense that, if plane making was your living, you’d need specalised tools, jigs and templates.

      I see now why woodworking is a lifetime pursuit: there’s so much to learn and to do.

      Jack

  22. Great series Paul!
    I have a cutting blade ( 45mm width) from an older smoothing plane and i am thinking of making a new plane body for it, according to your video. My question is: how do i fit a handle to it? Or will the plane function just as well without a handle?

  23. A couple of questions on details of method & parts to help me as I build my plane.
    1. How to mark out the wedge housing for the second side – use the same approach as for the first side, or take marks from the first (already cut) side to the second?
    2. Dimensions: The wedge stock looks to be 3/4″ thick. What thickness do you use. I ask because the marking technique shown will produce different angles as the thickness of the stock varies. (1/8″ up, then 50 mm along the top).
    3. The thickness (width?) of the centre piece will be 3/8″ less than the width of the iron? (3/16″ deep wedge housing on each side piece).
    4. How much ‘wiggle room” do you allow between the width of the iron and the inside width of the assembled plane? How do you finesse the parts to achieve this, before glue-up?

    Many thanks!

  24. I don’t want to be over critical because I have found so much of Paul’s work an inspiration and have learned a lot of new tricks and techniques from his videos.
    I felt inspired to build a plane or three so I went out and got some Maple 60mm x 60mm. I have also ordered some tool steel for the iron from Cromwell. I ordered the 3mmx40mm Ground Flat Stock. Analysis percents: C 0.9 – 1.05; Cr 0.5 – 0.7; Mn 1.0 – 1.2; P 0.035 max; Si 0.15 – 0.35; S 0.035 max; W 0.50 – 0.70; V 0.05 – 0.15. Described as suitable for woodworking cutting.
    So i needed the bed of the plane to be able to take the 40mm steel (slightly wider than Paul’s 1 1/2 inch steel) and worked out that I could get this out of my stock by cutting into 2 x 10mm sides and 1 x 30mm centre allowing for the cuts for the wedge to be 5mm with 5mm left on the edge. I could use another slice to give me the wedge. Cut it on a band saw. Now my saw must have a wider cut than Paul’s because I lost a lot of width on my cuts. Then when I had smoothed the surfaces I ended up with my centre being about 26mm rather than the 30mm I wanted. Paul’s advice to use 2 inch square stock will not give the cutting you need for 2 x 3/8 sides and 1 x 1 1/4 centre. There is no allowance for saw cuts and smoothing.
    Paul’s Stanley planes on the videos always look bigger than when I get the same plane in my hands. I find that I cannot use a No 4 happily and prefer to use a combination of my 4 1/5 and 5 1/2 planes. I prefer the weight these give me.
    Having now got all the parts for my wooden plane prepared it looks awfully small. In Paul’s hands his plane looks a decent size. My version in my hands looks totally unusable.
    As a computer programmer in a previous life we had a saying you need to write the program twice, once to learn how to do it properly the second time so I am going back to the basic design. I shall make my plane from 60mm square stock (or maybe 60mm x 45mm so I can get the wedge off the top). I shall be making it 150mm long.
    I hope I have not upset Paul by my comments but as he says he does like to give us the techniques so that we can work out for ourselves what works best for us. Thank you Paul.

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