What kind of handplane next?

What type of hand plane to do next for a project?

  • Start from scratch. The last one came out good. Why mess with something that works.

    Votes: 10 62.5%
  • Rebuild a old plane. Those old planes have character and should be preserved.

    Votes: 5 31.3%
  • Take an old plane and make it better?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Take a brand new high end plane and make it even better, just for the challenge?

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • Total voters
    16
Messages
2,369
Okay so now that my shoulder plane is nearing completion, I was thinking of a new project. The question is what should I do? Maybe I should start a whole new plane from scratch? Maybe I should modify an old plane like I did with that Stanley #140 that I spruced up some? Or maybe I should just rebuild an older plane? Heck maybe I should do something wild and buy a new Lie Niesen handplane and then trick it up to work even better?

Anyway please vote on what you think I should do next.
 
New TV show coming! Pimp My Plane! :rofl:

I'd go with what ever strikes your fancy! I'm pretty sure we'll all be interested in the project and how it turns out!
 
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Ed I did pimp a plane awhile ago. Actually a year ago, it was a Stanley #140 that was in real rough shape. When it was done it ended up being a cross between an original Stanley and a Lie Nielsen plane. That was a cool project I must admit. Here is the before and after pictures...

Pre_Rebuild-464x423.jpg


plane_4-451x289.jpg
 
do your own interpertation of a pre war norris....start big and work small, build a whole set....if you decide to do this i have a pre 1900 chunk of european red beach from an old jamb that i`d part with a chunk of for the stuffing;)......but it ain`t going for any modern type planes!
 
Family woodworker's special?

OK guys, here is our chance to help Travis with his home addition.

He does a poll on the types of planes he could make and the cost, we sign up for the "special edition". Maybe a limited run of 10-20 planes (to make it worth his while).

Or, he makes one, everybody interested kicks in a 5 bucks (or whatever makes sense) and then Vaughn works up a lottery bot for the forum, lucky member gets the plane.

Jay
 
I've been putting a lot of thought into my next plane, and I gotta tell you, having the Highland Hardware catalog come on the same day I started putting up shingles made for some interesting ideas. That is, between the boredom and repetitive nature of putting up a shingles, and all the different types of handplanes Highland Hardware has, well I have been thinking a lot abou the planes I would like to make.

One interesting plane I am seriously considering building is the Shipwrights Plane. That is a unique plane unto itself, but I can really see that thing gleaming if it was made out of mirrored stainless steel. Between the collapsing sole and the exposed external gears, that would be a challenging, but unique and just plane gorgeous plane. Of course, it would be a nightmare to build.

As for the 10-15 planes Jay, my good man you do know that only 10% of the last one was milled by machine, the bulk of the work was by hand file!! Cool idea though. It certainly would be neat to be able to say you built a hand plane and some one was actually willing to part with their hard earned cash enough for them to want it! :)
 
Travis

Only 10% by machine! Ouch, can you say repetitive stress syndrome? :rofl:

I thought you were getting to use the mills and stuff at work on your personal time. Well....... so much for that idea.

Jay
 
Travis

Only 10% by machine! Ouch, can you say repetitive stress syndrome? :rofl:

I thought you were getting to use the mills and stuff at work on your personal time. Well....... so much for that idea.

Jay

I do have access to the machine shop any time I want, but its a time and distance thing. At work, we have a 4 day week, but that means 10 hours a day. I used to work through my lunch and breaks but lately (as I age) working straight ahead from 7-5:30 without breaks gets kind of old. Its nice to use your lucnh and breaks for what they were granted to you for...just stopping work for awhile.

Unfortunately the shop is 40 miles away from my house so if I do use it on the weekends, it means a good chunk of my day is shot. I have used the shop before on the weekends, but its not something you just run down to work, mill a few parts and then come home. If I go down there, I am going to be down there most of the day. With the house addition going on, I don't get much time for taking big chunks out of my days for fun projects.

So what I did with this plane is mill out the parts that needed to be milled, then took it home and did what I could in my own shop. This meant a lot of handwork, but handwork typically comes out better than machining anyway.

Maybe after the addition is done, I could try and make a batch of planes.
 
Something for you to chew on Travis.

Stainless steel, right down your alley


http://www.leevalley.com/home/page.aspx?c=2&cat=91&p=57661

I saw that Steve and to tell you the truth yesterday I did a walk around the shop and saw what we had for stainless steel that I could make one of these out of. Certainly doable as the blade adjustment is easy enough and of course the milling is straightforward. It would also be a handy plane to have around the shop.
 
do your own interpertation of a pre war norris....start big and work small, build a whole set....if you decide to do this i have a pre 1900 chunk of european red beach from an old jamb that i`d part with a chunk of for the stuffing;)......but it ain`t going for any modern type planes!

That's quite the offer Tod. I have to admit my stupidity here but I am not familiar with Pre-War Norris. I have been meaning to research it to see what you are referring too, but atlas I have not done so yet.

Not to deter your generosity, but a fellow off the Wood Online website gave me a chunk of Orange Wood. He was a turner and said it was too hard. That might make for a nice plane of some sort as well.
 
How about doing something totally new. Find a woodworking problem and fix it with your own invention.

Some of the processes that bug me and start me thinking that we need a better tool for this are stopped dadoes, miters, and coping.

That is an excellent suggestion Jesse and one I have been thinking about a lot lately. Since I have been doing a lot of cedar shingling I have come to the conclussion that the old shingle hatchet is outdated (we use staple guns now instead of a hammer and nails) and yet its a pain to have to carry a saw, a block plane, utility knife and other tools to get the shingles cut right and tight fitting. Perhaps there is a multi-use-tool that would work better now that I could invent.

The problem with that of course is that it's not woodworking related really, and once I get done this big shingling job, I won't shingle again for quite some time.

I'm still thinking about your idea though. Something totally new is a great idea, but its pretty hard to come up with something in an industry/ hobby filled with gadgetry.
 
Hey Travis, I didn't vote, since it could easily go either way. When you mentioned shipwright's plane, is that a compass plane with the flexible sole and gearing for adjustable radius? You could use the casting and gears from an old one, stainless sole, and maybe a better frog. Cool as it would be to make one of them from scratch, that open-ish body would suck to machine - unless someonelse bought the chunk'o stainless :D:D:D (wouldn't be worth making out of anything but stainless or brass).

If nothing else, sounds like a good reason to pick up a few old planes for ahem, "research purposes". Can even justify that if you build totally from scratch - got to know how not to build them afterall :D
 
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