First Attempt at a Jack Plane

[rxvii]

A couple of members have been trying to contact me concerning my modification to the BTS-21 table saw. I last visited the site in October of last year due to a persistent publisher trying to get me to finish the book I was writing. I apologize to those of you for not answering your messages to me. I was unaware of the messages. The book is out, finally, and I'm back in the shop. So, if any of you still have questions about modifying the table saw for a miter slot, I will be happy to answer them. I'd like to show off my first attempt at making a Krenov style Jack Plane. It's 10" solid mahogany (no stain - the color is the natural color of the mahogany). The only purchase I made was the Hock plane iron. I sharpened the iron using the "scary sharp" method. It works! It's sharp! The wood shavings are paper thin. It was easier than it looks. I would highly recommend it as a project. And you will also end up with a great plane. My next project will most likely be a 17" jointer plane. Check the photos.

rxvii

[crokett]

What photos?

[herb fellows]

You don't see the photos?
Just kidding, I don't either!

[Black wallnut]

http://www.bt3central.com/album.php?u=12055

for those of you that do not know where to look!

[rcp612]

http://www.bt3central.com/album.php?u=12055

for those of you that do not know where to look!

I thought there were pictures of the plane.

[Uncle Cracker]

I thought there were pictures of the plane.

That was the way I interpreted it, too...

[pelligrini]

Yea, he did say he'd like to show off the plane. I'm looking forward to seeing it too.

[Black wallnut]

That was the way I interpreted it, too...

Yup I'm thinking they did not get uploaded!

[rxvii]

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Go to menu bar at top of page. Find menu "Gallery". Click on "View all user images." Find images hosted by rxvii. Viola! If the jack plane images are not there, then gremlins have struck again.

[pelligrini]

Here's a direct link:






How do you like using it? I've got a couple small horn planes, but I just haven't gotten comfortable using them. I prefer my stanleys with their totes and knobs.

[jaspast]

Can you share where you learned how to make this? A website? Book?

[rxvii]

Erik,
It planes beautifully, but I haven't really had a chance to put it through its paces. I have a Stanley that I inherited from my grandfather and, of course, you can't beat it. I bought a Rosewood tote and knob, thinking I would use it on this plane, but decided to go with a more Krenov traditional design. I do plan to make another plane down the road where I'm going to add the tote and knob. When I started woodworking, I had at least two major goals. The first is to learn how to make hand planes and the second is to learn how to cut perfect dovetails. I'm still working on the dovetails.

Jim

[rxvii]

I started by looking at a lot of websites. The trick to making any plane work is tuning it. That is, the iron has to be razor sharp, so you need to learn how to sharpen plane irons. Second, the sole of the plane must be flat. Even the sole of a store-bought plane is not flat (unless you pay really big bucks for it). So you have to learn how to flatten the sole of the plane. Finally, the most important part of the tuning process is getting just the right extension of the iron out of the throat of the plane. Don't bother trying to make your own plane until you learn these techniques. Also, I found David Finck's book on making wooden planes very helpful.

Jim

[lrogers]

Wow, that is nice!