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After reading up a bit on Hock planes, I thought I should try my hand at making my own wooden hand plane. The iron was purchased from Hock, but the rest came out of my ever growing scrap bin. I set the dimensions from my best guess of the size of a Hock plane photo. The sides are jatoba left over from a table build, the sole is a piece of wenge, the wedge is katalox, and the dowel is 1/2" diameter store bought birch. The dowel is press fit so that it can be replaced easily if it breaks or deforms. Aligning the two sides to each other and the split body was done by drilling and doweling them before gluing. Afterwards, the alignment dowels, which were positioned behind the heel and in front of the toe, were cut off, explaining why they do not show up in the final piece. Originally, the plane was a square block, but that hurt my hands too much, so I band sawed some curves to make it easier to push and fit more comfortably in my palms.

The plane cuts pretty well considering this is my first try. The throat opening could still use a little tuning though.

Gallery

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Nicely done, and yes it looks like it would be comfortable in the hands. The only thing missing is a small hammer for adjustments for the blade. I found that out doing research prior to my plane build.

Now that you have built one, you can participate in the next plane swap in the future. Great job.
 

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That looks nice, and I really like the curves. My block plane is hard on my arthritic hands, all those corners (plus, it's little, in my mitts). Maybe I'll make one of these!
 

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That turned out great. What angle is the iron set at?

A shop-made plane is on my to-do list.

Thanks for posting.

Bill in MI
 

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The line looks like a cross between a wooden shoe, and a Disney character, maybe Pluto? If it peels of thins like the pic shows, and they are full width, and easy to get, that is a winner, and for a first effort a pretty good one.

Nice job.
 

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Always wonderful with a self made plane, the joy of making shavings with a plane we have made our self, is priceless.
Nice work, I think it's a bonus you try to find a shape that fits your hands.
Experimentation is the key to succes.
Best thoughts,
Mads
 

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Really great looking plane. Super job especially for your first plane build.
 

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Sweet looking plane.
 

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What angle is the iron set at?

Bill in MI

- rtbrmb
The iron is at 50 degrees to the sole
 

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The line looks like a cross between a wooden shoe, and a Disney character, maybe Pluto? If it peels of thins like the pic shows, and they are full width, and easy to get, that is a winner, and for a first effort a pretty good one.

Nice job.

- therealSteveN
I grew up in a town with a large population of first and second generation Dutch. It was not uncommon to see a wooden shoe on someone's mantle or knick-knack shelf, so maybe that was some unconscious compulsion for the shape. It just felt better to hold.

It ended up pulling 6 mil shavings, primarily because I got tired of setting and resetting the wedge to get there.
 
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