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My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Great pictoral. Love the plane.

 

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Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

Asesome find. I only find junk at flea markets.