As part of my plan to make a 6 foot long cooper's jointer, I decided to make a smoother for practice. I didn't want to spend any money on the project since it was practice and I wasn't sure how it would turn out so I used a piece of firewood and the iron and chipbreaker from my Stanley #4. I followed along Bill Anderson's plane making video as I progressed through the steps.
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I think the wood is spalted soft maple. I like the way it looks, but it probably isn't ideal plan making wood. It works pretty well, though. I'm still working on learning how to adjust the iron, but when I get it right it shoots up long flat shavings. The picture below shows a shaving from a piece of hard maple. I normally get a curlier shaving with my #4. The bed angle is 50 degrees and maybe the higher angle is creating the flatter shavings?
shaving.jpg
Given that the plane actually works I feel like I am ready to tackle the cooper's jointer. I have ordered some 12/4 hard maple (couldn't find any beech) and custom 3.25" wide Hock blade. It'll probably be a month or two until I get the iron so I'll have to find something else to work on in the meantime :-).
side.jpg top.jpg back.jpg
I think the wood is spalted soft maple. I like the way it looks, but it probably isn't ideal plan making wood. It works pretty well, though. I'm still working on learning how to adjust the iron, but when I get it right it shoots up long flat shavings. The picture below shows a shaving from a piece of hard maple. I normally get a curlier shaving with my #4. The bed angle is 50 degrees and maybe the higher angle is creating the flatter shavings?
shaving.jpg
Given that the plane actually works I feel like I am ready to tackle the cooper's jointer. I have ordered some 12/4 hard maple (couldn't find any beech) and custom 3.25" wide Hock blade. It'll probably be a month or two until I get the iron so I'll have to find something else to work on in the meantime :-).
Wooden smoother
