Monday 29 April 2013

Back to the beginning



The last few months have taken me back to the early days of making planes. I found myself making two parallel sided smoothing planes. As I was working on them, I realized it has been several years since making one let alone 2 - most of the smoothers have been curved sided (coffin shaped) and it was refreshing and dare I say fun to make these.

One is a No.6 and the other an A6 (the ‘A’ meaning there is an adjuster).




This is the No.6 - infilled with African Blackwood, a 2-1/4" wide blade and a bed angle of 50 degrees. 



The customer was not interested in an adjuster which meant we could also leave off the cap iron making for the simplest configuration possible (and also the quickest way for honing and re-installing the blade).











The next plane is an A6. This one is infilled with some very old East Indian Rosewood, and a bed angle of 47.5 degrees.



I do not get very many requests for East Indian Rosewood which is too bad - it is an exceptional infill material, has great color and is a species of Rosewood that has been available for a very long time. That means that if you are lucky, you can find old stock that will be properly seasoned.







One interesting aspect of this plane is that the blade is 2" wide. This is the first time I have made an A6 this narrow (usually a 2-1/4" wide blade) and I have to say I really like it. It makes the front bun quite a bit narrower, and it more comfortable for guys like me with smallish hands. 






 Here are a few shots of the pair to show the differences between them.












 This A11 mitre plane is the mate to the first K7.













It is infilled with Bois de Rose - from the same piece the K7 was cut from. It is always nice to have infill stock large enough to make multiple planes.








 


 


Lastly - the dining room table has been completed for some time now. The first meal was Easter dinner with my family. It was really nice to finally use it, and thankfully - no one complained about a sore butt or feet or knees bashing into anything.

Here are a few additional photos.









Next ‘house project’ - a quarter sawn White Oak screen door (with a removable screen and thermal glass for winter) and matching quarter sawn White Oak storms for the surround.




6 Comments:

Anonymous Robert said...

Konrad:

The dinning table turned out very nice. The planes are stunning. Have you ever considered a book of photos of your planes? Maybe a photo and description on facing pages. I'd buy that.

30 April 2013 at 05:27  
Blogger Chris Bame said...

Konrad,
After all those curves it will be nice to work on something square again : )
Great stuff as always!!
Love Robert's book idea.

30 April 2013 at 13:36  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The dining table and chairs look great, Konrad.

Cheers ;-)

Paul Chapman

30 April 2013 at 13:50  
Blogger Steve Kirincich said...

I would buy the book as long as you included some of the stories about collecting/obtaining old exotic wood.

30 April 2013 at 18:53  
Blogger Konrad said...

Thanks you guys. A book has been in the back of the brain for a while now - just have to figure out the format and when to do it.

Don’t worry Steve - there will be many tales of hoarding old exotic woods - and lots of pics of them.

cheers,
konrad

30 April 2013 at 20:26  
Blogger Unknown said...

Exquisite Planes as always. Looking forward to seeing more of the same. The dining table and chairs are superb, That's worth a book of its very own.

1 May 2013 at 16:00  

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