Monday, February 6, 2012

Three Planes







 Planing a spanish cedar chair seat to its final thickness, I used three planes: a general-purpose plane (mahogany with a maple sole), a scrub (white oak), and a smoother (mahogany and iroko).  


In the bottom photo you should be able to see the difference between the straight iron in the plane with the maple sole, and the radius iron in the patched oak sole.


The scrub plane makes removing a lot of stock easier and more enjoyable, and I've found that if I sharpen it well I can get a finished surface that has an interesting texture.


2 comments:

  1. The scrub plane is the one with the curved blade? Why is it curved? Does it dig in more?

    What is the smoother plane like? Does it hardly cut in at all?

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  2. Hi Lisa,

    The curved plane digs in and scoops up more wood, kind of like having a wide carving gouge in your plane. Smoother planes in general are designed to take the lighter, finishing passes after all the heavy work is done. The plane I used is set at about 50 degrees and has a very tight mouth, both of which help with possible tear out.

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