Wooden Hand Planes

Guitar Making Hand Plane

Regardless of what type of woodworking you do chances are you will be using some type of hand plane. Wooden hand planes are a mark of old world craftsman. My teacher, James Krenov, felt that making a wooden plane changed his life. You may not have that powerful an experience but using wooden hand planes will change your approach and the way you feel about your woodworking.

Using a wooden hand plane is a very different experience than using a metal plane. First, you will notice they are lighter and easier on the hands. Then once you get it working properly you will notice that the surface it produces is different, its smoother and silkier. The wooden plane bottom actually sort of burnishes the wood in a way that metal plane do not. You will notice this on any wood you can plane easily, especially on softwoods like spruce and cedar. It may take some getting used to using one, with adjusting it and keeping the bottom true, but you will find it to be well worth the effort.

Types of Hand Planes

There are basically two types of hand planes, flat and curved bottom. Each type of plane has many configurations. Configurations are determined by the size of the blade, the amount of curve or shape on the blade, or the size of the plane itself.

For simplicity sake we will refer to flat bottom planes as bench planes. Here we will keep the discussion to bench planes and curved bottom planes. We will also omit molding or fancy trim planes from the curved plane group.

The bench plane are the most commonly used woodworking hand planes. They have many uses such as joinery, smoothing, thicknessing, and even surface preparation if constructed properly.

Curved bottom planes are usually used to create a shape or curved surface . In guitar making a curved bottom plane can be used to create the dished work boards for the top and back of the instrument which are domed. Curved bottom planes are typically used to create curved surfaces.

Curved Bottom Planes and the Compass Plane

Curved bottom planes are generally used to create a curved surface. Optimally, you would like a smooth curved surface. The parameter most commonly changed on a curved bottom plane is the radius of its curve. Typically the width or length of these planes are not changed but its curve is another story. In cabinet making curved bottom planes are used to create things like coopered doors, flutes, and smooth curved surfaces. The radius of the blade determines how tight a curve you can create. The blades on our compass planes has an 8" radius. This radius suits the shape for the top and back of the guitar best. If you are creating a tight curve on a door for instance a 5" radius blade might be a better choice. Usually curved bottom planes for coopering and that type of work are curved across their width only. They are straight from front to back along their length. If you would like to create this type of plane and are following along with the DVD then stop after you radius the bottom of the plane across its width. The next step, putting a curve on the bottom from front to back which is what makes it a compass plane, is unnecessary. All you would need to do additionally is to make sure it is straight from front to back and remove any dips or bumps in this direction.

The compass plane is curved both across its width, and along its length. It does not have to be curved the same amount in each direction, and ours certainly is not. The radius of the blade is 8" and that is the curve on the bottom from side to side. In guitar making the plane is used to create concave surfaces of 15 and 25 foot radiuses. Therefore I have chosen the smaller radius as the front to back radius of the bottom of the plane. This way one plane can handle both surfaces. When making these work boards this plane will save endless time sanding or scraping as it will leave a fairly smooth surface that can be easily made completely smooth with minimal effort.

Bench Planes

The bench plane can be configured to suit a particular purpose or as a general purpose plane that will work reasonably well for all purposes. The plane made in the DVD and offered on the web site is a general purpose bench plane. Changing the blade width can optimize the plane for a particular use. For example, if we kept the length of the plane the same and just changed its width and of course the width of the blade we would create a plane optimized for smoothing and surface preparation. Here a 2" wide blade would be optimal as any wider would cause the plane to be difficult to push as it is cutting. Keeping the blade width the same and making the plane longer would create a plane optimized for joinery. A plane that is about 15-16" long is an excellent joiner plane. With this type of plane you will be able to join longer pieces of wood effortlessly. This type of plane is ideal for joining tops and backs. The design used on the DVD can easily be adapted to create either of these types of bench planes. It is strongly suggested if any dimensions are changed that the plane be redrawn before construction to avoid errors.

Additional Plane Making Content

About Hand Planes | Sharpening Plane Blades | Hand Plane Adjustment Tips | Plane Making DVD | Plane Making Kits