Old Style Smoothing Plane

**Brendon** · Oct 3, 2015, 04:38 PM

Old Style Smoothing Plane-015807de8b71616b4d922cb0e064673f324daba0e7.jpg

This is my latest hand plane design. It is old style and made from brass and Padauk. At under 7" it is a neat , sweet plane that handles well and planes wood easily and smoothly.
Points worth noting are the oak leaf detail to the forward, the smaller than usual tote with round finger hole and "crane's bill" spur. The round hole takes the 2nd and 3rd finger while the 1st and 4th fingers rest along the sides of the tote and lower plane body respectively. This arrangement affords great control over the plane.

I used a cross pin rather than machine screws to secure the lever-cap and the ends of the cross pin are inlaid with artificial ivory. The lever-cap screw is also inlaid with artificial ivory.
The blade-bed is brass and set at 50 degrees with a bevel down arrangement for the blade.
This is not only an attractive hand plane but a useful one for small smoothing projects.
You can see a video clip of the plane in use on my blog.

**Christophe Mineau** · Oct 5, 2015, 03:03 AM

Well done Brendon, once again !

I like the rear handle with the hole, the convex shape must fit right in the palm of the hand and allow for a comfortable pushing motion I guess.

For the very nice decorative leaf at the front, don't you fear it could be hurting the hand sooner or later ?

Congratulations for that new baby,
Christophe

**Brendon** · Oct 5, 2015, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by Christophe Mineau

Well done Brendon, once again !

I like the rear handle with the hole, the convex shape must fit right in the palm of the hand and allow for a comfortable pushing motion I guess.

For the very nice decorative leaf at the front, don't you fear it could be hurting the hand sooner or later ?

Congratulations for that new baby,
Christophe

Thanks Christophe
For your kind comments.
This is a relatively small plane and as such will no doubt, be used for smaller jobs. I don't envisage it being used for smoothing a table top for instance. So, it is unlikely it will be used for prolonged periods.
I have used it quite s bit during testing and have found it quite comfortable to use..; very pleasing, in fact.
So far at least, I have not encountered the problem you envisage.
Thanks again for your interest.
Cheers
Brendon

**Brendon** · Oct 5, 2015, 04:22 AM

Originally Posted by Christophe Mineau

Well done Brendon, once again !

I like the rear handle with the hole, the convex shape must fit right in the palm of the hand and allow for a comfortable pushing motion I guess.

For the very nice decorative leaf at the front, don't you fear it could be hurting the hand sooner or later ?

Congratulations for that new baby,
Christophe

By the way Christophe,
Did you see the video clip on my blog of the plane in use. it's very smooth.
Brendon

**Christophe Mineau** · Oct 5, 2015, 05:33 AM

Sorry Brendon, I did not take time to have a look at your video.
Now it's done and I agree, I should have had a look before.
It seems to be incredibly smooth !
Your blades seem to be really thick and of fine steel, may I ask where do you source them from ?
That's something I would like to improve on my scraping plane.

Thanks for the video !
Christophe

**DIYer** · Oct 5, 2015, 08:20 PM

Great build, Brendon! Amazing craftsmanship.

**DIYer** · Oct 6, 2015, 03:14 AM

Thanks Brendon! We've added your Old Style Smoothing Plane to our Planes category, as well as to your builder page: Brendon's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Old Style Smoothing Plane by Brendon

tags: plane