Fantasy Tool Box - the smoother

[derekcohen]

It's a dozen years since I last made a Krenov smoother, which is the subject of this post. I decided on a Krenov style as it offered more control over the important weight factor. It is possible to choose the components to suit, and keeping weight down is critical with travel in mind.

The dimensions are as per a real Krenov plane I have (made for me by the late Jim) - 225mm (9") long x 50mm (2") wide x 50mm (2") high. The wood is from a small Apple log I was given 5 or so years ago, with Jarrah used for the sole, wedge and wedge bar. The bed is 45 degrees.

The shape is a little different, partly inspired by a French design, which looked more comfortable as I like to hold woodies with a hand over the top. I do this with HNT Gordon woodies, and they are a little uncomfortable here at 67mm in width. There was also a recent video on YouTube which was the final decider. The French plane ...



This is the end result ...



Here are the parts ...



Note the wedge bar is in two parts, a Jarrah cross piece and a steel rod. The reason for this is to be able to remove and replace (if needed) the wedge bar. The wedge is a direct copy of Jim's wedge and, in tradition, a Hock O1 blade set is used. The blade is 1 1/2" wide, again as per Jim's smoother.

A few more photos, all highlighting the wonderful chunk of Apple ...





The mouth looks tighter here than it is. Allowance is made for a closed chipbreaker ...



A close up of the wedge bar. Note also that the escapement is hollowed ...



Front and rear ...





These are the first shavings from the plane. First Jarrah ...



.. and then Hard Maple ...



More in a second post.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Wow, that's beautiful. All of the Apple I have ever worked with was very bland and boring. It was creamy/white-ish with nothing going on, grain-wise. In my experience, it is hard to dry, without splitting.
I'm a little nervous about you leaving the pith in that, for that reason, but it sure makes it look fantastic.

 

[Jamie_MA]

It's a dozen years since I last made a Krenov smoother, which is the subject of this post. I decided on a Krenov style as it offered more control over the important weight factor. It is possible to choose the components to suit, and keeping weight down is critical with travel in mind.

The dimensions are as per a real Krenov plane I have (made for me by the late Jim) - 225mm (9") long x 50mm (2") wide x 50mm (2") high. The wood is from a small Apple log I was given 5 or so years ago, with Jarrah used for the sole, wedge and wedge bar. The bed is 45 degrees.

The shape is a little different, partly inspired by a French design, which looked more comfortable as I like to hold woodies with a hand over the top. I do this with HNT Gordon woodies, and they are a little uncomfortable here at 67mm in width. There was also a recent video on YouTube which was the final decider. The French plane ...



This is the end result ...



Here are the parts ...



Note the wedge bar is in two parts, a Jarrah cross piece and a steel rod. The reason for this is to be able to remove and replace (if needed) the wedge bar. The wedge is a direct copy of Jim's wedge and, in tradition, a Hock O1 blade set is used. The blade is 1 1/2" wide, again as per Jim's smoother.

A few more photos, all highlighting the wonderful chunk of Apple ...





The mouth looks tighter here than it is. Allowance is made for a closed chipbreaker ...



A close up of the wedge bar. Note also that the escapement is hollowed ...



Front and rear ...





These are the first shavings from the plane. First Jarrah ...



.. and then Hard Maple ...



More in a second post.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Very nice Derek! Always appreciate your work.

-JT

 

[luvmytoolz]

Sensational work Derek! That's absolutely beautiful!

 

[derekcohen]

Wow, that's beautiful. All of the Apple I have ever worked with was very bland and boring. It was creamy/white-ish with nothing going on, grain-wise. In my experience, it is hard to dry, without splitting.
I'm a little nervous about you leaving the pith in that, for that reason, but it sure makes it look fantastic.

I did have some concern that the log may have come from a bough and be reactive. It lay in my pile for at least 5 years, and I have a memory of the kind giftee saying it was quite old. Hence stable, I hope. Anyway, I turned it into a jointed block about a month ago, and waited as the weather has been very variable (storms and hot days), and finally sliced it up 10 days ago (which was 10 days before building the plane). All stable in this time - the pith too .. hard and fused with the rest. I left it alone as it is so pretty . The plane will get plenty of use, so will keep a close eye on this area.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[luvmytoolz]

The colour and grain is just amazing! I'm the process of cutting down a massive nectarine tree and was hoping to recover some usable wood from it, but it's a horribly bland and non-descript timber, not sure it's worth bothering. Nothing like that incredible apple of yours!

 

[derekcohen]

Reflection and lessons learned ....

This smoother has effectively been built three times ... well, re-built twice. The first re-build was to fix a slipping blade, which was traced to the chipbreaker screw having a high spot under the head. I had been entertaining thoughts of throwing the plane in a bin and starting again. Amazing what fault-finding will turn up! During the course of this re-build, the mouth was opened a smidgeon too much, and brass wear plate added to close it down. Lastly, I discovered UHMW makes a fantastic (!) wedge pin. Better than hardwood, two of which cracked when I wacked them down at the time the blade was slipping.

Then the second re-build - today - aimed at making the plane comfortable to hold. I learned my lesson with sharp corners. They look interesting but that is all. The plane underwent radical surgery. Now I really love it - its looks and comfort. It works sooo well! Gossamer streamers.

The inspiration for the shaping was my favourite car, a Porsche 356 Speedster ...



Let me know if you can see this.





Oh yes, I added set screws to position the blade. The bed is about 1/32" too wide and made it different to reliably centre the blade. All good now.







Hopefully that is the end of this particular build!

Regards from Perth

Derek