Planes need heels. I was not positive of that, so I had to do a test. Besides the scetches looked so cool.
It really is a beauty, precise, and capable of making a nice shaving. Sadly the force you have to use to keep the nose down and stable while working, will wear you out. Even then when it hits a hard spot it grabs into the wood and digs a gouge. I can’t bring myself to take it apart yet. It is really pretty. My wife fell in love with it, and insists that it has to work. I may keep it as a work of art. It is a lovely piece of Mesquite. Just not a very good plane.
Bob
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Ah yes, the reverse bull nose plane!
I wonder what would happen if you put a Japanese style handle on it and pulled it?
I like that title for it, Luke. the reverse bull nose.
I tend to find a grip to pull just about any plane I have. I find a pull is less tiring and has more control. For long passes however I prefer to push. Even my Japanese planes push very well.
The Japanese planes tend to put the blade further back, so part of my inspiration on this plan was Japanese.
Sadly, pull or push, this plane is not a pleasure to use. Pretty though, and it sure look like it would work!
Bob
Hello Bob;
Sooo… your experiment leads me to believe you will be working the new blade design into more traditional bodied planes????
Love the mesquite!
I am still playing with this concept, after I temper a few more blades and irons, I will be wasting quite a bit of wood in experiments.
Bob
Hollowing the sole just slightly so that it only rides on the front tip and a little section just in front of the iron might give it some unique properties.
Alternatively or additionally, adding a short shoe just behind the blade might offer something.
Luke said:
“Hollowing the sole just slightly so that it only rides on the front tip and a little section just in front of the iron might give it some unique properties. Alternatively or additionally, adding a short shoe just behind the blade might offer something.”
I would come down on the side of providing both, if you feel that you have enough wood for a lot of “failures”. And if that works out for you, then build another one – without one or the other of the features – in order to see if that lowers its effectiveness.
Skip
The hollow between the tip and just before the blade is always nice in a wooden plane. It allows a bit of “English” without any reduction in stability. The shoe is also, I think a good idea.
I have been working on the idea of a plane like this that is essentially sandwiched between two blocks of wood. A skew with a side cone on the top block to eject the curl of wood might be a very pretty and functional plane.
Bob
OK, if everything is on the table, you might as well make the front and back “shoes” adjustable so you can instantly change from a super short smoother to a super long jointer.
The holy grail would be a frog with an adjustable pitch.
While you are at it, if you can get the frog to “set up” or even skew when it hits a rough patch and “recline” when things are easier, you will have done what thousands of years of plane makers have only dreamed of.
Bridge City made a rather nice adjustable pitch plane, http://www.bridgecitytools.com/Products/Variable+Pitch+Planes/VP-60+Variable+Pitch+Plane
With a range of blades, the Veritas Bevel Up planes do a pretty nice job, http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=49708&cat=1,41182,52515
Bob
I hadn’t seen the one from Bridge City. Of course, IT doesn’t adjust automagically!
I am not sure I see the point of a variable pitch plane if you can buy five quality planes for the price of one. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad they offered it, but I am guessing the initial 400 they offered pretty much went to collectors.
I just got a bevel up jointer from LV last week and am really itching to put it through its paces. I have been so busy, I haven’t even taken it out of its wrapping yet.
That is busy, I would lose sleep if I didn’t take it out and make a shaving first!
Bob