Shop-made Hand Tools
Mini Router Plane
This is my interpretation of a Stanly #271 mini router plane. It is about 4” wide, made from maple, purpleheart, ebony, and lignum vitae. This tool comes in handy for cleaning up shallow mortises, etc. The blade is from a 1/4” x 1/4 HSS machining tool bit from Enco. They come in 8” long and 2 1/2” long, so I cut the 8” in half, which works out to a good size for this tool. I designed it in Sketchup, and the results are close to the original design.
Chisel Plane
I am not sure if this should be called a chisel plane, since it only works well when cleaning up and tweaking dadoes and rabbets. This is a specialized tool, but excels in its intended use. Imaging that pane of glass that does not quite fit into the rabbet. This is the perfect tool for enlarging the space just a hair. It is also useful for following up after chiseling the rounded corners after routing a rabbet in a frame. Made from bubinga, pearwood, and lignum vitae.
Mini scraper planes
After really feeling the love from my recently acquired #112 scraper plane, I started experimenting with making other scraper planes. One thing that I use card scrapers for, is removing the saw markes and jointer marks from the edge of a 3/4” board. However, it can be tricky to control a card scraper, avoiding rolling off the edge. These mini scraper planes are just the ticket for cleaning up those edges. I made two because with one I was experimenting with the idea of mounting the scraper plane vertically, like the Veritas scraper plane insert . Although this seems to work well for the insert, it did not work out for these scraper planes. As such, I converted it to have a 20 degree forward angle, like the other one. Made from bubinga and curly maple.
Chamfer Jig
Chamfer jig for Stanley block plane. I like to do all my chamfering by hand, for I have had one too many tear-outs doing chamfers on the router table. This jig fits as a replacement to the adjustable mouth. The wings are not adjustable because 1) I like to keep things simple, and 2) I find that keeping the angle at 45 degrees much more difficult than getting a chamfer the correct width. If you decide to make one of these, make the 1/8” plate perpendicular to the soles, unlike mine. I found that the way I did it can easily lead to it splitting in half.
Lignum Vitae Soles
Sometimes the solution is to augment existing tools. Sometimes when, for example, flushing edging, I find that the corners of a cabinet scraper can dig in. I added a lignum vitae sole to my Little Victor replica, and to one of my #80 cabinet scrapers. I also find that the Little Victor cuts better now because the mouth is much tighter, translating to less tear-out. I also added the same relief as my mini scraper planes, into the sole of the #80. This seems to eliminate the chatter I was getting from it.
Scraper Shave
I have always wondered why scraper shaves are almost non-existent. I use this one to follow up after a spokeshave on curved work to clean up the spokeshave marks. It has the same advantages over using a card scraper as any scraper plane. It uses a mini card scraper, 1" x 2", that I purchased from Lee Valley, which I prepare the same way I prepare my card scrapers.