- 1). Read the plans that came with your kit and select the wood necessary to build your hand plane. You should require a piece of wood for the body, two for the cheeks, and one for the sole. You will need an extra inch on each piece to secure them while working on the wood. This waste area will be removed later.
- 2). Put on your safety glasses and cut the plane's body with a band saw using the dimensions detailed in the plans. Use a square to make sure the sides are square to the bottom.
- 3). Cut the wood for the sole of the plane to 5/16-inch thickness, 1/4-inch longer and wider than the body.
- 4). Reduce the thickness of the sole to 1/4 inch using a hand plane.
- 5). Spread white glue evenly to the top of the sole and bottom of the body, then clamp them together using wood clamps. Let the glue dry overnight.
- 6). Plane the edges of the sole with a hand plane until they are smooth and flush to the body of the plane. Use a metal square to make sure the sole is flat and the edges of the body are square to the sole. The performance of your wood plane depends on a square flat sole.
- 7). Measure and draw with a pencil the dimensions and contours of the body and cheeks according to the design.
- 8). Cut the cheeks and body with a band saw and shape them with a plane until they are smooth and of the dimensions required by the plan.
- 9). Cut a slot into the body with a router, as shown in your plans, where you will later place the cap-iron screw that came with your kit.
- 10
Clamp both cheeks to the sides of the body. Drill 1/8-inch pilot holes into the end waste areas of the cheeks and body, then screw both cheeks to the body using those holes. Then remove the clamps. - 11
Trace the outline of the body, where the iron assembly area has been cut out, on the inside of both cheeks. - 12
Drill a 3/8-inch diameter hole through both cheeks for the plane's pin at the location shown in your plans. - 13
Cut a piece of hardwood to a size of 1/2-inch square to make a pin for your plane. File the wood down with a rasp until it is round and its ends fit in the 3/8-inch holes in the cheeks. - 14
Remove the screws from the waste ends. Then glue the cheeks to the body using a brush and white glue. Do not let the glue go over the lines you marked in Step 11. - 15
Place the cheeks on the body and insert the pin. Then screw the cheeks to the body using the holes in the waste ends. Clamp the assembly together overnight until the glue has set. - 16
Remove the clamps and then cut the waste ends from the plane using a band saw. - 17
Shape the final contours of your plane as shown in the plans. Then sand the wood using fine-grade sandpaper. - 18
Sharpen the iron blade with a sharpening stone. Then insert the iron assembly into your plane. Your wood plane is now complete and you can now begin work on mastering the next one.
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