Making a Wooden Plane

Materials

The "Iron"


	Antique iron with original chipbreaker
	Antique iron with homemade chipbreaker
	Hock 3/16" thick iron with supplied chipbreaker
	Garrett Wade iron with supplied chipbreaker
	Record (metal plane) iron and chipbreaker

I have shown these various irons for the sake of comparison. All of them work quite well. The chipbreaker on the Record plane is angled so sharply that it requires a moderate mouth opening for chip clearance, or extensive filing to allow for the steeper angle. The other irons are intended for wooden planes, and they're thicker. The top three have breakers that more closely "hug" the iron. The fourth is angled more like a metal plane breaker, but the final approach angle is not as high.

Quality

The first thing you should do is acquire a good quality plane iron. The iron is actually hardened steel, but years ago, they were made of very hard cast steel laminated to a wrought iron or mild steel body. They're still made this way in Japan, and these laminated irons supposedly possess superior edge holding and shock dampening qualities by virtue of their hard edge, mass and malleable foundation. Fine Woodworking On Bench Tools is a good source of information on iron options. I'll make a few recommendations of my own.

If you know of an antique store that carries old wooden planes, they may also carry irons for them as well. These can often be had for next to nothing (ie. $3), but you may need to make a chip breaker for it. Sometimes the chip breaker is still attached, which is nice because they tend to be shaped properly - as opposed to modern chip breakers on metal planes.

It's worth trying to find these blades, because they take an excellent edge and hold it. Look for the laminated construction, and a stamp that identifies it with one of the major Sheffield (England) companies such as Sorby, Marples, etc. The 1 3/4" widths are common, and the wider ones even more so. Make sure that both sides (not edges) have been ground flat, and that the blade hasn't been badly bent, or abused over the years. (A mildly bent iron can be straightened by peening it on the concave side.)

While they are a joy to use, one drawback of these tapered irons is that as they are sharpened, the mouth of the plane will open wider. The mouth also opens as you flatten the sole, so it's a double whammy. It's a tradeoff that I live with. I can always shim the bed, or fit a new mouthpiece if I really need to. For most work, a sharp iron more than compensates for the wider mouth. Interestingly, the Japanese irons taper such that they get wider as they are sharpened. It seems like this would help compensate for repeated flattenings in the plane body.

A block plane iron works very well for a small plane, but doesn't come with a chipbreaker. I would stay away from the $3 hardware store variety. They'll take a fairly good edge, but it doesn't last very long. If you're willing to experiment, or have one that you know is fairly good, then give it a try.

Sources

Several places sell irons and chipbreakers meant specifically for wooden planes. Garrett Wade sells irons from Europe (Poland, I think) that are good quality, but could be a little harder (~$15). I've used them, and I like them. Warning! Plug Alert! I really like the 3/16" thick Hock irons designed for wooden planes ($25-30). They're thicker and harder than the typical plane irons, which is very nice. At 3 1/2" long, they're a little on the short side. However, I really like the lower style planes, and you always have the option of having Ron Hock make irons to your specs (a great option once you know what your want). Another source of Hock irons is The Japan Woodworker.

Another important feature of these irons is that it saves you from fabricating a chip breaker. Making a chip breaker is not difficult, and it gets easier each time you do it. Even so, I find that this type of metal work can be very time consuming and not very rewarding. For $25 you can get a high quality iron, that takes a good edge, keeps it, and saves you the hassle of sawing, bending, filing, grinding, and tapping a piece of mild steel. Any iron you buy will require some amount of finishing work, but keep this to a minimum and you'll have more time for woodworking.

Size

For a medium sized smoothing plane, I would recommend an iron 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" inches wide. A 2" wide iron will also work, but I prefer to limit this size to the larger planes, or avoid it entirely. Because a wooden plane needs extra width to stiffen and strengthen it, it ends up being wider than a metal one, and starts to become less comfortable to handle when outfitted with a wide iron.

Sharpening

The iron must be whetted and polished on the side that accepts the chip breaker. Abrasive powders or wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface is a good way to do this. I try and achieve a mirror-like quality along the cutting edge. This can be a lot of work, but you don't have to do it all at once. Spread it over many sharpenings and you'll be pleasantly suprised at how much your plane is improving with time.

Bevels and angles are a matter of personal preference, or sometimes even religion. Lots of combinations work very well. I prefer a hollow ground bevel of approximately 25-30 degrees without a secondary bevel. I use a series of waterstones to sharpen, hone and polish, and find the results very satisfying. There is a lot of information on sharpening out there, and it's worth reading up and experimenting with. Leonard Lee's book on sharpening is excellent, and very interesting reading.

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