# Shop made smoothing plane



## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

A couple of years ago I read an article in one of the many woodworking magazines of how to build a Norris style smoothing plane. I thought at the time that would be a challenge so I ordered the material and while waiting for it to come I set out making a prototype out of wood. Two of them infact, which are shown in the pictures. Just scrap laying around the shop. I went on ebay and purchased some plane irons and a hand knob for the metal version. The prototypes I made the old rod and wedge to hold the irons in place. The prototypes worked quite well tho were a little light in weight. I was satisfied that I could make the metal one ,so proceeded to build that one once the materials arrived. 

It came out good , I used a hacksaw and a metal file to shape the sides. I drilled the holes on a drillpress ,and a bench grinder to shape the bullnose. The infill of cairo walnut was shaped on a router table,as was the tote. I used a template and straight pattern bit and a radius bit.

The plane works great,it is heavy, maybe too heavy for some people ,but carries a lot of inertia and doesn't chatter. 

I just thought I would throw this out on the table to see if anyone else has tried this sort of thing. Herb Stoops


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## carlp. (Nov 3, 2012)

*smoothing plane*

Hi Herb those planes look good I want to show your post to a friend as collects wooden planes regards carl


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks Carl, these are not collectors quality. just first attempts.


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Very nice work Herb.


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

Herb
They look great especially the wood ones. Of all the Japanese planes Ive seen, I have yet to see a metal one. Very simple but a major pain to adjust. The one aspect I like is that you pull them not push, its less tiring.


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## twPearson1 (Jan 5, 2013)

I am continually amazed by what others here are doing, and that certainly applies to you.

Tom


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Very nice job Herb. That thing looks like it is loaded for bear. It is hard to believe that you managed that quality of finish with a hacksaw, file, and grinder.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks for the comments,guys, it was a fun project to do,and I end up with a usful tool. 

Daikusan, I love the japanese pull saws and cheisels, but never could get the hang of the planes. I had a beautiful rosewood rabbit plane, and never could convert over to the pulling action. Pulling a saw was more narural,but pulling a plane just is awkward for me.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Beautifully done, Herb. 
You know what bugs me? NA has abandoned it's Artisans in favour of cheap offshore goods. That's just shooting ourselves in the foot. I can count on one hand the people I know who'd be capable of creating those planes, or would be interested in doing so (and I know a lot of 'tool guys').
Crying shame.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Don't get me started on that, Dan, we have some the best minds and creative hands in the world .
I got tired of building furniture a while back so started making some tools, I made a spokeshave from an old planer blade,works great and a block plane, and a marking gage. before I tackled this job.
The marking gages were christmas presents for all the guild members at the christmas party. they were a good router project.
I used a template and a pattern bit to route the curved end on the sliding part. The marking shaft I used a round over radius bit to round the top and a 1/4" straight cutting bit to route the groove for the brass strip. they are made out of maple scrap.
The marking knife is made from old hacksaw blade.the wedge is made of bloodwwod.


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## bosox (Jun 12, 2012)

Great collection! That is a very hard work! Very well done.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Wow! Just wow. 
Nobody is re-gifting _your_ Xmas presents!!


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

HAHA, yes, I got a lot of genuine comments and thankyou's .The next meeting several were telling me how well they worked. Thats what makes me feel good is making people happy with wood.
The year before ,I made up a whole lot of sanding blocks and files from the odds and ends of the good parts of the used drum sanding belts. Various grits glued to scrap boards and sticks. From 1"- 3" wide and different lengths. I just put a pile on the table and let them rumage out the ones they wanted. They were like little kids in the toy bin.


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## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

Lonedrake45 said:


> HAHA, yes, I got a lot of genuine comments and thankyou's .The next meeting several were telling me how well they worked. Thats what makes me feel good is making people happy with wood.
> The year before ,I made up a whole lot of sanding blocks and files from the odds and ends of the good parts of the used drum sanding belts. Various grits glued to scrap boards and sticks. From 1"- 3" wide and different lengths. I just put a pile on the table and let them rumage out the ones they wanted. They were like little kids in the toy bin.


Man oh man! That is a good looking mess of scrap maple! Simply beautiful! How does one go about getting added to your Christmas list? 

I was very impressed with the planes you built, but for some reason the marking gages impress me more. Maybe because of the quantity you produced. I'm more of a one off kind of guy, and think I would tire of the repetition of that many of any project.

Keep up the good work. Maybe one day we'll have the manufacturing industry back in this country.

Darrin


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

You know,Darrin, I guess I'm a production guy,HAHAHAHa When I make things like this I have to make jigs and templates and it is a shame to only make one and throw away the jig. So I make several and give away the ones I don't want to keep to people who really appreciate them.

Here is another example,My sister wanted to give classes on making yarn with a spinning worhl. so she asked me to make some worhls for her. so I made her a bunch so she could give them away as part of the class materials. see the pics below.
I used a 3 1/2" hole saw and the pilot bit drilled the exact correct sized hole in the center of the wheel for a piece of 1/4" dowel to fit in and the hook screwed into a small pilot hole in the end of the dowel caused enough wedging power such no glue was needed. Pretty simple. I made a 1/4" mandrel to clamp the rough wheels on and chucked them in the drillpress and used a wood file and sandpaper to clean them up.
No router work on this one. Herb


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

They look as good as the markers. Im sure it pleased the ladies as much as the markers did the men. Excellent work!!


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

While moving to a new location I ran across the spoke shave and block plane I made prior to making the smoothing plane.
The spoke shave is made from cherry and I cut down and shaped a blade from a used Dewalt planer blade. That was the hard part drilling the holes in it. The first attempt ruined a HHS drill bit. so I got on the internet and researched what to do and came away with a way to anneal the planer blade and re-temper it. It was quite easy with a propane torch, and it worked . After I annealed the blade, drilled and tapped it, then tempered it again, and hand honed it sharp and I was back in business.

The block plane idea came again from one of the wood working magazines. I made it out of Tiger wood and ash accent strips, just scaps around the shop. Infact ,I made 4 of them at one time and gave away 3 for Christmas presents to special woodworker friends of mine. The plane irons came off ebay , They are used block plane blades that I cut down to length with a cut off grinding wheel in the hand drill. They work good and feel good in my hand. The most expensive part was the brass rod, I had to buy 3' of it to get a 2" piece.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

WHOA!!!
Very nice and suburb just doesn't cover what you have done Herb...


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

Beautiful precision work.


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## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Beautiful tools, I'm envious, particularly of the spokeshave. 

I buy brass now and then for my projects. My supplier has a crazy system. If I ask for, say, a metre of 8mm brass rod, they'll ask if I want an exact metre or an off-cut. I've learnt that an offcut is always longer, and cheaper. Their pricing system has a higher rate on lengths cut to specified sizes, and a discount on offcuts. So, I could come away with nearly two metres of rod for less than the nominal price of a metre. They also have a big guillotine for flat sheet brass, copper and aluminium, and there's always a big pile of scrap offcuts behind it - they let me take as much as I want from there as well - amazing.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks JCJCJC, Since I only needed 8" of rod for the block planes, I purchased it from the local hardware merchant. And since I had to buy a 3' rod, I used it for the wooden smoothing plane rods too.
For the marking gages I purchased the brass strips already sheared to width, and cut to length off ebay, I didn't want to cut them myself out of sheet brass. 
I considered making the smoothing plane out of brass instead of steel, it is easier to work, I like the look of brass against wood. but estimated the cost was too high. I have found a source locally that I may use in the future, if I need to include brass in my wood projects.

My advise is buy brass instead of gold , it is cheaper and more useful in the future when the dollar tanks. HAHAHAHA


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