Monday, February 11, 2013

Horned Smoother Part IX

I'm not sure how 18th-century planemakers attached horns to planes, but I decided on a sliding dovetail for strength.

Thinking it would protect the fragile corners of the dovetail, I added shoulders so that it would sit back from the front of the plane by way of a shallow recess.

The dovetail is hidden because the horn covers the joinery. I have no idea if this matches the method used 300 years ago, but it worked really well.

Even though there is a cross-grain situation with the horn and plane body, I glued it in place. We'll see what happens over time.

I had thought to circumvent any cross-grain issues by burying the bottom of the horn in the body and cutting a deeper mortise than necessary to allow for movement.  Changed my mind for whatever reason, but I do think that's a viable option.

The last two photos show the horn with oil applied. It also shows the decorative border I carved along the lower portion of the plane and the final shape of the plane's body.

I should have glamour shots of Sven ready on Thursday. The oil is drying, then I'll apply some wax to the outside surfaces.


17 comments:

  1. Bravo! Sven is gorgeous! Or handsome. Or fabulous. Love the border. Very nice work Kari!

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  2. Looks great so far, Kari! Are you going to venture into the commercial planemaking business now, too?

    Chris

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  3. Thanks for sharing this build. I really enjoyed it.

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  4. Thanks guys! Sven was a really fun build.

    Chris, if there's a market for carved planes...

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  5. Kari,

    I'd guess there is a market, but it's probably quite small - smaller than the market for infill planes.

    Chris

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  6. I'm quite sure it would never supplant my day job. ;)

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  7. Kari,

    There's only one way to find out how large the niche market is...

    Chris

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  8. Holy Smokes, and here I thought Sven looked fabulous before?!
    The addition of that beautiful horn and the decorative side treatment really sends it to another level.
    And I think the shoulder for the dovetail was a very smart idea.

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  9. TurningSawdustIntoGroceriesFebruary 12, 2013 at 11:52 AM

    Beautiful plane. Almost too pretty to accidentally knock off of the bench onto the floor. Your carving looks awesome.

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  10. I think it's IX if it tis the ninth post.
    Looking forward to X and the glam shots

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  11. Kari,
    the scroll/linen fold type carving inside the mouth of the plane is absolutely gorgeous! (it's ok for a guy to say gorgeous, I mean, it is a fantastic tool after all) Outstanding work and thank you for the tutorial with info, pitfalls and fixes. So, following up on Chris' comment, just how much would you charge for one of these?

    Brent

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  12. Nice!

    I have no idea about the ancient german horned planes, but the new(ish) ones have a round mortice at the bottom and indeed a sliding dovetail like you made.

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  13. Really cool design. An instant classic. Again, your graphic design skills are in full evidence. Bravo.

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  14. Thanks guys! I'll have one more post with glamour shots and info about the clamping jig.

    R Francis, thank you for correcting me on the Roman numeral. I thought it looked weird, but couldn't figure out why.

    Brent, I'll have to think about what I might charge for a pane like this. It might be fun to make custom ones based on customers' designs. That way, each one would be one-of-a-kind.

    Kees, the rounded mortise on new ones is what made me think about sinking the horn on Sven. I'm not sure if it's necessary or not for added holding power. I'll find out after a few years of use. I might run into a bit of trouble since the wood is cherry (a bit soft), but I think/hope the dovetail will be enough to keep it intact.

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  15. wow, incredible work! I've been keeping an eye on it since the beginning, and was anxiously awaiting your finish pics. Thanks for the journey:)

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