Herein lies Sven's last post.Totally fun project. I added a little decoration to the wedge by carving my initials in the top portion and carving a curvy element at the bottom of the ramp.
The finish is a couple coats of BLO followed by a couple coats of wax. Sven's already gotten a nice suntan from sitting by the window in my shop, but after a few years of use, he should have an even richer color.
A few words about the jig. I built it as a clamping device that would allow me to flip the blank around quickly without having to fuss with actual clamps. It was worth its weight in that alone, but it proved to be an excellent work holding device when working with the blank on end or on its side. I made a few spacer blocks to hold the blank more securely during those times.To make the jig, I sat the blank on top of a board, slid the clamping blocks up to it, and screwed them in place. This made for a very tight fit. So tight, that the first few times I removed the blank from the jig took a little muscle. After a bit of use, however, because the blocks were pine and the fibers compressed, it became much easier to remove and reposition the blank.
The clamping blocks that were positioned along the sides of the blank have a space between them so that I could see my layout lines.
Sven's dimensions are 8.5" long x 3" wide x 2.25" high. From the sole to the top of the horn is about 5". I decided to leave a little extra length to the heel so that my hand wouldn't come in contact with the iron.
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23 comments:
That is one sweet looking plane!! Awesome job and I really love the carving on it alot!!
Sven's has taken on the look of a mighty ship...or on the other-hand,...a duck that has swam into a wall at full speed. :) :)
Man I need to get serious and learn to carve. This has been inspiring, thanks for taking us along Kari!!
-Ace-
Thanks, Jerry!
Ace, that cracked me up about the duck. I could have made a frightfully corny pun by saying it quacked me up, but I resisted. :D
Kari,
That is a fine-looking plane indeed. The clamping board is something that I sometimes employ and it is a real convenience.
How about a picture of your grip on the plane? When I made my scrub plane, I wanted to keep it really short so my hand does contact the back face of the blade. After rounding the edges of the blade, it's no less comfortable.
What do you use to make adjustments to the plane?
Chris
Congratulations on completing your plane. Excellent work.
Kari:
The plane looks amazing! You really inspired me with this project and motivated me to buy my first carving tools. Thank you.
Jason
Excellent results from all your efforts, the carving isvvery nice. Great job.
Sven is beautiful! Sylvia loves it, too. Everything you do is great and always getting better.
Chris, my hand often slips into the back of the blade on my Krenov-style smoothing plane and sometimes knocks it loose, so that's why I kept the tail end long on this guy. He's pretty comfortable to use. The horn is great; the heel could be a wee bit more narrow. I have two plane adjusting hammers that I made: one has a brass head for adjusting the blade; the other is a small wooden mallet for tapping the wedge in place.
Thank, Jeff. It went more quickly than I expected. That was a first....
Jason, that's awesome!
Thank you, Rick, Vic, and Sylvia. :o)
Kari,
I'm really surprised that you can loosen the blade/wedge of your Krenov-style plane so easily. Something sounds amiss. Perhaps the wedge angle is too steep?
Do you grip the horn in your fist, or with just a couple fingers?
Chris
Beautiful work as usual Kari. I look forward to taking Sven out for a beer or two with ya'. :-)
How was the chip carving detail in the cherry?
The Krenov plane--let me rephrase--my hand slips fairly often, but the blade does not come out--it's more of slight skewing of the blade (1/64" if that) which happens maybe every 100th time. I was trying to avoid any contact with this new plane.
I hook my thumb onto the horn and wrap most of my fingers around the front of Sven. I think maybe my index finger is also on the horn. I'll shoot a short video showing him in action once I get him working a little better. Right now, he looks prettier than he works.
Jonathan, cherry is fairly easy to chip carve. It does not hold the detail as crisply as Swiss Pear, however. I think my next plane will be SP. Oh, and Sven drinks mead, not beer.
I'm suggesting to engrave also a year when it was made.
I wil, Jozef. I'm going to stamp my name and year on the heel (no room on the toe). I don't want it to be mistaken as older than it is once it's passed on to the next generation.
Sven is one handsome lad. Even if he doesn't work as well as he looks he still fulfills an aesthetic need. Nice work, you.
Beautiful, Kari! Nice work!
Kari what ever you build next, please blog copiously. I love reading your blog. It makes me smile.
Thanks guys! I got him working really well and will shoot a short video of him in action.
I will probably build another plane next.....but something completely different.
Awesome work. I really like how you photograph step by step (and that you include mistakes).
I am amazed reading and seeing the article. This is what a moment in life get richer. Thanks Kari
You are insanely talented! Hey, we have more than woodworking in common. I too, am a graphic designer and happily partnered. We celebrate our 15th anniversary on tax day in April. lol
this is a beautiful piece of art that is also a super functional tool
cant get much better for me
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