Convex hand plane - home build.

Short post - I am tired, medicated and tired. Did I just say that?

Ok..

I made a convex handplane to help me make carved top guitars which I plan to do. I cannot possibly justify spending £55 or more on a plane - I mean I could put that money to much better use, so I bought a £7 plane blade (35mm Stanley) and cut it to an approximate rounded tip (I drew a guide, but worked by eye a lot). I then cleaned this and bevelled a 30* blade on it with a grinder and finished off on the wet stone. I spent a good hour or 2 on the blade.

Next I fabricated the parts for the plane out of Ash, Oak and Rosewood. I had scraps of each of these from old projects or old furniture (hoping dad didn't have plans for that table...). There are plans online, just google it. I looked at them and much in the same way that I cook, I remembered a few key stats and went ahead with it.

The blade is set at 45*, the opposing side is also 45*, the plane blade bevel is 30* and the gap between the blade and the front of the plane (sorry, it must be called something better) should be between 1 and 3mm. I have mine set near 1mm because I plan only to take the smallest amounts of hardwoods off. For a smoothing plane or a block plane I suggest a little more, especially if you plan to work with softwoods because this gap ensures the cuttings go up and through the plane rather than falling under it causing the plane to slip and the cut to be very uneven. Just build one and see what I mean - you can easily modify it if it is too large or too small an opening. Probably easier to shim one which is too large though. Maybe worth erring on that side.

Some un-finished media below - I have since finished the plane with Tung oil. It has really lifted the colours of the woods. Rosewood is beautiful for the purple tone to it, really beautiful. Nice to work with as well, despite it smelling like circuit boards.

Here is a video of the plane:

A couple of pictures:

Just applied a coat of Tung oil:

Here is some of the timber for some new builds - not pictured - 10' of 12" wide tulipwood.

Left to right: Ash, American Maple, Sepele Mahogany, 2x Walnut.