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Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
By:Allan
Date: 10/5/2014, 5:15 pm
In Response To: Tools: Miniature Block Planes (Mochaboy)

I am sometimes puzzled by how much some people worry over getting exactly the right tool for the job.

In the past, I have had access to some industrial standard power tools and top of the line hand tools. For a few years now I have had to make do with my own equipment and I find that it hasn't made any difference to the kayaks I produce.

I have used a very good low angle block plane in the past and for the work I was doing, it was about the only tool that would have done the job. However the strips I have used to build my kayaks have been beveled with an old Stanley block plane.

When I started my latest kayak , my Stanley wasn't available because I had lent it to a friend. I was in a hurry to get started, so I tried a block plane I found in a box of junk. It was the cheapest piece of equipment you could imagine. It was made from pressed metal and the blade was less than 1 mm thick. If it weren't for the fact that it was a full size block plane, I would have assumed that it was a child's toy that was not actually intended to be used.

To my great surprise, I found it did just as good a job as the more expensive plane.

Maybe I was lucky that I was using timber that was easy to plane. Almost all of my strips are Paulownia. Maybe it has something to do with the technique I use, but I am confident that I could bot have done a better job with a plane that cost about $220 more.

Messages In This Thread

Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mochaboy -- 10/4/2014, 10:09 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/4/2014, 10:30 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Bill Hamm -- 10/5/2014, 12:31 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Marc Upchurch -- 10/5/2014, 5:55 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Ken Blanton -- 10/5/2014, 2:28 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes *PIC*
John Messinger -- 10/5/2014, 7:24 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mike Bielski -- 10/5/2014, 9:19 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes *PIC*
Kurt Maurer -- 10/5/2014, 10:51 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
John Messinger -- 10/5/2014, 1:54 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Bill Hamm -- 10/6/2014, 2:43 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
John Messinger -- 10/6/2014, 7:55 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Bill Hamm -- 10/6/2014, 5:40 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mike Bielski -- 10/8/2014, 1:15 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mike Bielski -- 10/8/2014, 1:22 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 10/5/2014, 10:53 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mochaboy -- 10/6/2014, 7:11 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Brian Nystrom -- 10/5/2014, 10:58 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Phil -- 10/5/2014, 11:02 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes *PIC*
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/5/2014, 3:31 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
John Van Buren -- 10/5/2014, 4:50 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mochaboy -- 10/5/2014, 4:55 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Allan -- 10/5/2014, 5:15 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Mochaboy -- 10/5/2014, 5:48 pm
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Brian Nystrom -- 10/6/2014, 7:27 am
Re: Tools: Miniature Block Planes
Gero Verheyen -- 10/6/2014, 10:20 pm