New Model - The Side Bead

Hi Folks
We're pleased to announce a new addition to our line of planes - the Side Bead. I love these planes, very simple to use, and you dress up a simple project into something very sophisticated quite quickly. Drawers, panels, corners - you name it, there's an opportunity for a bead!

Megan Fitzpatrick of Popular Woodworking magazine ordered one recently and placed a little review here - I think she was quite pleased with it.

The planes are initially available in 1/8" and 3/16" sizes, perfect for most smaller scale cabinet work. Price is £150 each or the pair for £280, available now on our website.

Oar Making Planes

Hi Folks
Earlier in the year we completed a commission for Glasgow's "Museum of Transport". It was to duplicate a set of nine planes that were used to make oars. Each plane varied in size and they all had convex soles, curved in both directions, to allow them to carry out their specialised tasks. We copied them extremely accurately from the originals, using the same kind of irons  - some had block plane irons, others cut down bench plane irons and other had offcuts of saw blades fashioned into blades. One thing we did not copy was the many years of patina and wear on the originals but hopefully with a little use our replicas will soon acquire  a patina of their own.

In the meantime things have been extremely busy here at the workshop - it's very exciting to see demand growing for wooden planes! We have two new models to add to the website in the coming month and I have just completed converting a large delivery of quartersawn English Beech into many, many plane sized billets and put them on the conditioning shelves.
Now it's back to the 'bench!

Cheers
Philly

Dovetail Plane

Hi Folks
Things are busy here at the Philly Workshop - plenty of lovely planes have been winging their way out the doors. Here's a rather special plane for making sliding dovetails. It cuts the male portion of the joint - it has an adjustable fence to set the depth (width?) of the tail and a depth stop to stop the plane cutting once the profile is complete. The plane features a reverse skewed iron (a regular skew like on a Fillister leaves a ragged edge on the fine corner of the dovetail - I found a reverse skew leaves it perfectly finished) and a nicker iron to cut a clean shoulder line.
The plane is simple to use (you just need to keep it upright as you plane) and, as it is designed to work across the grain,  leaves lovely curly shavings. Cut one side of the joint, flip the workpiece over and repeat on the second side, giving a perfect dovetail!.

I've been using Facebook a lot more regularly than the Blog - if you use Facebook do head over to the Philly Planes page. I put up lots of pictures of day to day things on the bench!.

Cheers

Philly

The Beauty of Beech

Hi Folks
I recently completed a large order of Moulding planes  - having spent many hours crafting these I found myself reflecting again on what a great timber Beech is for wooden planes. Cut on the quarter it reveals its medullary ray figure, transforming into a 3D show of beauty, Beech is a handsome stable timber. And it is close grained and hard wearing (as centuries of hard worked examples will attest!)
So here are a few photo's - I know I've been rubbish keeping the blog up to date. I will try harder :)

Cheers
Philly

Chamfers

Hi Folks
If you have lots of chamfers to make, and you want them consistent and clean, then you need a Chamfer Plane!
Since it's introduction back at the end of 2009 it has been one of our most popular models. This one is a customised version - made from Bubinga it is an additional two inches longer at the customers request. It works like a dream and I'm really taken with Bubinga - I can see more planes being made from this wonderful timber in the near future.

Cheers
Philly

Chipbreakers

Hi Folks
Had the pleasure of a phone call from David Charlesworth today. As most of you probably know, David is a leading woodwork teacher and at the forefront of tool use and techniques. I was pleased to hear from him for two reasons - first, to hear that he has finally recovered from a serious illness (he contracted pneumonia whilst teaching in Germany last year) and secondly to talk planes!
On various woodworking forums around the world there has been much discussion on a Japanese video showing planing on a microscopic level - and the effectiveness of a chipbreaker. It is quite interesting to watch and shows how a chipbreaker can work when set a precise distance from a cutting edge (in the video it is 1-2 tens of a millimetre). David called to discuss this as he has been experimenting and wondered if I had tried it yet.
Another aspect of the video is the front edge of the chipbreaker is ground at quite steep angles - I really want to spend some time playing with this. To be fair, the "plane" in the video is bedded at 40 degrees, lower than a regular bench plane, but if a tear free surface can be achieved at a lower angle then it has to be worth investigating.
I welcome any thoughts on this subject - do drop me a line.
Cheers
Philly

The Try Plane

Hi Folks
Things are busy here at the 'shop and there have been some wonderful planes heading off to customers. I've been a bit behind with blogging so here goes the first of a few entries!
Try Plane - the Try is an essential bench plane. For making quick work of flattening surfaces and jointing edges nothing can compare. This one is 24 inches long with a 2 1/4 inch iron and has a 50 degree pitch. The customer wanted a few custom touches - the tote is offset slightly to the right (I have built this customer planes previously with the tote offset hard to one side like early 18C planes). It also has a round ended iron, again like the early 18C planes, a detail I really like. And finally, the strike button (used to adjust the iron and loosen the wedge) is diamond shaped instead of my regular round button.

If you are interested in a Try plane drop me an email and don't forget, I can customise any plane to your needs as each plane is made by hand, one at a time.
Cheers
Philly