I've been trying out different designs for plane hammers. Sounds simple, doesn't it? A handle with a lump of wood on one end. So there are a wide and varied collection of hammer styles around the workshop. I started off simple and unadorned, gradually introducing beads and swoops, and finally experimenting with exotic timbers.
And I found this - the hard exotics dent the living daylights out of your wooden planes :(
So after much experimenting I have arrived a a hammer I believe is the perfect weight and size, doesn't damage your planes and looks pretty (the last one is somewhat important too!)
What do you think? Curly maple handle and black walnut head, held on with a wedged tenon. And did I mention the wedges are ebony? Now that's a hammer to spoil yourself with ;)
Just finished a small scrub plane for a customer. Made from Pau Rosa, it has a 30mm wide iron which is heavily cambered. And it works great - a real "one-handed" plane. With a heavy cut you can really remove material quickly. But retract the blade a little and you can refine the surface quite nicely, ready for scraping. I hope he'll be happy with is plane :)
Back to the workshop....
Philly
2 comments:
Phil,
Is that a picture of the small scrub plane with the combo square? If it is, it certainly is one of the best looking scrubs that I have seen. And if it works even close to the Toted Smoother you made for me, well I guess that I will need one of these too!
Keep up the excellent work,
Michael Rogen
Phil,
Re the denting problem. I use a Japanese steel hammer with bits of softish leather stuck on it for adjusting woodies - seems to work OK. If you want to use an exotic for a hammer you might want to consider facing it in this way.
Chris
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