Lessons from the bench

It’s easy to cheat yourself out of experiences when woodworking. The crosspin is one of the more difficult parts of building a krenov plane. Some will elect to just use a dowel, others will create a jig and use a plug cutting bit. I tried and failed with a plug cutter multiple times. It’s a fussy setup and I never could get it quite right. This pursuit of efficiency and repeatability came at the cost of developing hand tool skills. Filing square to round and trusting your hand and eye. Took it slow tonight and did it right way, all while listening to an excellent podcast by www.handtoolbookreview.com. Check it out.

X marks the centre spot

Defined the shoulders with 4 quick cuts on the bandsaw.

Slowly taking down the corners

Hard corners, soft edges

Finished the shaping and refined the fit.

Offcuts

There’s something deeply satisfying about making your own tools. After finishing the bench build I was left with a good sized offcut, which I decided to use to make few krenov style planes. This one’s a jointer which is just over 19” long. I’ve laminated a pau ferro sole for durability and bedded the iron at just over 45 degrees. Decided against a chip breaker, as I wanted to keep it as pure as possible… besides I have a distaste for routers and didn’t want to mill a slot for the chipbreaker screw. I’m able to plane figured maple glass smooth so i’m not too concerned about tearout issues. I’m particularly happy with the form and I plan on making a smoother and coopering plane in the same Art Deco speedster style.