Thread: Making your own wooden moulding planes

Hi Kieran

A very interesting question. I am not aware of anyone trying to do this. Perhaps someone else will correct me.

My concern would be that usually the back of blades on wooden bodied planes have to project above both the body of the plane and the back of the wedge. The reason is so that you can hold the blade still while you bed it down with the wedge and then so you can then adjust the dept of cut. The #45 and 55 cutters are too short to allow you to do that without modification.

However, I suppose it might be possible to weld a tang of tool steel of the same thickness as the Stanley cutter to the top of the Stanley cutter so that you then have a properly shaped blade to put in the wooden body.

Why hasn't anyone done this? Probably because it is easier to find old/make new blades of the traditional pattern than to find the correct thickness of steel and weld it accurately to the Stanley cutters.

Probably because it is easier to find old/make new blades of the traditional pattern than to find the correct thickness of steel and weld it accurately to the Stanley cutters.

And... a set of 45 blades are expensive if you later want to use or onsell the 45 as a complete plane.

Yes, I think I'd just sell the 45 and use the proceeds to buy some blades or old wood moulding planes in useable condition.

If you are new to moulding planes, be prepared for a very steep learning curve, as they are not the easiest tools to make with limited gear. For starters, have you considered how you will make the sole profiles? Even setting up an oldie is a challenge, the blades are not easy to sharpen properly, particularly if in poor condition, as so many are. I'm very much in favour of making your own tools, but if you haven't made any planes at all, yet, I'd strongly suggest starting with a few straightforward basic planes to get the hang of it.

I have to say that if I were putting together a hand-tool kit, moulding planes would be the last tools on my own list unless I was into house restoration & had a lot of complex architraving to make. For furniture, moulding planes are of limited value, imo. The mouldings you need vary so much from piece to piece, and you'd need a shedful of planes to cover the possibilities. But virtually any moulding can be made using a combination of more generalised tools, such as rebates & ploughs for initial roughing-out (or the tablesaw if you're not a purist, but I mustn't mention that here in the hand-tools section ). Scrapers (usually held in a frame, as known as a scratch-stock) and a basic set of hollows and rounds can be very helpful in refining the profiles. Complex mouldings are usually built-up from several simpler pieces, rather than trying to cut the whole shape from a solid chunk of wood. It doesn't take as long as you might think, and can be a very satisfying job.....

My 2c,
Cheers

I agree with Ian. Selling the #45 and cutters is the better option. Your are also going to have to allocate some $$ to purchase some planemaker floats.

Stewie;

Planemakers Floats

I certainly was not advocating selling the 45 anytime soon (e.g. within a lifetime)... hoarding tools is a must do!

You can buy new blades at Lie Nielsen and I'm sure there are other sources.
Another good source are the blades from damaged and/or useless moulding planes... e.g. keep the iron and ditch the broken body.

As suggested (and I agree) it may be a less steep learning curve to start with bench or block planes first (maybe start with a Laminated 'Krenov' style body first) and work up from there.
A 'scratch stock' is also a good way to cut a moulding, and would probably be the way you would cut the moulding plane's sole profile as well. ?

Hi guys

Thanks for the advice.

I've got no plans to sell the 45 as I just got it a week ago! I sharpened up a couple of blades, watched some youtube videos on using 45, and gave it a test run on some scrap wooden and I like it. But i can see that the setup take a while and it may be to heavy/cumbersome for certain work.

jmk89, your right about the length of the blades and its something I thought of after I posted this message. I think it would still be possible but it would restrict the size of the plane. Another thing looking at the LN blanks is that they are tapered and most of mine are not. I don't have the skills or tools to make my own blades.

I think I will try making a small block plane first (krenov style as I have his book on this) and then try a plough and rebate plane. I will check my cutters again and see how many are tapered and after making some basic planes, decide if I can use any of the cutters.

Also what do you guy recommend for wood? I'm in NZ so have access to NZ, Aus and Pacific hardwoods at a reasonable price. I have some Vitex in my garage which is nice to work with and has a slightly waxy feel to it.


Cheers
Kieran

Originally Posted by kmahony1

Hi all

I'm a newbie around here and recently got back into woodworking. The idea of making my own planes and tools appeals especially since my budget is limited and I like the thought of using tools I made.

Anyway I recently picked up a Stanley 45 recently with a most of the cutters with it, and although its very versatile, it seems pretty heavy and clunky. So my thoughts turned to making some wooden planes to fit the #45 blades as they are pretty solid and in good condition (most look barely used). I am thinking about using the blades to make Rabbet, Moulding, Plough and Shoulder planes!

Has anyone tried making wooden planes using Stanley 45 or 55 cutters? I found lots of people making bench planes with Stanley or Hock blades but not so much other types of planes.

Cheers
Kieran

Hi Kieren

The problem with the #45 blades is not their length. You could simply make a small plane, something along the lines of these mini moulding planes (I have a few and they are great!) ...

Planes | Japanese Tools

The problem is that the profiles of the #45 blades would only allow you to use them for beading planes, which is a subset of moulding planes. These would be a good addition - beading planes are very useful and beading with a #45 can be "traumatic" owing to the absence of a mouth to control tearout. The good thing is that using the blades alone without modifying them allows you to keep the #45 complete.

I would look on eBay for #55 moulding blades, such as hollow and rounds, and build a mini plane set. Indeed, I was planing on something similar, but decided to restore my half set of H&Rs, plus I have just picked up a full set of (full size) beading planes.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hmm those little Japanese planes are nice. That was what I was thinking and I might may a small plane or 2 for my daughter with the flat 45 blades I have.

To be honest I'm not worried about the keeping the 45 and its bits intact, I brought it to use it.

Cheers
Kieran