Timber to make a wooden router plane

Hi,

I want to have a go at making this wooden router plane;

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...uterPlane.html

Most old world wooden router planes seem to have used fairly exotic timber for this purpose & for very good reason & are of a species that could be quite rare, or are hard to source here in Australia.

Could you recommend a suitable timber for this purpose & one that is reasonably easy to source in Oz?

Thanks.

Silky oak, sheoak, hairy oak, these are all easily obtained timbers with striking grain. PM IanW and ask for a picture of the similar router plane he made from (I think) silky oak and you'll see how beautiful this timber looks in a tool. He'll happily answer any questions you have about making one. I'll have a trawl through some posts and see if he ever posted picks of it on the forum as well..

In practical terms almost any Aussie hardwood could be used.

On Derek's build notes he states that he has used Jarrah. Derek is a member of the forum (derekcohen) so why not send him a PM and get his suggestions.

I've got a nice stash of brigalow that may be suitable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dalpets

Hi,

I want to have a go at making this wooden router plane; http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...uterPlane.html

Most old world wooden router planes seem to have used fairly exotic timber for this purpose & for very good reason & are of a species that could be quite rare, or are hard to source here in Australia.

Could you recommend a suitable timber for this purpose & one that is reasonably easy to source in Oz?

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the reason most "old world router planes" seem to be made from exotic timbers, is that the piece of exotic was an off-cut in the factory that was extracted from the firewood pile. The same is true for oil stone boxes made from exotics.

A chunk of hardwood from the firewood pile should do nicely.