Soul of the Plane
coming fall 2021
for more information
please contact the school
provided with program:
1” straight Plane iron
1 1/2” straight plane iron
1 1/4” curved plane iron
Templates & Program notes
“I stand at my workbench. Shavings curl from the plane in my hands, swish-and-slide, as I rock to the motion of work. The smell of fresh-cut wood, a slick, silvery yellow surface gleaming under the tireless plane, and a feeling of contentment. Nothing is wrong. Here am I, here is my work – and someone is waiting for the fruits of these fleeting hours. My contentment is bound by the white washed walls of my little cellar shop, by the stacks of long – sought woods with their mild colors and elusive smells, by the planked ceiling through which I hear the quick footsteps of a child – and yet it is boundless my joy. The cabinet is taking shape. Someone is waiting for it. With a bit of luck, it will be liked, given continuity in a life of its own. Hands will caress this shimmery surface, a thumb will discover the edge which I am rounding. An edge rounded with my plane. An edge cut rounded, but not sandpapered – a sensitive finger will understand its living imperfections and be pleased at the traces left by sharp steel on hardwood. Through the years this edge will be polished, change tone, gleam in mellowness. Yet always it will bare the marks of my favourite tool.
-James Krenov
A Cabinetmakers Notebook
Its hard to imagine doing the work we do without a fine wooden plane. Jim often referred to our hand planes, as instruments, at their best, a ‘Stradivarius’. In the Soul of the Plane, we make the three planes used in our Impractical Cabinetmaker Program and begin a lifelong journey in plane making. Since making my first plane in the fall of 1987, I have made a few planes each year since, and have had the pleasure of introducing the making and use of wooden planes to hundreds of students world wide. Students can complete the program at their own past, receiving a consult and e-mail access with the our resident craftsman & teacher.
With the blanks for each of our three planes settling, we prepare each of the provided irons and breakers. The irons are shaped, lapped, grounded and honed to a fine edge. The breakers are then carefully shaped, polished and fitted to the iron. While students are provided with a curved iron for their curved bottom plane, iron modification is shown allowing us to further explore the many possibilities which exist in our craft. After the plane blank is allowed to rest, the center block and cheeks are milled to final dimension, and the inside surfaces are scraped, carefully fitting each of the parts. The ramps are laid out and cut on the bandsaw. The rear ramp is flattened and squared using our block planes, and the forward ramp with a gouge and scraper. The iron is used to determine width of the chamfers which are dialled in using a block plane and or a chisel. A slot is milled on the rear ramp using the shaper to accept the cap screw of the iron assembly. The center block and cheeks are positioned and clamped, and locator holes are bored using one of our boring machines. The dowels are flushed and the cross pin location is laid out. The hole for the cross pin is drilled on the drill press, and chamfered by hand.
The cross pin is then cut to length, and the tenon shoulders are cut on the table saw, the tenon cheeks on the bandsaw. The crosspin’s tenon’s are shaped and fitted to the holes in the plane using a file or knife. The crosspin’s profile is then shaped using our block planes, knives and files. The plane is dry clamped and final preparations complete prior to assembly. When the clamps are removed, the ‘soul’ of the plane is flattened. Shaping and edge treatment is done using both hand and machine tools, and first shavings are taken.
We will make the planes in the same sequence used at the school, with each of the planes come new challenges, building upon the upward spiral Jim spoke of. While much of the process is similar to flat bottom planes, the shaping of the forward ramp and the soul of the plane, give us the opportunity to further develop our relationships with our tools tuned to our innermost intentions.
The ‘soul’ of the curved bottom plane is shaped using our jointer plane, and the mouth opening dialled in with a file. The profile of the plane is cut, an edge fitted and initially shaped to fit our hands. As the work of the door progresses, the three planes will be carefully fitted to our hands to ensure a comfortable grip, enabling us to work for hours of enjoyable and comfortable work.
Machines Required
bandsaw
jointer
table saw
thickness planer
boring machine
drill press
Tools Required
block plane
scraper
small handsaw
chisel (10mm or so)
carving knife (optional)
hand grinder (or electric)
Thoughts on the use of machineS And this program
On the first day of my apprenticeship,I was told: “If what you are doing seems awkward, you shouldn’t be doing it”. For more than thirty years this advice, has served me very well. Each and every time I approach something new, I ask myself this question. If something doesn’t feel right I look for another way to proceed with the task at hand. When I started out in this craft, the only machine I had, was a bandsaw. As a result, I was forced to do many of the arduous tasks completely by hand. As a result I developed my hand skills early, which shaped me as a craftsman. In fact much of what we do, can be done better by hand, and in many cases just as fast. In contrast to this there are many tasks that in my humble opinion are best done by machine, allowing us to conserve our energy for the more important details. At our our school, we continue to embrace, the sensitive and sensible balance of machine use Jim spoke of. Our Impractical Cabinetmaker Program, is based on that principle and we would like to encourage students to work in this way in our distance learning. I also believe the use of machines in our craft is a very personal thing, and is best left up to the individual, our approach is based on many factors. As I grow older, I find myself using machines even less. I think for me it is the confidence in my hand skills, and less tolerance for noise. With that said, in plane making, accuracy is extremely important, and as there are many steps in the making of a fine wooden plane, accumulative error can be a very real factor. One should pay attention to working in a way that feels right.
Recommended text
The fine Art of Cabinetmaking by James Krenov