A bit on Leonard Danner, 16th Century Enginer and Artist
I finished a hand plane for the #Tooltrain3 competition held over on Instagram. It was inspired by the work of Leonard Danner, a 16th centruy maker who did stunning engravings on every manner of tools.
I am not an expert on Danner by any means, but here is a collection of the information that I found to be useful.
https://renaissanceutterances.blogspot.com/2013/08/leonhard-danner-designer-engineer.html?m=1
https://thomasguild.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-medieval-toolchest-plane-part-4.html?m=1
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/814631
https://mshepherdpiano.com/antique-piano-tools/early-european-handplanes-and-mitre-planes/
https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Result/Index?page=1&pId=11967466
https://art.rmngp.fr/en/library/artworks/leonhard-danner_rabot_grave_eau-forte
https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/282882#
https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/288139
This is my plane. Completed March 30th, 2024.
The inspiration. Made by Leonhard Danner - 16th Century
Tool Making Resources and Inspiration
Someone asked about this on another site and I thought I would leave it here as well in case anyone was interested. This is stuff that has helped me a lot. You may find something useful in it as well.
How To’s
How to Build and Infill Plane by Bruce Neville
How to Make Woodwork Tools by Charles Hayward
Making and Mastering Wood Planes by David Finck
Making and Modifying Woodworking Tools by Jim Kingshott
Making Traditional Wooden Planes by John M. Whelan
Projects from the Minimalist Woodworking by Vic Tesolin
The Machinist’s Handbook by Doug Briney
General Reference
Handplanes.com
JimBodeTools.com
MSheperdPiano.com
Norrisplanes.com
Spiersplanes.com
The Art of Fine Tools by Sandor Nagyszalancy
The Wooden Plane by John M. Whelan
Plane Makers
Bill Carter
Bruce Neville
Daed Toolworks
Hillview Wood and Metal
Karl Holtey
Old Street Tools
Philly Planes
Sauer and Steiner Toolworks
Voigt Planes
Wayne Anderson
Tool and/or Knife Makers
Alec Steele
Neels Van Den Berg - Black Dragon Forge
Will Adams - Honey Brook Tools and Woodworks
Will Stelter
Leonhard Danner (16th Century Locksmith, Tool Maker, Artist)
There are so many more that I am sure I am forgetting. I’ll try to update this periodically.
Tips for Working with Pine (and other Softwoods)
For new woodworkers, pine (which for our purposes also include spruce, fir, and the other softwoods) are usually the first wood to be used. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to get. However, the results aren’t always the best. The problem isn’t so much with the wood. It is with the way the boards are manufactured. These woods are easy to get and can be purchased from lumberyards and home centers, which are plentiful. That is the problem, not anything inherent with the species of wood. The boards from the lumberyard or the home center were made for construction. What is needed in construction isn’t the same as what is need in furniture making. The boards are just too wet for the average furniture project.
Pine has a reputation for warping and moving. However, this is undeserved. In fact, the softwoods are incredibly stable. Balsam Fir, for example, has so little seasonal change that when it has been quarter sawn it might as well be plywood as it is so stable. To get these results, these wood needs to be at the proper moisture level. Pine has a reputation for moving because it is sold too wet for furniture making. Any wood that is drying out while it is in a project is going to cause problems. Hardwoods tend to be dried more than their softwood counterparts. That leads to the first tip.
Let the boards acclimate to your shop before you build with them. This is pretty simple to do. It just takes some patience. Grab your lumber and store it in a way that air can get to all sides of each board. For many, this means stack it up with stickers. Stickers are just spacers that go between the boards. If boards are kept in a big pile, the top side of the top boards will dry out faster than the stuff in the middle or bottom of the pile. When the wood is stickered air flow can get to all sides of every board. Once you’ve done this, you just need to wait. The boards want its internal moisture level to equalize with the air that surrounds it. Overtime, it will release excess moisture into air and stabilize. You can determine how dry a board is with a moisture meter. In my opinion, do not try to hit a specific number on the meter. Instead, use it to determine when the board is at equilibrium. Take a reading and write that down. Wait a few days/weeks and take another reading. Then repeat. Keep repeating this until that reading is consistent. If the number keeps going down, it means there is still water being released. When the reading is consistent, then it is likely the board has equalized with its environment. How long this takes just depends on the board.
Any warping that may occur will happen here. That is okay. This is why we mill lumber. This brings me to my second tip. Don’t think of these board as ready to go straight from the store. Instead, treat them like rough lumber. If you need a 3/4” thick board, don’t buy a 3/4” thick board from the home center. Buy a thicker board and mill it down to 3/4”. Any warping that occurs during the acclimating process can be corrected in the milling process. When milling, try to take equal amounts from each face. Additionally, mill slightly oversize and let the boards sit again overnight. The board could move again (this goes for all species, not just pines and other softwoods). Then come back and mill it down to size. This is going to produce a very stable board to build with. Additionally, don’t leave your board sitting on your bench overnight. This can cause a warp. Air is going to get to one side more than the other. Sticker it to equalize that moisture exchange.
Tip number three - when it comes to board selection, look out for the pith. This is the very center of the tree. It looks like bullseye in the board. You don’t want the pith in your projects. Either choose the boards that does not have a pith. Or, choose the boards that have the pith near the middle of the board. I know I just said, you don’t want the pith. If you choose the latter, you’ll need to cut out the pith. Doing this will give you two boards that have vertical grain. Also referred to as quater sawn. I’m not going to go into it in depth here. Just know that you can have flat sawn and quarter sawn lumber. This is how it was cut from the log, more or less. Quarter sawn will see less seasonal expansion and contraction compared to flat sawn. Both cuts have their place in furniture making. I’m mentioning this because cutting out the pith is an easy way to get quarter sawn lumber. After it acclimates, it will be incredibly stable. Plus, quarter sawn white pine just looks good.
Related, tip number four, when choosing your boards go for the widest one available. You’ll tend to get less knots in the wider boards. Plus, there is more material available to cut around knots and other defects. Additionally, if you go for the ones with the pith, you’ll still have decent sized boards after the pith is removed.
Tip number 5. Sharp tools. Dull tools with crush the end grain and tear out the long grain. Hardwoods are somewhat forgiving when it comes to sharpness. Softwards are not. Sharped those tools.
One more - wet the wood for easier chopping. In a spray bottle, add 50% alcohol (denatured or the highest proof grain alcohol you can find) and 50% water. Mist a little on the surface and it will help your tools slice through that end grain.
Bonus Tip - this is a more in-depth topic outside the scope of this post, but let’s talk about alternating the end grain. I’m only bringing it up because it gets mentioned all over the internet. Newbies get told all the time, that the reason their pine table-top warped was because they failed to alternate the end grain. This isn’t remotely true! The orientation of the end grain will have an influence on what a top will look like IF it were to warp. It doesn’t cause the warp. Having boards with the end grain oriented in the same direction can result in a potato chip looking top if it warps. Alternating the end grain results in a washboard looking top if it warps. Either orientation can produce flat or warped tops. In most cases, you can ignore end grain orientation and make the best side of the board the show face. If you acclimate your board and use standard milling practices, you’ll get flat boards to build with. The proper application of joinery will keep those boards flat in the long term. To alternate or not to alternate just depends on what you are making.
Die Filer from Flat Stock
If you’re here from the video, as promised, here is a link to the magazine article and a stock list.
Internet Archive: Popular Mechanics - October 1947, p 226 (or get a copy from your local library)
Stock list
10 gauge x 8” x 8” steel plate
1.25" (D) x 1” Brass Round Bar
0.75" (D) x 12” Brass Round Bar
0.5625" (D) x 12” Carbon Steel Round Bar
1" (D) x 6” Carbon Steel Round Bar
1.75" (D) x 3” Carbon Steel Round Bar
0.1875" x 1.25" x 24” Carbon Steel Rectangle Bar
1.5" x 1.5" x 0.125" x 12” Carbon Steel Angle
1.5" x 1.5” x 7” Cold Roll Square Bar
So, I was wrong…
I was able to find a 1-5/8” tapered plane iron! BIN and with any luck I’ll have it in a few days. I’m cautiously optimistic that it will do what I want it to do. If it looks like it will do what I want I’m going to restart the 16th century mitre plane build. If it doesn’t then I’ll get to work on the chariot plane build.
Pausing One and Starting Another
In my previous blog post I talked about starting a hand plane build over. After some thought, I’m going to pause that project. The entire project would be improved if I swap the block plane blade I planned to use for a tapered plane iron. I believe plane with that design will function better as a result. The only problem with that is I would need to make blade myself. I haven’t been able to find a 1-5/8” tapered iron anywhere. With my current tool and skill set, that means hand filing if I’m going to make one. Tapering high carbon steel from 3/16” down to 1/16” over 6-7” by hand does not sound like fun. Plus, I have plans to enter a plane into a tool making contest. I have about 9 weekends left and I don’t want to burn any of them trying to make a blade. I’ll pickup this project again at a later date.
The new plan is to make a chariot style plane.
This is a plane I have been wanting to make for several years now. I’ll use the block plane blade that I was going to use with the other plane. It should work out great with this style of plane.
This one will be made from 360 brass and 01 tool steel. I have plans to make an adjuster as well. It will be my first. All of the planes that I have made use a hammer to adjust the blade. Initial prototyping has been successful. One rotation on the knob was moving the blade forward about 1/64”. Compared to the commercial adjusters I have which were advancing the blade about 1/16” per turn. This should allow for incredibly fine adjustment!
Time to start again!
This is my latest hand plane project. It is based off of a design from the 16th century. There are just enough things wrong with this that I think it will be better to start over.
I made a huge error. This is about an inch longer than I intended. I could cut it down, but then the cross pin hole would be in the wrong spot. I can save the body, but the end design of the plane won’t be what I had intended. I want to see this threw so I’ll save the body for something else and start again.
The bend needs to be tighter. The inside is about an 1/8” wider than it should be.
The base line on the front is the wrong width. This is causing the body to flair out.
The front could be better. I need to go back to the drawing board on this.
The proportions are off
I intended for it to have both concave and convex bends
The curl at the front needs to have a smaller diameter
I think the brass is going to look too thick on the finished plane. It is currently at 0.125” thick. I’m not exactly sure how I am going to solve this problem. I’m considering leaving the body at 0.125” and then add a chamfer to visually lighten the look. On the front I’m going to experiment with using 0.093” thick material. That should also make it easier to get all of the bends I have planned. I thought about using 0.93” material for the body as well, but I worried that the plane will look anemic. Especially once the sole is attached. It will be fairly thick and I’m trying to avoid any visual unbalance. This is just going to take some experimentation.
The front needs less joinery. The plan was to cut finger joints and then peen those over into a dovetail shape (Inspiration from Peter McBride). It doesn’t need three finger joint. One finger joint will work just fine.
I’m not too bummed about starting over. The way I see it, I get to relive the fun parts and I learned something so the next version should be better. That is a win in my book.
Band Saw Fence with a Micro Adjuster
If you are here from the video, as promised, here are the dimensions for each of the components.
Fence: 2-1/4” x 19-1/4” x 1”
Base: 2” taper to 4-1/8” x 17-1/4”
Runner: 1/2” taper to 2-1/4” x 10-5/8”
Guide: 1-3/4” taper to 3-1/2” x 10-5/8”
Table Stop: 1” x 12”
Note: those tapers should work out to be 20 degrees. Additionally, you will need two bolts, two washers, two wing nuts, and some adhesive backed sand paper for this jig.
The design for this jig comes from the Band Saw Handbook by Mark Duginske. This book is a must have for every band saw user.