Yesterday it showed up. A 45 degree coffin smoother made of padouk with an
ipe sole.

It is slightly wider than I thought it would be - having mostly used metal
planes of this size in the past - but is not so large that it is hard to
grip and unlike a steel plane, there are many different ways to hold it that
are comfortable.

I took it out of the box and put it to work on the wood that I had lying
around. It left a glass smooth finish on some hard maple I had. Created
tissue thin translucent shavings from some stringy douglas fir, doing well
both with and against the grain. Yes, you can read through them. Handled the
endgrain on some redwood fairly well and in a brief experiment on some ipe
managed to produce something nearly resembling shavings but also a fair
amount of brown dust. I was not in a hurry to dull the blade playing with
scrap ipe so I gave it only a couple of strokes. My initial impressions of
how the plane felt were reinforced here and it felt comfortable holding it
both pushing and pulling. Using it one-handed to chamfer or ease the edge is
not a problem as you can grip it easily right above where the blade contacts
the wood and it remains well balanced.

In construction the plane is quite solid with all the parts fitting together
perfectly. I was impressed with how solidly the iron was fixed in place and
how precisely the mouth block fit. The sole is flat and smooth. I just
judged it by eye, but it is clearly flat enough to produce fine work.
Adjustment was simple and predictable. Better than any of the old wooden
planes I have - though they may be suffering from old age and perhaps a bit
of rust on the blades. Steve also supplies a sheet of instructions for
caring for and tuning the plane as needed. With those instructions anyone
should be able to keep their plane working well for quite a long time.

It seems that most of the finishing efforts are directed at where they
matter most - at the working surfaces. There is room for finer finishing on
some of the other parts of the plane, but I doubt that I'd be willing to pay
extra for that. It is just a plane afterall.

I did go over the grinding on the back end of the iron to take off a
slightly sharp edge and even polished it up a little. I figure that sooner
or later my knuckles are going to bang against it so it is worth rounding it
over a bit. The polishing is admittedly cosmetic (though aren't shiny
surfaces less likely to rust and get dusty?) but I think it helps set off
the red color of the padouk wood.

Thanks Steve for making such things. I can't wait to use it on my next
project.

-Jack

I have quite a few of Steve's planes. They are a pleasure to use. The irons are
just so great, big and heavy; they hold an edge for a long time, and easy to
sharpen.

The bodies are great. I use a padauk razee jack plane he made, and I use it all
the time. It is lighter than a comparable cast iron plane, which helps a lot
when you are doign something, like leveling a 16" wide cherry plank, which I
did last week.

Daryl,

I have Steve's coffin smoother and his scrub plane (but I can't use
the scrub until Christmas -- agreement with SWMBO in order to purchase
it

Anyway, I have both of them in the standard setup (non-razee style).

Have you used both styles, and if so, which do you prefer and why?

At first I was a little concerned that I might want the tote for the
smoother, but it's so nice to use as is I'm not sure I'd want it or it
would matter. Although I will admit that after using it for about
30-60min (OK, so I love using this thing and I'll just sit around
making fluffy shavings with any scrap in my shop -- which is a lot
since my buddy does hardwood floors and gives me his scraps)) ...
oops, I digressed. Let me try again. After 30+ min of constant use
my right hand does cramp a little bit, but that's from lifting the
plane off the wood when I finish my pass. If I were using larger wood
(i.e. non-scrap) I probably wouldn't have to lift as often, so I don't
know if this is a moot point or not.



Just curious for when I order my Jack and Jointer in the future
Thanks!

Mike

(DarylRos) wrote in message ...
I have quite a few of Steve's planes. They are a pleasure to use. The irons are
just so great, big and heavy; they hold an edge for a long time, and easy to
sharpen.

The bodies are great. I use a padauk razee jack plane he made, and I use it all
the time. It is lighter than a comparable cast iron plane, which helps a lot
when you are doign something, like leveling a 16" wide cherry plank, which I
did last week.

oops, I digressed. Let me try again. After 30+ min of constant use
my right hand does cramp a little bit, but that's from lifting the
plane off the wood when I finish my pass. If I were using larger wood
(i.e. non-scrap) I probably wouldn't have to lift as often, so I don't
know if this is a moot point or not.

I would be interested if others had this problem. I always want to improve
things if possible.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

I know my finish is not perfect it is getting better. but so far I have not
found a practical way to make the wedge and mouthblock look nice.
the irons drive me nuts to make. I get pretty worn out after grinding a hundred
or so. so I don't work hard enough grinding corners. I need to hire a monkey to
do it I can afford the bananas (G)

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

"Steve Knight" wrote in message
...
I know my finish is not perfect it is getting better. but so far I have
not
found a practical way to make the wedge and mouthblock look nice.

I think the mouth blocks look fine Steve.... ;~)

I agree with Leon, I'm happy with how the plane looks. In fact I love
the way the plane looks (especially the inlay -- that's sweet!). I
took it to work (with some fluffy shavings for proof of how awesome
this thing is) and all the guys who are into woodworking were just
ooing and ahing all over the place (hopefully there's a few new
customers in there somewhere

Anyway, in response to your question on whether or not more people
have problems with their right hand getting cramped after using the
smoother for awhile, I wouldn't doubt that it could be as simple as my
technique. I'm a novice at this for sure and I remember watching a
Frank Klausz video where he demonstrated planing and he didn't lift
the plane off the wood, instead he tipped it at an angle and slid it
backwards. Said it was faster that way. I don't doubt it since not
only are you not lifting it, you're also staying more aligned for the
next pass. The reason I don't do this is because I don't have my
bench with bench dogs finished yet so I prop my wood against a thinner
piece of stock (that's clamped to my temp bench) and plane that way --
if I were to slide the plane backwards it would just pull the wood
with it. So, yeah, probably my technique. Give me 6mos (or more
and I'll let you know what it's like when I have a real workbench.

Thanks!
Mike


Steve Knight wrote in message . ..
I know my finish is not perfect it is getting better. but so far I have not
found a practical way to make the wedge and mouthblock look nice.
the irons drive me nuts to make. I get pretty worn out after grinding a hundred
or so. so I don't work hard enough grinding corners. I need to hire a monkey to
do it I can afford the bananas (G)

Anyway, in response to your question on whether or not more people
have problems with their right hand getting cramped after using the
smoother for awhile, I wouldn't doubt that it could be as simple as my
technique.
also try relaxing your grip a little it does not take a death grip (G)
but I always try to solve anyone problems. one of these days I need to build
or get a shop for regular woodworking so I can use my tools I make in a real
situation. then I could really refine idea's but then again I would need a lot
more money (G)

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

Thanks Steve, I'll give it a try

Steve Knight wrote in message . ..
Anyway, in response to your question on whether or not more people
have problems with their right hand getting cramped after using the
smoother for awhile, I wouldn't doubt that it could be as simple as my
technique.
also try relaxing your grip a little it does not take a death grip (G)
but I always try to solve anyone problems. one of these days I need to build
or get a shop for regular woodworking so I can use my tools I make in a real
situation. then I could really refine idea's but then again I would need a lot
more money (G)

On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 00:12:56 -0500, Smokey wrote:



I bet you could find a zillion willing beta testers in "real" woodshop
situations.


I used to do beta testing. got lots of people interested. but few actually gave
me feedback.
but anymore I don't get much response on beta testing anymore. I think people
think i am a big guy and my stuff is ready to go the first time.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

Steve,

I think the mouthblock looks fine. The only piece that could use a bit more
refining would be the wedge. Maybe there are some historical models that you
could look at and see if there is anything you could borrow.

-Jack


"Steve Knight" wrote in message
...
I know my finish is not perfect it is getting better. but so far I have
not
found a practical way to make the wedge and mouthblock look nice.
the irons drive me nuts to make. I get pretty worn out after grinding a
hundred
or so. so I don't work hard enough grinding corners. I need to hire a
monkey to
do it I can afford the bananas (G)

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

I think the mouthblock looks fine. The only piece that could use a bit more
refining would be the wedge. Maybe there are some historical models that you
could look at and see if there is anything you could borrow.

I have played a lot with the wedge. the V works well but the rest is a bit dull.
I can't really sand it more as it changes out it fits. Most old planes use a lot
longer blades and wedges. but they just get in the way.
I have tried the more traditional forked wedge with a flat sloped middle but
that was a pain to make and never worked better.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

Steve, I love to give feedback when it's useful. Let me do a few
projects and then I'll let you know what I think (that will be more
useful information anyway since right now I'm just planing scrap wood
for fun). The only drawback is a "few projects" for me equates to
about 6+ months But since you're not going anywhere (hopefully
then it won't matter too much.

Mike

Steve Knight wrote in message . ..
On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 00:12:56 -0500, Smokey wrote:



I bet you could find a zillion willing beta testers in "real" woodshop
situations.


I used to do beta testing. got lots of people interested. but few actually gave
me feedback.
but anymore I don't get much response on beta testing anymore. I think people
think i am a big guy and my stuff is ready to go the first time.

On 7 Oct 2003 08:25:54 -0700, (Mike in Idaho) wrote:

Steve, I love to give feedback when it's useful. Let me do a few
projects and then I'll let you know what I think (that will be more
useful information anyway since right now I'm just planing scrap wood
for fun). The only drawback is a "few projects" for me equates to
about 6+ months But since you're not going anywhere (hopefully
then it won't matter too much.

(G)

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.