Nevertheless I’ve been doing a little woodworking every now and then and recently things started to get better and I’m in the process of finishing a small desk for my daughter. The piece is now assembled and all is left to do is apply a few coats of shellac with some light sanding in between.

I’ll post some photos once it’s finished but before that I’ll try to post a SketchUp model. This time I decided to draw the piece as I went along instead of planning all the details up front which was a very interesting experience.

While the glue in the desk was drying I started working on a small plow plane similar in size to the Veritas model. I’ve ordered some of the blades offered for the Veritas plane which can be bought both in imperial and metric sizes.

This one isn’t going to be a work of art full of brass knobs, exotic woods and moldings in the body and fence like the ones made by DL Barrett & Sons. I’m using some cherry, walnut and a few small pieces of hard maple and ebony – all from the scraps bin.

I want it to be a low angle plane but making a wooden plane with a 12º bed is out of question, the body would be too thin to handle the strain, so I decided to take a different approach and instead of making a bevel up plane this will have the blade resting with the bevel down on a 37º bed.

This design should have the same cutting effect of the #60 1/2 since the angle of attack of a bevel up plane is the sum of the bed angle and the angle of the bevel of the blade (usually 12º + 25º respectively).

Pictured above is a sketch I made using SketchUp to have an idea of the dimensions. I guess it will work out fine!

The SketchUp model isn’t perfect but will give you an idea of all the parts and dimensions.

Attached files:

• Block plane sketch

This wedged tenon is usually called tusk tenon, where a wedge shaped key crosses the through tenon to lock things in place, making the joint sturdy and allowing the piece to be disassembled.

Also, the image above is much more clear then yesterday’s which was just a close-up of the joinery detail with the x-ray feature in SketchUp turned on.

When making this type of joint there are a few points to consider:

• The angle on the wedge should be between 3º and 5º
• The mortise for the wedge is located slightly inside the post
• The wedge should be made from a wood that is as hard or harder than the stock they wedge
• Single loose wedges are usually oriented vertically and double loose wedges are usually oriented horizontally

Attached files:

• Wedged tenon