I've decided to attempt to make a block plane. I've got a copy of John Wilson's "Making Woods Tools" (affiliate link) last year and I have not yet made any tools from the book. The block plane is the first project in the book and is a good place to start according to John. The book seems detailed enough to follow the project and John includes how to make the blade as well.
I plan to post photos as I build the block plane.
So far I selected the wood and ordered the steel for the blade (affiliate link).
For the inner core of the plane I selected a piece of walnut. I did not have a piece large enough 1 17/32" x 1 17/32" x 6" so I glued up a walnut blank. For the sides I selected a piece a piece of hardwood maple. The board was left over prefinished maple flooring. I planed the bottom of the flooring flat and used the bandsaw to resaw the board to just over 1/4" thick. I then planed the board down to 1/4" thick removing the bandsaw marks.
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| Walnut blank clamped and waiting for the glue to dry |
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| Maple flooring for the sides prior to being resawn. |