ee

16/01/2007 8:46 AM

The 20$ Woodcraft spoon plane

Every time I went to Woodcraft I'd notice that little spoon plane
http://woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4867
and think about it, and move on. Last week I had twenty bucks burning a
hole in my pocket and couldn't help myself. What the heck, if I don't
like it I can always beat myself up.

Took me around an hour to get a decent edge on it. Most of that time
was finding a stance and a methodology. I don't like honing curved
blades, but I managed. It had one monster of a burr on it.

And I carved out a spoon bowl! Took me about ten minutes. It was
actually fun. Like scrubs and members of that family, cutting across
the grain, even at just a slight angle, works best. Going along the
grain, with or against it, gave me chatter.

Pretty soon I had me a nice hefty cherry spoon. Total time for my very
first spoon including unpackaging the plane, honing, staring at it,
picking out a nice piece of scrap, cutting, carving, and sanding it to
320; under three hours. Finished it with walnut oil, waited 24 hours.
SWMBO thinks it's beautiful. It looks nice, feels great.

Okay. Not bad for 20 bucks. :-) I've found me an easily shippable
Christmas/birthday present for a while, anyway. And we've got a nice
neighbor who gave me several nice chunks of her crabapple tree when it
blew down last summer. I think she'd like a spoon from that tree.


This topic has 6 replies

ee

in reply to "[email protected]" on 16/01/2007 8:46 AM

16/01/2007 11:40 AM


George wrote:

> I do a few hundred spoons each year, and the sole on the plane in question
> does limit you where a curved knife, open scorp, or even
> http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32641&cat=1,310,41069 does
> not. With a gouge for the heavy work and the others for cleanup, they get
> down to about twenty minutes per. Do two water sets for fuzz before oiling.
> I do one at 150 and one at 220.
>
> Of course I do have the Lee Valley low angle shaves for the handles, too.
When I'm up to a few hundred spoons every year, I'll probably have
other favorites.

For now, I'm happy that the tool does what I hoped it would. Yes, I can
already see what its limits are but for the moment I'm nowhere near
them. :-) If I can get it down to a half hour per spoon, that would be
fine, and I think that's quite possible. And an afternoon in a lawn
chair scooping out bowls doesn't strike me as irritating. I'm not
thinking of sales and profit. Yet.

ee

in reply to "[email protected]" on 16/01/2007 8:46 AM

16/01/2007 7:39 PM


John wrote:
> Just curious but is the blade itself flat? The edge is obviously curved
> but I'm wondering whether the blade is concave like the spoon part.
>
> J.

It's flat. You can lap it like any plane blade. It's like a scrub plane
blade with a more exaggerated curve.

Aa

"Andy"

in reply to "[email protected]" on 16/01/2007 8:46 AM

23/01/2007 4:01 PM

> J.It's flat. You can lap it like any plane blade. It's like a scrub
plane
> blade with a more exaggerated curve.

If anyone's interested, I just noticed this spoon plane is available at
japanwoodworker.com for $15.75. Shipping would make it more expensive
if you have a local woodcraft, but if you're going to order one, or if
you live in Alameda, CA, that's another option.
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=99.000.01&dept_id=12757
Andy

Gg

"George"

in reply to "[email protected]" on 16/01/2007 8:46 AM

16/01/2007 5:10 PM


<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every time I went to Woodcraft I'd notice that little spoon plane
> http://woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4867
> and think about it, and move on. Last week I had twenty bucks burning a
> hole in my pocket and couldn't help myself. What the heck, if I don't
> like it I can always beat myself up.

>
> Pretty soon I had me a nice hefty cherry spoon. Total time for my very
> first spoon including unpackaging the plane, honing, staring at it,
> picking out a nice piece of scrap, cutting, carving, and sanding it to
> 320; under three hours. Finished it with walnut oil, waited 24 hours.
> SWMBO thinks it's beautiful. It looks nice, feels great.
>
>
I do a few hundred spoons each year, and the sole on the plane in question
does limit you where a curved knife, open scorp, or even
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32641&cat=1,310,41069 does
not. With a gouge for the heavy work and the others for cleanup, they get
down to about twenty minutes per. Do two water sets for fuzz before oiling.
I do one at 150 and one at 220.

Of course I do have the Lee Valley low angle shaves for the handles, too.

Jn

John

in reply to "[email protected]" on 16/01/2007 8:46 AM

16/01/2007 9:30 PM

Just curious but is the blade itself flat? The edge is obviously curved
but I'm wondering whether the blade is concave like the spoon part.

J.


[email protected] wrote:

> Took me around an hour to get a decent edge on it. Most of that time
> was finding a stance and a methodology. I don't like honing curved
> blades, but I managed. It had one monster of a burr on it.

PG

"Puff Griffis"

in reply to "[email protected]" on 16/01/2007 8:46 AM

16/01/2007 3:43 PM

Wood Working for relaxation is truly enjoyable isn't it.
Puff

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> George wrote:
>
>> I do a few hundred spoons each year, and the sole on the plane in
>> question
>> does limit you where a curved knife, open scorp, or even
>> http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32641&cat=1,310,41069 does
>> not. With a gouge for the heavy work and the others for cleanup, they
>> get
>> down to about twenty minutes per. Do two water sets for fuzz before
>> oiling.
>> I do one at 150 and one at 220.
>>
>> Of course I do have the Lee Valley low angle shaves for the handles, too.
> When I'm up to a few hundred spoons every year, I'll probably have
> other favorites.
>
> For now, I'm happy that the tool does what I hoped it would. Yes, I can
> already see what its limits are but for the moment I'm nowhere near
> them. :-) If I can get it down to a half hour per spoon, that would be
> fine, and I think that's quite possible. And an afternoon in a lawn
> chair scooping out bowls doesn't strike me as irritating. I'm not
> thinking of sales and profit. Yet.
>


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