We all know that some of the best Christmas presents are ones that are handcrafted by our family and friends. They are the kind of things we end up keeping forever. So, here is my Christmas present to you. Something for following along all this time. If you really want to do something special for a family member or life long surfing buddy, Make them a Handplane. Here is a general idea, with some pics, of how I do it. Hopefully it will get you started along the right path.
Step 1- figure out the wood you want to use. I always use Paulownia these days mainly due to it's super high strength to weight ratio. But, It's expensive and kinda hard to get. Not readily available at the local hardware store. If you can't get your hands on some Paulownia, use Poplar. I use 1" thick blanks, you can get by with 3/4" if needed. Make a template with paper (an outline) and draw it out on the board. Try and make it as even as possible. Cut out the wood with a bandsaw, jigsaw, or whatever cutting device you have. Here is a big time saver: don't spend a lot of time trying to even out the template after you cut it, the wood is thick, and it's much easier to do once you've thinned it down. So Now you have your board cut out. You need something to mount it in. I use a clamp like this. I prop the nose up, because the first thing I do is put the nose bevel in.
I use a 4.5 in angle grinder for all of my shaping. I use 24 grit on it. If you don't have one, you can use a random orbital sander: Here is a pic of the initial bevel.
Next, I unprop the nose and put the board in the clamp and really clamp it down. Then I usually put a rough concave in. See below.
Now comes the hard part. You've got to blend it all together. The first thing I do is take down the tail, which puts a little tail rocker in. This also makes a nice rail line that matches on each side. One reminder, you should constantly be looking at rail, nose, and tail thickness at all times. Matching them, making sure you are reasonably congruent. Here is a pic of the bottom roughed out.
I now turn my attention to the deck. I put in matching rail bands. Matching the width of the bands is not as important as matching the thickness of the rails and nose. See rail band below.
Once the rail bands are in and symmetric, I then blend them into the deck which will leave you a domed deck.
The deck is domed, the bottom is roughed, Now the board should be alot thinner. Now it's time to nail that outline. I used a sanding block for this. You can make one, it's basically a block of wood, 3/4" x 8" x 4" with sandpaper wrapped around it. Use long strokes and make sure that your block is perpendicular to the ground. Here is mine all true'd up.
After the outline is done, it's time to get to sanding. I sand all of my handplanes to 120 grit. I use 80 on my grinder. 100 on my random orbital sander, then 120 by hand. Should leave it nice and smooth like below.
Now it's time to turn the rails. Use your sanding block again with 80 grit. You want to leave a pretty hard edges on the bottom rails, but the bottom nose should be equally blended to the top nose. On the top, I would initially take my block at a 45 degree ankle and blend the rail down half of it's thickness. Then blend those lines down, repeat. by this time, it should start looking pretty round. Your rails should be turned now. I usually do a finish sand with 120 along the rails, then same with the deck and bottom. Here is my finished shape.
As for the finishing process. You have some choices. You can seal it with linseed oil mixtures that you can find online, or you can finish it with any combinations of varnishes, or polyurethane finishes that are out on the market. You can also use Resin or Epoxy if you like.
The final step is the strap. Now everyone wants to know how I do mine. Sorry, I gotta hold some things close. My recomendation would be to use 1" webbing. Either Polyester or Nylon. You can get it at any climbing store. Sew velcro to it. When I started, I use to freehand sew it together. It works. As for attaching it to the board. I would use two wood screws that go as deep as possible, without going through the board. Pre-drill them. Use a 1" plate that spans the strap. Drill two holes in it that the screws will pass through. This will make the screws have to work together and not independantly. And also prevent the strap from pulling over the screw head. So, it should go-- board, strap, plate, then screws. Maybe a drop of epoxy or super glue into the pre-drilled holes prior to screwing them in.
Hope this all helps. Remember, everything works. If a food tray works, god knows that your creation is gonna work better. I got some amazing waves on the very first handplane that I made. Would love to see some pics of some of your productions. And also some with thier new owners.
