Roubo Hollows & Rounds
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Roubo Hollows & Rounds BY CALEB JAMES Make these French moulding planes that are essential for every hand-tool kit. 22 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 22 1/20/16 2:32 PM ollows and rounds are mak- billets. Sometimes you can fi nd wide fi ne. Lay out the angles according to ing a strong comeback in the plain-sawn boards that have been cut the drawing below, then cut freehand Hhand tool woodworking world. close to the quartersawn orientation with a backsaw. Don’t fret if your an- However, many woodworkers are on the outer edges of the board. gles aren’t perfect; any variation will scared off from jumping in by either a Once you’ve selected t he stock, pre- be worked out later in the process of limited tool budget or the limited avail- pare two blanks for the bodies for each fi tting the wedge. Just try to make the ability of antique ones in good condi- plane size – one for the hollow and one 55° side of the guide 90° to its face as tion. Don’t let that hold you back any for the round. The blanks are all 31⁄2" best you can. This will simplify fi tting longer. You don’t need a whole set to get wide x 91⁄2" long. The thicknesses will the wedge later, as you will see. started anyway. The three sizes in this vary: 3⁄4" for the No. 4s; 15⁄16" for the No. Now true up these cut surfaces with article – Nos. 4, 6 and 8 – are the ones 6s; and 11⁄8" for the No. 8s. a handplane. For the fence, choose I most often reach for. (A No. 4 cuts a You’ll also need 1⁄8"-thick O1 tool some material that will overhang the 1⁄4" profi le, a No. 6 cuts 3⁄8" and a No. 8 steel blade blanks (surface ground on bottom in all directions. Screw this to cuts 1⁄2".) After you make a pair or two, both faces) to match the size of the the bottom. Use the angled surfaces you may fi nd you never need another profi le (two each per set). Tool steel is of the jig’s body to guide your saw in size to suit your working needs. available in short lengths at a number of I’ll teach you how to make your own online suppliers, including McMaster- planes – just like early craftsmen did. Carr (mcmaster.com) and Online Met- They were woodworkers, not profes- als (onlinemetals.com). sional planemakers, so they made The fi nal length of the blades shown planes with tools that were readily here is 8" (7 3⁄8" works for the Roubo- available in their tool chests. In other style planes, too). words, tools you likely already have. André-Jacob Roubo shows and de- Time Well Spent scribe these planes in his 18th-century Making a jig is not how I like to spend master work “l’Art du menuisier.” What shop time, but this saw guide is worth I’ll show you refl ects Roubo’s plane con- the investment. Consistent bed and struction coupled with British/Ameri- breast angles are at the heart of effi cient can styling and proportions. That way, planemaking and this jig will help you your new planes will fi t nicely in your achieve that. Planemaker’s helper. A guide that registers British-style tool chest, and likely match Any stock that didn’t quite make your cuts for the bed and breast angles is many of the planes you already have. the cut as plane material should work worth your time to make. Choose Wisely While you can make a plane out of just about any hardwood, some woods are clearly the better choice. Tradition- 3 ally, Western planes were made mostly 3 ⁄4" in beech. Other historically choices 65.5° 55° Screw breast bed include yellow birch, and fruitwoods angle angle such as apple and even pear. If you plan to work hardwoods with your planes, 1⁄2" choose a diffuse-porous wood such as 11 4 ⁄16" 25⁄8" the ones mentioned. Measurement determined by A non-traditional wood that is worth angles; must overhang body considering is hard maple. enough to trim to match SAW GUIDE – Avoid ring-porous hardwoods such SAW GUIDE – SIDE VIEW FRONT VIEW as oak because the soft early growth ring layers can suffer undesirable ef- 9" fect s once t hey begin to wear w it h use. No matter what you choose, select quar- tersawn stock for seasonal stability. 3.5° 90° Because many diffuse-porous woods are often hard to fi nd quartersawn, you might fi nd 16/4 material that is plain- sawn that you can cut into quartersawn SAW GUIDE – BOTTOM VIEW OPENING PHOTO BY DANIEL DUBOIS PHOTOGRAPHY; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAN PESSELL FROM THE AUTHOR’S DRAWINGS popularwoodworking.com ■ 23 22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 23 1/20/16 2:32 PM Breast cut. For the breast angle, align your saw guide forward 5⁄32" at the depth or your previous saw line. Bed cut. Secure your saw guide in place with a holdfast and cut down as deep as your plane blade is wide. trimming the fence to match their re- spective angles. True up these surfaces with a handplane. Dado – Triangle Style Controlled excavation. Use the saw guide as a reference to help remove the material without damaging the mouth. Work from the opposite side to remove the bulk of the waste. Creating the heart and soul of this plane is not much harder than mak- ing a dado…only it’s a triangular dado. Position your saw guide 33⁄4" back Therefore, measure forward 5⁄32" at the Orient the plane body so that the from the toe then subtract the thickness depth of the previous saw cut. Thus, grain runs downhill from toe to heel. of your sawplate. Secure the guide in 5⁄32" will be the maximum width of the Lay out the width of your plane blade place with a holdfast, then register your opening at the sole. (1⁄4", 3⁄8" or 1⁄2", depending on the size crosscut backsaw against the guide Now excavate the material between plane you’re making) on the top and and cut down the layout line for the the two kerfs down to the blade-depth bottom of the plane body from the es- plane blade. line. You can use a 1⁄8" chisel or, bet- capement side. Flip the guide from left to right so ter yet, a specialty 1⁄10" mortise chisel Secure the body between bench that the breast-angle side (65.5°) is now (Lie-Nielsen car r ie s a nice one) to pass dogs, with the escapement side up and facing left. Place the guide forward of through the sole opening. Follow up the sole toward you. Place your saw your bed-angle kerf on the sole by 5⁄32". with a narrow blade in your router guide on the body so that the bed-angle Because the breast cut is not at 90˚ – plane to achieve a consistent depth. If side (55˚) is facing left and the fence is it’s skewed approximately 3.5˚ – it will you don’t have a router plane, simply pressed against the sole. not create a consistent-width opening. undercut the dado slightly so that the Sole material. Use the thickness of your blade to mark off how much material needs to be removed so the blade can pass through the sole. Skewed for removal. The skewed breast will leave a triangular bit of material that will need to be removed. 24 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 24 1/20/16 2:33 PM blade and wedge will seat snuggly at clear this material. Be careful not to 11⁄4", respectively, from the sole. I fi nd the top and bottom. remove too much. You will refi ne the that an 18mm, No. 7 gouge works well opening later. for carving it. You want the shape to Don’t Open Wide The lower and upper limit of the look almond-like, with the wider part Because the breast is skewed, you will escapement should be about 1⁄4" and toward the sole. Don’t carve clear down need to remove some addit ional mate- rial so that the blade can pass through Leave a little. Don’t the sole. carve clear down to the Use your plane blade as a guide to bottom of the breast wall. The wedge needs mark out how much material needs to to have support against be removed. Position the blade along the breast wall all the the bed angle and let it overhang the way to its tip. sole. With your striking knife, mark along the front of the blade across the portion of the breast that blocks the blade’s passage through the sole. Trans- fer this line down and square across the sole. Use a chisel, working down from the side and up from the sole, to Blade Wedge Grip Dashed lines are British-style details Toe 1⁄8" chamfer Heel Escapement side 66.5° breast angle, 17⁄8" skewed at 3.5° 1⁄2 55° bed 3 " Blind side angle 3⁄8" r Escapement 1 1 3 ⁄4" 1 ⁄4" 30° relief bevel ~ ⁄4"r (#7 sweep/ 18mm gouge) 3⁄8" Wear bevel Sole 33⁄4" ~60° 3 91⁄2" ⁄16" PROFILE ELEVATION Initial breast saw line Approximate fi nal mouth opening Bed line 3⁄8" 15⁄16" Measure 5⁄32" forward of bed line here NO.