Wood plane

[Two Bears]

How often is a wood plane used when doing stock work?

[smart dog]

Two Bears,
The answer is - a lot.  I have a variety of plans that I use.  I have jack and smoothing planes that I use to square up the stock after band sawing out the rough shape.  I have barrel bedding planes that cut octagon and round channels for barrels,a 3/8" round bottom plane for cutting the ramrod channel, and a tiny scraping plane for cleaning up background around carving.

dave

[Darrin McDonal]

Dave,
 would you mind showing some pics of these barrel channel planes or any nifty specialty planes. I have one I made from a modified wood plane I bought from Lee valley. I got the idea from two Mark Silver brought his to Bowling Green a couple of years ago.
Thanks
Darrin

[Dave B]

Here are the planes I use for barrel channel and one for ramrod channel work.

[smart dog]

Hi Darrin,
Dave B's photos show it all.  Mine are the same. I sawed off the front ends of the barrel and ramrod planes leaving only about 1 1/2 inches of plane body in front of the blade. I then reinforced the ends with 3/16" thick brass sheet. I did that so I could scrape closer to the breech and ramrod hole.  Below is a picture of my tiny scraping plane for carving.  I bought it from Ron Scott.  The bigger plane is for rabbiting edges of wood.  I use it for case making and other cabinetry work.  It was my great-grand father's, which he used to build and carve carousel horses for rides at Coney Island in the late 19th century.

dave

 

[Pete G.]

Be careful using a plane for shaping. Curly maple has a tendency to break out chunks when you least expect it.

[Jim Kibler]

Two Bears,

I think the answer to your question is that planes can be used quite a bit in gun stocking or not at all.  It all depends on the techniques used.  Good results can be achieved either way.

[fix]

I didn't use any planes on mine.
I don't have a bandsaw, so there were no bandsaw marks. I cut the barrel inlet and ramrod groove with chisels and scrapers. Roughed the blank down with a handsaw chisels and rasps.

I think the planes would be helpful if you are building more than one gun, or if you just happen to have them, but they're probably overkill for a single gun. You can get the same results (with a little more work) without them.

I found that making scrapers that were just undersized copies of the barrel worked especially well for cleaning up after the bulk of the wood was removed. And a drill bit the same size as the ramrod with a flat ground end, works as a scraper for the ramrod groove.

Now, having said all that. I will likely make some planes for the next gun. I didn't know there was going to be a next gun when I started building mine, so I didn't need them originally. It is highly likely that making or buying planes for the first gun would not be a waste of money. Building rifles is like eating potato chips, can't have just one.

[smart dog]

Yep,
You certainly don't have to use planes on gunstocks but you'll be glad you did,  especially, if you know how to sharpen them and know how to use them.  There is a reason why many old-time gunsmiths had a little army of them.  A nice little spokeshave is also a good tool.  I use it all the time for shaping forestocks. Just keep it sharp and work with the wood not against it. That way you rarely have the problem Pete G mentioned.

dave

[Berks Liberty]

Did the original gunmakers or stockers use wood planes or did they rely on  chisels?  I'd figure if you have a really sharp plane it would do just fine on any wood. 

[smart dog]

Hi Jason,
I think folks on this board who worked at Colonial Williamsburg or one of the other livng history sites could probably answer your question best.  The inventory of Matthius Roessor's gunshop at his death in 1771 listed 9 planes.  He probably didn't keep 9 planes unless he used them.  A sharp plane used correctly is very efficient even in hard curly maple.  Often you have to find the best direction to plane to shave off clean curls and in very hard or figured wood, I usually hold the plane at an angle to the direction of cut.  I can square up a stock after cutting it out in a very short time with a plane.  I never use planes to cut barrel channels but once I cut out the rough channel with gouges, I scrape the octagon or round bottom using a plane.   I use coarse rasps to round stocks from a squared shape, and then smooth the rasped areas with a plane and spokeshave.  It all goes very fast.

dave

[Jim Kibler]

If anyone is interested in learning more about using edged tools in stocking longrifles I would suggest watching Mark Silver's DVD from American Pioneer Video.

I've been using planes and spokeshaves a little more lately than I had been.  When working well, they can be very efficient tools and a pleasure to use.  I have found a well set-up wooden spokeshave is extremely useful.  I had the pleasure of borrowing Mark's at WKU and it worked quite well.  With that said, other methods work well too.  For what ever reason, sometimes I am more apt to use a big gouge and rasps in stock shaping.  I think you will find there is quite a bit of variation in techniques even among the best builders today.

I guess what I would say is to dig in, give the different methods a try, and see what works best for you.

[keweenaw]

I use four planes regularly in stock making.  The first two are medium and small round bottom wooden planes for roughing out the barrel channel and cutting the ramrod groove.  The third is a low angle block plane with an adjustable throat that is used to do almost all the forestock shaping as well as work on the comb and most of the off side of the buttstock.  I use a very small Clifton shoulder plane for lots of detail work, work under the cheek piece, etc.  It has a minutely narrow throat and never takes chips no matter which way you use it.  It also has an incredibly good iron that stays sharp an extremely long time.  I also use a scrub plane on each stock to do the roughing out.

Tom

[longcruise]

Tom, The Clifton Shoulder Plane is a new reference for me.  Do you have any links or further descriptions?

Thanks!

[keweenaw]

I should have called the Clifton plane I love a bullnose plane rather than a shoulder plane.  Mark Silver put me, and many others, onto these.  The one that is useful is the very small #400.  You can use it for things like relieving a stepped forestock or lower buttstock  moulding after you cut the line, working under the cheek piece and many, many other things where you want to precisely take off small amounts of wood.  Despite the fact that the plane has an extremely narrow throat, mine almost never clogs up.

http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/clifton.htm

Tom

[Acer Saccharum]

Special purpose plane for cutting patchbox lids.



To justify the work it takes to make this plane, I'd have to make at least 50 lids. I don't have that many years left!

I was talking with Rich Pierce once, and I figured if I'm lucky, I have ten to fifteen years of guns left. Maybe more if I can find out what Roger Fisher has for breakfast.

plans for the above plane can be gotten here:
http://thosmachine.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/wooden-plane-for-wooden-patchbox/
scroll down thru the words until you see the click on download plans buttons.

[longcruise]

Tom, thanks for that link!