Building a Better Block Plane // Stanley No 9 Recreation! – Pt1
Building a Better Block Plane // Stanley No 9 Recreation! – Pt1
The Stanley no 9 known as a “Cabinet Maker’s Block Plane” as well as a “Piano Maker’s Plane” was a plane that was developed in the 1860s. Despite its name it was not really a block plane in the way that we think of block planes today. The no 9 was Stanley’s version of the infill miter planes that were coming out of New York and England. The no 9 had a 2″ blade and an overall size comparable to the no 4 smoothing plane. It was much larger than a typical block plane. The purpose of the no 9 was to take fine shavings on both face and end grain. Additionally, it could be used on its side as a shooting plane.
Stanley ceased production of the no 9 in the mid 1900s. Lie-Neilsen produced their own version for a time in the early 2000s, but those have ceased production as well. To get one now you have to pay collector prices. I was not interested in paying collector prices for a tool so I decided to pay an equivalent amount of money in raw materials and new tools to build one myself.
I will be making some changes as I build my version. Both the Stanley and Lie-Neilsen versions were cast iron. I do not have the ability to cast metal so I will be making mine out of flat bar stock. Primarily O1 tool steel. Second, again because I do not have the ability to cast, I will be assembling mine with dovetail joinery like a traditional English mitre (miter if you are in the US) planes. The overall size has stayed the same, but I have made the side walls on mine thicker than the original. Primarily this was to add a bit of weight. The last major change I have made is that mine will include wooden infills. From the examples I have seen, so far, Stanley’s version did not use wooden infills. A few from Lie-Neilsen did and I liked the way those looked so that is what I want to do on mine. There will be other deviations from the original as I solve construction problems as I go.
This build has been incredibly time consuming so I have split it into separate videos. A playlist for all of the videos can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetZthD4Zdl8Ad7gZhOSsmCEzowQzeVrf
In this video I get the metal components that make up the body fabricated and temporarily assembled.
0:00 About
0:20 File Guide
0:50 Laying out the Sides
2:09 Drilling the Sides
3:25 Dovetail Work
6:09 Rear Sole
9:06 Fitting the Front and Back
11:35 Making the Bed
20:00 Moveable Mouth
22:00 You Spin Me Right Round…
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Behind the Scenes:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric.meyer….
About the Builds, Gallery, and Plans: https://ericmeyermaker.wordpress.com/
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#handtools #miterplane #tooltrain2022
Before I comment on the video I have to complain. That screech from the file on metal, threw a shiver up my spine that was worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. What is up with that??? LOL Although you may have a lot of work to do, this was truly enjoyable to watch. The precision is unreal! After you finish this AND the impossible joint, next challenge is to make a Japanese plain and make shavings that are super thin. 🙂 You can thank us later for all the content ideas we give you. Then again, you can blame us for all the content ideas we give you. LOL
I just want to say out loud that your videos are getting better and better with each upload, and I ain’t kidding. Make On Brother! Maker 238