V-Plane

I have one piece of QS black birch, rendered for the purposes of testing it as a planewoood and comparing it to beech which I've used previously. I labored over which plane to make out of this, I debated first about making a pair of small hollow and rounds which seemed like a waste for my only piece of material. Next idea was a rabbet of some sort, first straight, then skewed with a nicker. That did it for a while but I wanted still something more interesting. Then I saw a v-plane in Whelan's The Wooden Plane, and I knew that was it.

The downside is I've only been able to find four references to vee planes, one is a plow by D.L. Barrett and Sons, one was in Whelan (a side escapement), one was in an online auction with a rabbet escamepent, and the last was another v plow referenced in passing in the 1990 May/June issue of American Woodworker in an article on molding planes by Mike Dunbar, page 51 as a method of wasting large amounts of wood from a cornice profile to be finished with hollow and rounds.

 It's slightly harder than both beech and yellow birch, species used in commercial American make planes for centuries. Like beech is has the uniformity between early and latewood called diffuse porous that allows all parts of the wood to move according to humidity, making it very stable.

 Big, then small gouges and sandpaper wrapped dowels are used to carve the conical escapement, I was a bit dubious about this from some rabbet escapements I have, and have seen. After drafting it several times, attempting to get the proportions right I bored out the bulk with a brace and set to carving.

It's a subtle and sexy piece of complex geometry, a conical ogee. Mine isn't without a blemish or two but my initial dislike of the escapement has totally changed after rendering it.  

 The birch has been pleasant to work with and beautiful besides. the texture is very fine, not flashy like QS beech, and with more subtlety in color. I'm hoping I can get a lot more of it and start that plane making business!