Hand Tools
David Weaver
..are made closer to the vintage patterns, of course (and they look wonderful). I'd guess his plane (with the thicker iron and slightly more substantial lever cap, etc) is probably 6 ounces heavier than a typical norris A5 (I had two of those, both were beech - there actually fairly light - if more than 4 pounds, I"d have been surprised, but they weren't good planes in later trim in beech, either, and required a lot of work just to be tolerable. Tolerable was all I could get out of them. The adjuster was coarse and tough to use, and adding tension to the lever cap increased cutting depth, so the lever cap would become a secondary adjuster of sorts and allow several thousandths of adjustment in shaving thickness.
I copied (buying the lever cap and iron from Ron) Ron Brese's pattern for a "sort of" norris #13 single iron. Same metal thickness that Ron uses and bois de rose (boy would I like to have that blank of wood back - didn't know what it was) infill for a 2" plane and it came out around 5 1/2 pounds. It's a very pleasant plane to use if you use it for what it's good at, but not very productive for more than finish smoothing.
It'd be great to see a huge spectrum of weights, but it's hard to find good information. The first time I was really alarmed about the weight of a plane, there was a small spiers dovetail smoother on ebay, and the seller said that it was 2 pounds 15 ounces. I passed on buying it as I feared it wouldn't be heavy enough to work well (open handled and dainty). On the other end of the spectrum was the loopy...can't remember the weight, but I think that plane was a ruse (at least at first).
CS lists darell hutchinson and holtey a13s at 5lbs 15 oz and 6 lbs 2 oz, respectively. Karl's 98 at a little over 4 pounds.
at 5 1/2 pounds, my #13ish copy does feel heavy at 2" of width and it would be awkward trimming small things.
Messages In This Thread
- Light vs Heavy planes
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- not the direction I went *PIC*
- Re: reframing the issue
- The experiment and conclusion are both confusing
- At some point..
- Inertia and figured wood
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- Not a positive contribution to the discussion
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- finding out who to listen to...
- Turnover, newbies and FAQ
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- new vs. old planes...
- I like tools from Brooklyn
- Re: I like tools from Brooklyn *NM*
- Infills in the UK
- I'm glad you commented.
- Note on a modern infill
- konrad's planes...
- Re: I'm glad you commented.
- what I've found...
- Weight Comparison
- Note on a modern infill
- I'm glad you commented.
- Infills in the UK
- I like tools from Brooklyn
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes
- Re: Light vs Heavy planes