Planers and Building Your Very Own “Philly Forge” | Tools Rule! | Toologics.com

Aug 23 2007

Planers and Building Your Very Own “Philly Forge”

Written by Jude Herr

Thursday, 23 August 2007

Besides knocking my sister on the head with a hammer when I was about 4 years old, the planer is the first tool that I can remember being fascinated with in my grandpa’s basement. The reason for my fascination was because of the curly “locks of hair” it produced. I had short, straight hair, which for a girl who grew up being mistaken for a boy more often than not, that fake wood hair was sure fun to play make-believe with. I liked the planer, it made me ‘glamorous’.

Today’s large, automated planers don’t quite create such a glamorous effect for me but they certainly do for the folks who use them. Pat Morrow from Trail Mix Studios uses a Delta 2-speed Planer to create stunning fine-art furniture pieces. She calls it her “workhorse”. Planers and Joiners are used for milling wood. In basic terms, they straighten out, flatten and Square the edges on your wood so that you can work with it. After the Joiner flattens and squares your wood, the Planer will trim the wood to the thickness you need and/or make a “fresh face” on your wood piece.

Every brand of planer has it’s own unique qualities. For example, the DeWalt 735 features a three knife cutter-head that results in a 30% longer knife life and makes knife-change faster and easier. At 96 or 179 cuts per inch, the DW735 also offers the finish via the most cuts per inch available on a bench top Thickness Planer. The Delta 22-580 has a blade zero indicator can be used to set the cutter head to the exact thickness of the material and can then accurately remove material in standard increments. These are just two of the many types and sizes of planers that are available. Choosing the right planer depends upon the size of your projects and whether you are a home-hobbyist or a professional (aka, how often you will use the planer). It also depends upon which features are most important to you.

By way of my buddy, Wayne C at the Lumberjocks forum, I’ve discovered a guy in England, Philip Edwards, who makes those snazzy hand planers that would create those large locks of luxurious wooden, curls that I so admire. Not to mention that they are also useful for woodworking. Philip lives in Broadstone, Dorset on the South coast of England. He is the Director of a company that specializes in property refurbishment and travels throughout England making homes better places to live. To the left is a photo of his Miter Plane but you should really have a stroll through the photo gallery on his website to see all his work.

Phil also has created “The Philly Forge”. If you need to build a forge of your own for heat treating your irons then “this little baby will be very useful, states Phil. It costs next to nothing to make and works very, very well.” I’ve included Philip’s directions below:

	1. You will need- • a Wok • a hairdryer • a metal tube (I bought a table leg from my local B+Q for £1.80) • a tin can • some charcoal
	2. The table leg has a flange welded to the top of the tube. I drilled matching holes in the wok to bolt it on.
	3. drill five holes through the flange to allow the air through and make matching holes in the wok.
	4. With the wok bolted to the tube you will need to make some form of holder to safely hold the forge and the hairdryer. Here is my simple solution from scrap around the workshop.
	5. Cut the bottom out of the tin can and slice open one side to act as a holder for your work. The can holds the charcoal together over the air entry holes.
	6. Fill the can with charcoal and get the party started. Once the charcoal is burning nicely you can turn on the hairdryer. Adjust how close the dryer is to the end of the tube to get enough (or just enough) air flow.
	7. Plunge your iron into the forge and give it a couple of minutes - it will soon be at temperature. I have a tin of oil at hand to quench the iron when it reaches the correct heat and a small magnet to test it. Needless to say, you will need tongs to handle the hot iron and safety clothing will be needed - it gets REAL hot! A fire extinguisher nearby is also a good idea. Safety lecture is now over. Here's the iron you saw in the pictures (after tempering and sharpening!!).