Making a poor mans plane while using poor tools

You need tools to make tools, a plane to make a plane, the first plane though cannot be planed (made flat), the next plane is more plain, good planes are plane planes: planes made using planes. I used axes and chisels forged with a stone for hammer. I do not use poor tools because I am a poor man myself. But I am interested in beginnings. The story I dive into concern the hand-made, tool-tools and the bare hands of a worker.
From what I have heard, in theory you need three flat surfaces to process on of each other to be sure of absolute flatness. Two surfaces flattening each other easily lead to absolute flatness lengthwise but they can be bent up or down, the third one reduce that risk. But I made one and began the work on another. Work on the second one made me realize I have no use of a plane that plane just yet.
With the axe I can make surfaces plain enough for my needs this far and the only need for a plane would be if I for some reason wanted to place the skills in a tool rather than in the arms of a worker. Whenever I need a surface plainer than I can make with the axe I guess I will finish the second and third plane. Until then I am happy to include you into this rather personal journey and please, ask or comment. Subscriptions views and comments are the only ways for the You tube algorithm to notice me and start recommend me to others who like to experience nature and craft in this way.
The plane is made in the pine tree I cut down in an earlier episode and the wedge is made out of a local cherry wood. But I do not know if it is the fatwood or a poor chisel that make the burr stick. This pine is quite fat and I made the plane from the side that was really tightly grown.

[@kareemjohnson8059]

Thank you kind Sir..you have taught me so much about how I view tools. It isn't so much about the price of the tool as much as it is the expertise and knowledge of what the intended use of the tool..

[@adelheidsnel5171]

Excellent!

[@Xandrosi]

Interesting video. This plane, while not perfect, was certainly adequate to do most crude wood shaping. Almost all woodworking seems to begin with establishing a flat surface on a tool. From there, you can get the rest of basic joinery. However, I can't find any reference that speaks to how wood planes were initially reliably flattened before industrialization. Just thinking about it, some minerals fracture flat, so that might give you a reliable reference surface. Alternately, if you mixed a loose slurry of concrete in a box, it would settle and dry flat. Or you could pour molten metal, let it dry flat, and put sand on top to then sand wood flat. So, any information you can share on how wood was initially flattened true for toolmaking?

[@gustavthane2233]

Well, a flat large surface is quite different to a flat small surface, and the method I use here can be used to make an ever flater plane. In therory we can assume that the stone age technique of grinding three surfaces towards each other two at the time will allways lead to a perfect plane in the end. Just ad sand and water between the two stones and they will erode. In practice I assume almost flat is enough. Wood joinery may establish a flat suface to begin with but not much flatter than what a plane is providing. A plane gives you a flat surface due to the fixation of the chisel/cut, not the flatness of the tool. The tool is only flat to stop the tool from wobbling, at a surface large enough unwanted wooble tend to even out.

[@Xandrosi]

@@gustavthane2233 Thank you for responding. Didn't know about grinding three surfaces together, but it makes sense. I see that I was assuming a lot about the chisel. Was always curious about how it all started. Had the opportunity to see the shop of an old woodworker out in California who did restoration work. He had so many specialized planes and tools I've never seen before. He restored an antique china cabinet that had water damage around the base. Amazing hand workmanship. He lamented having nobody to share his knowledge with.

[@gustavthane2233]

@@Xandrosi yeah, I guess planes are one of those things you can never have to many of, a bit like axes or teapots 'only one more, than I will be satisfied'

[@peterwastanvader6104]

Jäklar vilken fin hyvel du fick till! 👍👌 Min respekt för det jobbet!!

[@gustavthane2233]

Tack, kul att du gillade den.

[@julunjula7226]

Brilliant again Gustav,from Dan

[@gustavthane2233]

Hey mate, thank you🙏

[@ivan55599]

It seems that youtube decided to mark my comment as a spam.

[@D-B-Cooper]

Get a large log (6’) and split it in half, smooth it out, put four legs on it and put a large blade in the middle and you have a jointer.

[@gustavthane2233]

Sweet, sounds reasonable. Perhaps one day on this channel? A poor mans jointer.

[@D-B-Cooper]

@@gustavthane2233 it’s a tradition jointer’s tool.

[@c4b0ombazzist90]

Came for an airplane lol left going... huh cool

[@gustavthane2233]

All that glisters is not gold. And KZbin clicks moves in a mysterious way. I am glad you liked it, 😇

[@tiresomekarma4054]

Lovely work Mr. Thane, really beautiful to see the preciseness of tools evolve so much in so few of time. I was thinking about what you said about the iron you smelted yourself, that it's too precious. I've been looking into smelting my own iron for a while now and perhaps even creating a semi permanent smelter to sell to blacksmiths all over the world seeing as how it's somewhat hard to find. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this idea?

[@gustavthane2233]

It is precious because it took so long time to produce and included several really sensitive steps but the tech was simple. I do not think it is the smelter people need but rather the skills and experience to balance the airflow, the slag content with the different characteristics of iron ore. If you build an oven and successfully produce qualitative forgeable steel from it I would recommend you to arrange courses instead of more ovens.

[@tiresomekarma4054]

@@gustavthane2233 Another aspect I didn't consider, thank you. I think it would also be useful to people wanting a bit for a small project. However I will probably offer courses more so when I do start to make quality wrought iron and steel. Edit ( I think because of a mis communication on my part that you think I was planning on selling smelters, yet rather I was suggesting selling the wrought iron and steel made by myself, my bad :/ )

[@gustavthane2233]

@@tiresomekarma4054 Ah yes, that make more sense. Still the experience of making it oneself is valuable.

[@yoman2854]

Interesting way of chopping at the beginning, very little wood wasted and a flat face to the log. Does it take much more energy to do this Vs cutting a big v notch? And do you need a long and thin axe head to do it? Just interested!

[@gustavthane2233]

No extra work as far as I know. But as you say, it is done with a thin and long axe. It is the reason I made the axe like that. The problem with this technique is that you need to hit quite precisely at the correct place. A V-notch is more forgiving that way. But I think it takes less energy to do since it is less wood to cut off and a more straight upp and down trajectory of the axe. As a blacksmith I tend to use the axe like a sledge, perhaps a woodworker would prefer a different way of swinging the axe for god reasons... Perhaps one will comment on that here.

[@gustavthane2233]

But also, of course, the axe is quite light weight an thin edged. With such a light axe it is not extra work, but citting a 45° angle with a heavy dedicated felling axe would be quicker. But a heavy axe is forged with a heavy hammer and I did only have stones that could fit in my hand when forging. So it had to be a light weight axe, causing this window of opurtunity.