Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

Vintage wooden-bodied miter planes are fairly rare birds (at least in the Midwest), so I was quite eager to try a new one made by Philip Edwards in England.

While I'm well-versed in metal-bodied miter planes, I had to educate myself a bit on the history of the wooden ones before putting Edward's plane to use in the Popular Woodworking shop.

John M. Whelan's seminal book "The Wooden Plane" (Astragal Press) says that miter planes appeared in tool catalogs for about 100 years, starting in 1826. There are two major variations: an English tool with the iron bedded with the bevel facing up – like a metal-bodied miter plane. And an American version with the iron bedded with the bevel down.

Edward's miter plane is mostly in the American style. The massive 1/4"-thick cutter is bedded at 38° with the bevel facing down, like a traditional bench plane. The miter plane's iron is secured with a simple wedge and does not have a cap iron, sometimes called a chipbreaker.

This turns out to be a good arrangement. Because the bevel is facing down in this tool, there isn't much of the wooden sole supporting the blade up by the tool's cutting edge. So the thick cutter is a must to prevent blade chatter.

However, the plane does have a bit of English in it. Edwards added a strip of dense end grain directly in front of the mouth of the tool – an English feature, according to Whelan. Because of the way miter planes are used, this is an excellent detail.

Miter planes can be used for a wide variety of chores – not just for trimming the short grain of a miter. The block-like shape of the tool allows it to be used on a shooting board for trimming end grain. Also, the plane serves as an excellent large-scale block plane – it's excellent for trimming the long-grain edges of boards. And the tool's 10"-long sole helps ensure your edges stay straight.

All in all, the plane is quite well-made. The wedge and the wooden body (called the "stock") are goncalo alves, a fairly dense tropical hardwood. The corners of the tool have handsome wide chamfers, like many early wooden-bodied planes. And the plane weighs in at 2 lbs. 12 oz., which gives it the kind of mass I like in a plane designed for a shooting board.  

As far as fit and finish go, it is a quality tool, though not as refined as a plane from Clark & Williams in Eureka Springs, Ark. Nor does the Edward's plane have the same price tag. Edwards charges 85 pounds Sterling for the tool (with the sorry state of the U.S. dollar these days, that's about $170, a good price for a tool of this quality).

My only difficulty with the plane came while I set it up. The wooden stock had moved during its trip across the Atlantic and the sole needed to be trued up. A few minutes on a sheet of sandpaper adhered to some granite and the tool was ready to go. Truing the sole of any of these tools will tend to open up the mouth of the tool, and the mouth on the tester went from infinitesimally small to about 1/64", which is still a very tight mouth.

For now, Edwards is a part-time planemaker. His day job is carpentry – fitting kitchens, hanging doors and the like. Edwards also has been writing articles for British woodworking magazines (Good Woodworking and The Woodworker) and plans to become a full-time planemaker in 2008. His web site – PhillyPlanes.co.uk – already offers a variety of wooden planes and accessories, including a sweet mini panel-raising plane that I reviewed in the February 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking.

Both of these tools are excellent workers, and I recommend them without any reservations. If these tools are any indication, I think Edwards is going to succeed in his new venture.

— Christopher Schwarz

When I wrapped up the last Festool entry (click to read) I mentioned that I had a tip for using the Domino when building with particleboard. So, I’ll start there then move on to the information about the routers.

We all know that building with particleboard or MDF is difficult. If the weight doesn’t ruin your back, then surely the thought of creating joints in this man-made product has to trouble your thoughts. Of course you can use the Domino for standard methods of joinery, but the idea presented at the Festool Editors’ Event made my eyes open wide.

Many times particleboard is simply screwed together. While that seems like an easy task, it isn’t. Adding screws to particleboard, even special screws designed for particleboard, seldom hold as we would like. And, taking screws out and installing them a number of times, as you would do with “knock-down” furniture designs, increases the likelihood those screw joints will weaken, if not flat-out fail.

So here’s the tip. Determine the screw location (where the screw enters the backing piece of particleboard) then cut a slot for a Domino so the widest profile of the Domino is parallel to the particleboard edge. Stay back from edge about 3/16” and don’t cut all the way through the thickness of the particleboard, don’t want the Domino to show on the outside face.

Next, install a Domino in the slot and allow the glue to dry. Smooth away any extra material of the Domino until the surface is flush. Now as you drive the screw, you’ll be grabbing the Domino instead of just the particleboard. Since the Domino is a hardwood with a grain it holds better than the particleboard ever will.

I’ll bet your particleboard projects stay together longer and stronger with this tactic employed.

On to the Routers
Festool introduced two new routers for release in 2008. The first is a small trim router, the MFK700. What’s new about this router? What makes it a Festool tool? The MFK700 is mountable in both a vertical position, as is standard with most routers, and a horizontal position. Both bases are part of the router kit.

The supplied horizontal base is set with a 1-1/2º degree slope to facilitate trimming laminate and edge banding using a straight bit. I like the idea, but I think a base with no slope would be more beneficial to woodworkers who don’t play in the laminate area. That is in the works according the Festool team.

Each mounting design features Festool-like dust collection. There is quick, single knob changeover between bases and a fine-tune adjustment knob used with the 720 watt motor. Look for a 1/4” and 8mm collet to hold the bits in this 3-pound tool.

In addition, the vertical base has a threaded base plate that’s ready to accept guide bushings with ease. Have you ever had a standard guide bushing come loose in the router? I have and it’s not pretty. The inner ring spins at 20,000 revolutions per minute (RPM) as it’s trapped whirling on the bit, or it ricochets around the shop like a Saturday morning cartoon character. This set-up also eliminates the need to center your bushings or adjust your routing technique each time a bushing is installed.

I’ll be interested in getting a more in-depth look at this router.

The second router shown is Festool’s OF2200, a big 2200 watt, 18 amp workhorse. The variable speed router runs between 10,000 and 22,000 RPM. I’m just going to wet your appetite for this tool with a few features that I found exciting. The first of which is a tool-less base plate and template guide change. It’s a snap. Literally, snap one plate off and snap another plate in and you’re ready for the next router operation. It’s cool.

The OF2200 has double column clamping and there’s also a dust collection shroud used when edge routing that Festool says makes the router 99% dust free. It works. Another feature is the ratcheting spindle lock that makes bit changes faster, easier and smarter. (By the way, that’s the new Festool advertisement slogan – A Faster, Easier and Smarter tool. It’s not just a tool, it’s a Festool.)

This big router has a bit of mass to it at 18.2 pounds and that is the subject of Marc Spagnuolo’s comment I mentioned in the last entry. He suggests using a router of this size and weight for inlay work. Huh? I’ve always used a small router for that type of intricate work. But, if you think about it, Marc’s idea is right on. He says a large router like the Festool OF2200 is perfect because, with a small diameter bit installed, this tool sits rock steady on the work piece as it’s running, no bouncing around. Then all you need to do is guide the router to accomplish the work and not worry about having a death grip on the router to keep it from dancing around the board as you work. Thanks Marc. I’m going to use that tip.

–Glen D. Huey