Official Luthiers Forum!

Last week I decided to try out one of Stephen Boone's small planes after hearing about them here on the OLF. The planes are available through Tracy at Luthier Suppliers and here is a link for your purchasing convenience: http://www.luthiersuppliers.com/products/p13.html

First this is a totally unsolicited testiclemonial in that Stephen and Tracy have no idea that I am doing this. Nor did I receive anything for my posted opinion here - I paid full price for my plane.

My plane arrived today which was pretty amazing in and of itself because I ordered it late last week and it came from Montana along with the Pygmy Pony and the dental floss (sorry I digressed.... again....).

My first impression is that the plane is superbly crafted with a tight fitting mouth and excellent craftsmanship. These planes come fully hair-popping sharp right out of the package and are ready for immediate use.

My style of building has me doing most of the carving of my braces with a finger plane. To date the Ibex 12 mm has served me well but I do find these things rather uncomfortable if using it for an extended period of time. I have also been less than thrilled with the hard edges on the sides of the soles which require me to use protection... for my tops....

My new plane is super sharp, VERY comfortable AND has a big bonus that I did not expect or notice prior to ordering. If you are a cube rule fanatic or a fan of Somogyi and you toil endlessly.... to remove excess material and mass from the sides of your braces these planes are your answer. I am not sure that the angle is but Stephen has incorporated angled sides for using the plane on an angle to shave the braces into triangular shapes!!!! I just tried mine out on a top that I had previously thought that I had removed all of the excess side material from the braces and low and behold this plane easily removed more material that the Ibex could not reach.

Needless to say I am very impressed and this is now my primary brace shaving plane - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!

Here are some pics that I took of my new plane:





Many thanks to Stephen Boone and Tracy at Luthier Suppliers for making these very cool little planes available to us!

Hesh-
Thanks for the pics and 'review'.
Does that plane have a toothed blade? (Looks like it in the 'rear-view' pic..)

Also, how easy is it to adjust the depth of cut? I've found this a problem with all my small planes, so much so that I have several I just keep 'pre-set' for given depths of cut.

Looks like a nice little plane, BTW.

Cheers
John

I agree they are great little planes!
John, you can just put a piece of paper under the front and push the blade down and this seems to work well for setting the blade.

Hesh,

Dare I ask what a "testiclemonial" is? Combined with talk of a "pygmy pony" and your references to "using protection," well, I'm a little disturbed.

John buddy it's a standard blade and the black lines that you see appear to be ink.

I just used Edward's method for adjusting the blade and it works great - thanks Edward.

Yep, I really like mine. It's also great for fine tuning small pieces of wood. I don't even use a piece of paper, I just sit mine on the bench, seat the wedge and it's ready to go. It's real easy after you use it for a while.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Those are great planes, Hesh. I've got two of them. One square and flat. One he did for me with a curved bottom for scalloping braces and tapering the ends. Love them both! Really sharp. Well set up. Don't clog up like the ibex do. Much easier to hold.

I've been meaning to order one of those with the angled sides, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Looks like a great hint!
Thanks!
John

Thanks Hesh, I just ordered mine.
I wonder if he makes one with a curved bottom & blade?

Bought one two months ago and I really don't know what I would have done without it. They are awesome.

I'm told that there are instructions for adjusting the blade etc. on the Luthier Suppliers site if anyone needs them. Imagine that.... instructions that one is supposed to actually read.....

Thanks everyone

For the record, I was joking with my post. I guess those emoticons are more useful than I realized. Sorry for any confusion. It looks like a great little plane.

I second this recommondation. As I told before, there is only good to be told about this handy little tool. You just gotta love it.

Yes he does! I just haven't put it on the website yet. Anyone interested? They are the same price @ $35. Glad you all like your planes. Stephen does a great job. Thanks so much for your support.

Regards,

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Yes, I'd like a curved bottom one. Anyone else?

I'd order a curved one as soon as it shows up on the site.

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Jim Hansen

A big thanks to Hesh for his kind words and everyone else who has supported Tracy and myself!!!!!!!

If you want a curved bottom plane just send a note with your order to Tracy and I can make it up. Note however that I do not curve the blade edge itself because I find that it is just not needed on such a small scale. I actually used my flat bottomed one to scoop out my solera so it is small enough to do some work like that. The curve I put on the bottoms of the planes is pretty shallow but it is effective. If you want to curve it more after you get the plane it is pretty simple to round it a bit more, you just want to avoid the area just in front of and behind the mouth.

Thanks again, I really appreciate all the support.

Stephen

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Thanks Hesh for this great plug. It is greatly appreciated, really. I hope that little plane brings you many years of happy carving.

By the way, if anyone wants a curved bottom plane, I just updated the website so you can now see some pics of it and order them from here:http://www.luthiersuppliers.com/products/p13.html

Here is a picture of it:

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

When I try that link I still get the flat bottom beveled plane.

They are both on the same page. There is are separate 'add to cart' buttons for the flat and curved plane body.

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Jim Hansen

Hesh, you are DA MAN!!! How more timely could you possibly be with this posting? In among the tools left behind by our departed friend Eric Mathre was this kind-of-cool-looking little plane that I had not been able to identify. Lo and behold, I was due to go over to his 'shop this very afternoon to sell a bunch of the tools to a new and aspiring luthier who was coming over from Santa Cruz and I wanted to know who made the plane and what it might be worth, either so I could buy it for my own tool box, or I could price it right for others to buy.

I hadn't seen the small "SB" embossed on the side of the plane before - but when I looked more carefully at it this afternoon, there it was. There was NO WAY I was going to let it go elsewhere....I had to have it! I gave it a quick spin in my workshop earlier tonight. Works like a charm - smooth as butter! Here it is, safely back at my place:



Stephen Boone, sir, it's a wonderful little plane and I love it!!
I'm looking forward to using it in the coming week on a new instrument I'm about to brace.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

I love mine. I bought one several months ago, when they were first announced. Great little plane. I actually ended up easing the front and back a bit, but leaving a flat in the center, which allowed me to use it on my scooped braces, and didn't change the way it worked on straight fans. Very nice little plane.

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Waddy

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