Mini Spar Plane

When working on the wooden model ship kits I found that I needed to plane the edges of planks regularly or taper pieces of dowel to make spars etc. Standard sized tools were very difficult to use on these small pieces of wood. Some years ago I came across a drawing of a very small plane that looked to be made for the job.

After studying the drawings I modified things a little and made my own mini plane. I have found it to be a very useful little tool over the years.

This tool is pretty small but is very easy and accurate to control. You hold the body between your thumb and middle finger and the wooden ball at the end of the handle sits in the palm of your hand.

Below is a photo and a simple drawing of my mini plane.

miniplane1The body of the plane is made from 2mm brass sheet bent and filed to shape and then soft soldered together. The blade was made from an old hacksaw blade.
spar_planeThis is a simple drawing of my mini plane. I have not added dimensions to this drawing but if it is printed the dimensions can be taken directly from the page. The two threaded items are both 4 mm threads but anything close will do.