One night last week, fellow planemaker Scott Meek and I were discussing scrub planes. Neither of us had ever built one and so we began a Scrub Plane Build-Off right then and there.
Scott’s plane was resawn, then laminated back together, the same way he makes the rest of his hand planes. Here are the specs for his plane:
- Body: old-growth white oak
- Length: 8″
- Width: 2.5″
- Weight: 1 lb – 10.5 oz (753 grams)
- Blade width: 1-3/4″
- Radius of blade: 4″
I opted for a hand-tool oriented approach, mortising the body with chisels. I knew that my scrub plane would see considerable hard use so I incorporated a lignum vitae sole.
- Body: yellow birch with lignum vitae sole
- Length: 7″
- Width: 2.5″
- Weight: 1 lb-4 oz (567 grams)
- Blade width: 1-3/4″
- Radius of blade: 3″
I documented my progress live on Twitter using hashtags #FlairWW (follow me @FlairWoodworks) which was useful because each update had a time stamp so followers could see the rate at which I progressed. I compiled the photos and Tweets into a video (duration – 4:14).
Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 
HI mr Wong
I would be really pleased if you could tell me which the radius on both blades yours and mr Meek is
Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful info
My best
Julio Alonso
I put approximately a 4″ radius on my blade.
Julio,
The radius on my blade is approximately 3″.
Chris
Thanks a lot both of you Chris and Scott. I think I would go with a 3″ radius
Looking good Chris.
Is that a bridge city tool works 6″ rule in another mfg’s combination square head?
Sharp eye! The head is a Starrett.
Chris
Looks great and works!!! I just made the Hock block plane. I had a good time doing it. This is some cool stuff!
Hi Bill,
It’s funny – I was looking at the Hock website last night when your post on your Hock block plane arrived in my RSS feed. It was fun to build the scrub plane “alongside” Scott.
Chris