I am shaping my first set of shortboards and I am having a tough time getting the stringer in the nose smooth. Would a Japanese Block Plane be the only thing that would work or can I use some other low tech/low cost way? If the Block Plane is the way to go where is the cheapest place? Thanks as always.
You can try a spoke shave - available at most hardware stores.
Yeah go to clark foam they have those small planes about 2.5 inches long. I even shaped a whole board once with one of those tiny things cause i didnt have an electric planer at the time. The board turned out good.
yes, that tiny spoke shave that foamez sells is the ticket to tight nose rocker…I wish I would have spent the 6 buck several boards earlier.
http://www.foamez.com/cf/catalog.cfm?cat=2 Saunders I love block planes, really, you cannot beat a nice, sharp blade, cutting fine slivers of stringer wood, from you blank. It rocks. I’ve being using a really cool, inexpensive, block plane which can be used to get staights one way, and then switch the blade around to a rounded front of the plane to do your curves. They’re light cheap, throw away blades (wrap em up, you will find em in the trash-ouch) and made by a company called DAVID, I think they come from Holland, but Clarke do stock them (I think). Peaman
You can use a spoke shave. Make sure you get one that has a rounded level. Available in most hardware stores or better woodworking stores. Home Depot probably sells a couple of different brands. They work well for the curved areas and probably better for the rest of the stringer than the curved plane.