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[patriotscreen]

I'm having trouble concaving the bat I am making. I have a convex spokeshave but it is not up to the job. Is there any other way of doing this? I have a round bottom spokeshave in the post but is there a convex shaped smoothing plane that I can get hold of?

How do other people concave their bats? I really want to get this right as the bat is going really well and it would be a shame to mess it up.

[alee]

I have a Puma Cobalt 5000 which has a lot of concaving. Maybe talk to someone at Rob Pack Cricket?

[Buzz]

I have a Puma Cobalt 5000 which has a lot of concaving. Maybe talk to someone at Rob Pack Cricket?

hopefully there will be enough bat makers on here who can help, it is a bat making forum after all

[DevAussie]

Round bottom plane is the only way I've managed to get to any grips with concaving mate.....I tried a travisher and couldn't do it so sourced a round bottom plane and now have it sorted.....although hard to get hold of, some of the lads on here sometimes have a spare they will sell you...

[Red Ink Cricket]

You can pick up wooden coffin planes on eBay. They will be flat bottomed but all you need to do is radius the bottom yourself. Can be done with a spokeshave and a machine sander and then match the blade to the shape. The blade will need grinding and re sharpening but it's worth a little effort. Pretty cheap too

I have both round bottom planes and travishers. I use travishers for removing the wood and the round bottom plane for fine tuning.

[trypewriter]

Might be an idea to find a bat maker near to you and ask if you can go along to see them at work (nearly said 'look at their tools' but that would have drawn prurient comments no doubt!).

[ajmw89]

Round bottom plane is the way to go.  If you don't want the hassle of making one yourself, try and find round moulding planes

[patriotscreen]

You can pick up wooden coffin planes on eBay. They will be flat bottomed but all you need to do is radius the bottom yourself. Can be done with a spokeshave and a machine sander and then match the blade to the shape. The blade will need grinding and re sharpening but it's worth a little effort. Pretty cheap too

I have both round bottom planes and travishers. I use travishers for removing the wood and the round bottom plane for fine tuning.

This might sound like a stupid question but if I was to round the bottom of my coffin plane that I have, would the fact that the blade is straight not mean that I will end up taking huge slices out of the wood and having a really poor finish?

Is it possible that you could post a picture or two to explain a bit better?

[ajmw89]

This might sound like a stupid question but if I was to round the bottom of my coffin plane that I have, would the fact that the blade is straight not mean that I will end up taking huge slices out of the wood and having a really poor finish?

Is it possible that you could post a picture or two to explain a bit better?

You would need to re grind the blade to match the curvature on the base.

[Red Ink Cricket]

This might sound like a stupid question but if I was to round the bottom of my coffin plane that I have, would the fact that the blade is straight not mean that I will end up taking huge slices out of the wood and having a really poor finish?

Is it possible that you could post a picture or two to explain a bit better?

you would need to regrind/shape the blade to match the plane body. easiest way to do it is to shape the plane body first. once your happy with the shape, set the plane up as you would if you were about to use it. position the blade so the centre point is level with the top of the curve of the body. this should then leave the edges higher, showing the areas you need to grind down. mark the curve of the base with a marker pen and then grind and sharpen to suit. 

[Fezballoh]

Show us what you've been using, Russ.

[Ryan]

As John said you can make youself one from a wooden coffin plane or search moulding plane on eBay, plenty about.

Example.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Good-18th-Century-No-11-round-moulding-plane-by-Frogatt-Birmingham-/350881638350?pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item51b22ce7ce

I use both round bottom plane and travishers and i think round bottom planes are easier to use when starting out.