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A DIY Router Plane with Interchangeable Base – Part 1

DIY bigger router plane

I finally made a new version of my router planes with Veritas cutting irons.

In this part 1, I will show the plan for the bigger router plane that I made. You can check the smaller one from the part 2 from here and if you want to know the hardware I used and the detailed tips of how I fabricated, please check out part 3 from here.

You can also watch my video of making this plane.

NOTE: In the drawing, I didn’t specify the distance of each feature from the center but these router planes are symmetric so you can divide the distance(side ways in the picture) by 2 and align them from the center of your work piece. In addition, the hole size is specific to the hardware I purchased.

Plan For the Bigger Router Plane

bigger router

Main Body

bigger router main body
The hole position for the M6 threaded rod is 6.5mm away from the edge but depending on how accurate your fabrication is, maybe it’s 6-7mm away from the edge. Please test fit the cutting iron before making the hole.
bigger one mainbody image top
bigger one mainbody image bottom
bigger router hole position
The diameter of the thumb nut that goes into the threaded rod is 20mm and I wanted a 0.5mm room to rotate the nut inside the cutout of the cutting iron so my offset is 6.5mm(the gap was a little bit smaller than 1mm). Please measure the gap to decide the actual offset distance.
bigger one mainbody image handle
This is the flip side of the handle where I can put a knob(I didn’t need a knob. It’s already easy to hold). I cut it out 1/2″Diameter with 3/8″depth to countersink a screw head if I need to put a knob on the handle.

Clamping Function

bigger one clamping bottom
The distance between the walnut pieces is 1/4″, not the distance between the brass pieces.
bigger one clamping face image
The size may look confusing with the back ground 1/2″ grit but it’s because of the picture perspective. The distance between the center of the insert nuts is 2″.
bigger one clamping above image
As I attached the walnut pieces before the brass pieces, I only measured the distance between the walnut pieces(1/4″). With a 0.065″ thick brass sheet, it was perfect.
bigger one clamping
As the holes are bigger than the actual screw size, if the height is 7/8″(the same thickness as the main body ) instead of 13/16″, a screw may bite the side wall of the hole and this piece may be trapped with the router base and the screw when you tighten the screws so it has to be 13/16″ or smaller.
clamping top image
clamping side image

Overall shape and the Base

bigger one overall and the base
I cut out a 1/4″ hole for M5 screw so there is a little wiggle room for the screw because I rush to make this base so just in case I mess up a hole alignment when drilling. A 1/4″hole for M5 screw may be a little bit too much but once I fasten the screws, it’s solid.
base top
Only the center hole happens to be 6mm, which is a little bit smaller than 1/4″ but there is no particular reason.
base flip
coutersink for the base
A countersink depth can vary depending on the thickness of your main router plane body and the base as well as the screw length.

Just Try!

It takes only one day to build it with hand tools. If you want a smaller one, please check out part2 and if you want to know more details about the hardware and fabrication tips, please go to part 3.