Popular Woodworking 2007-06 № 162, страница 14

Marcou S20A Smoothing Plane Great for Exotics

If you work with exotic woods - the nasty, stringy stuff that no plane can tame - then Philip Marcou would like to build you an equally exotic handplane. Marcou, a New Zealand cabinetmaker-turned-toolmaker, builds premium planes designed to easily achieve the high cutting angles that work with exotic woods.

For several months, I borrowed an S20A smoothing plane from Marcou to use, and I spent that time looking for exotic woods that the tool would not plane. Of the 15 or so woods I tried, the Marcou S20A handled them all with ease.

The plane works with the bevel facing up, like a block plane, so you can increase the cutting angle of the tool simply by increasing the sharpening angle on your iron. The iron is bedded at 20°, so by honing a 40° angle on the iron I was planing at 60°. There are lots of planes that can do this, of course, but the Marcou shines because of its mass (it weighs almost 9 pounds) and the fact that you can close up the mouth to an aperture that's per

fect for smoothing. In fact, when the mouth is closed all the way, the aperture is spot-on for taking a .001"-thick shaving. That is some high-tolerance engineering, and it's one of the reasons the tool costs $1,995.

Like any tool that costs this much, everything about the Marcou is finished to a high degree. The depth-of-cut adjuster is as smooth as silk. The dovetails that join the sole and sidewalls are seamless. My only complaint with the tool was I found the rear tote a bit uncomfortable for my hand. Marcou said he's refining the tote shape and will, of course, fit a tote to a user's hand.

Owning a Marcou is like owning a Jaguar. You might not need one to get to work every day, but its beauty and performance make you lust wildly for it. — CS

For more information, circle # 157 on Free information Card.

specifications

Marcou S20A Smoothing Plane Street price: $1,995 Dimensions: 11³/i6" l. x 2³/4" w. Iron: 2V4" Veritas A2 iron Performance: < Price range: Marcou Planes: marcouplanes.com or

wkTools.com. in the U.S. call Wiktor Kuc at 505-401 -6040.

Steel City 13" Planer is a Solid Contender

The new Steel City Tool Works machines we've tested have been solid tools with few frills at a fair price. And the company's newest 13" portable planer, the 40200, fits in well with the company's other products.

The 40200 has features that woodworkers need, including a three-knife cutterhead, quick-change knives and two feed speeds, plus a $399 price tag that makes it a good value among other 13" planers. Of all the merits of the machine, the one we think is most important is the three-knife cutterhead. Our experiences with three-knife machines have shown they produce a nice surface finish for a longer time because the blade wear is spread out over three knives instead of two.

Not that changing knives on the 40200 is difficult. The two-sided disposable blades drop in on pins - it takes 15 minutes to change all three. Another key feature about the knives: You can adjust them left and right to cancel out any nicks that appear on your knives.

We've run a couple hundred board feet of hardwoods and softwoods through the planer to see how gutsy the motor is, how nice the

surface finish is and to see how much snipe was created at the ends of boards. The motor was fine - you're never going to get induction-motor power out of a universal motor in any portable planer. The surface finish was excellent at both feed speeds (16 and 23 feet per minute). And the snipe was acceptable - a few thousandths of an inch of thickness. You can sand that out with ease.

There's no cutterhead lock, which some woodworkers like but we don't think is a do-or-die feature. Like on all portable planers, we wish the polyurethane infeed roller was grippier. It wouldn't grab the boards firmly when it got dirty. All in all, if you really want a three-knife cutterhead and two speeds with a good price, this is a tool for the top of your list. PW

— CS

For more information, circle # 158 on Free information Card.

specifications

Steel City 40200 13" Planer Street price: $399 Replacement blades: $57 Warranty: 5 years Weight: 66 pounds Performance: ••••O Price range: $$$ Steel City: 615-225-9001 or

steelcitytoolworks.com

10

Popular Woodworking June 2007