I am a woodworker who works 100% without power tools. I needed to make a tool to re-saw thick boards into thinner boards and to make my own banding and veneers.

Tom Fidgen’s kerfing plane was the tool I needed to build. I used the design in Tom’s book, The Unplugged Woodshop, for the plane and added a moveable bridle fence of my own design.

Now mind you, I’ve never built a plane or a saw. I have never handled a wooden bridled plane, but I certainly have admired photos of old plough planes with bridled fences. Building this bridled kerfing plane was a leap of faith. I would have to work with the tools I had and figure it out as I went. Whether or not it worked in the end, I knew I would learn a lot from attempting this build. Indeed, I did.

As with any of my projects, I began by designing the plane with layout tools to get my measurements and to later create a template for hand shaping the plane. It was also important to incorporate the location and actual dimensions of the blade I would be using as well as the placement of the holes for the saw-plate nuts that hold the blade into the plane.

Once my walnut plane blank was dimensioned and planed flat and square, it was time to saw the blade slot. Careful attention to the depth of the cut was critical in order to ensure that the blade extended ½” below the base of the plane when installed.

Up next was to drill the stepped holes for the saw-nuts with Forstner and brad-point bits. These holes needed to be drilled to the exact depth of the saw-nuts in order to seat flush with the plane.