In the second part of my two-part article about build-ing the Daisy skiff (WoodenBoat Nos. 126 and 127), I included a sidebar showing how to modify a hand plane to include a guide rod for use when planing lapstrake plank bevels. This involved drilling and tapping a hole on each side of a smoothing plane’s body to receive a threaded rod in one or the other, depending on the direction of planing. The guide assures an accurate bevel in either traditional wood or glued-lap plywood construction. In our shop, this system has proved to be an unqualified success for the past 20 years of building lapstrake boats from 6' to 26' long.
However, I always had misgivings about advising someone to drill holes in what might be a fine heirloom plane meant to last generations. To a larg eextent, we are not owners of such tools but caretakers. Boring holes and tapping them for a guide bar might increase the value of a plane for a small number of boatbuilders, but it could harm its aesthetic value for most future woodworkers.
The magnetic guide presented here is an alternative that avoids that issue. It works just as well as the threaded-in rod to guide the planing of accurate, watertight plank bevels. It can be attached quickly to any steel- or iron-bodied plane without modifying the tool in any way, and it can be easily moved from one side to the other when reversing the direction of planing.
Harry Bryan
Here, a guide rod is being used in shaping the garboard bevel on a 10' 6"-long, flat-bottomed Fiddlehead skiff. The rod rides along a 3⁄4" round batten centered along the lined-off outboard edge of the second topside plank. The batten is nailed in place with 1" wire brads set flush with the batten’s surface so the guide rod won’t catch on them. For this guide, I used stainless steel for the rod. The hardwood body, cherry in this case, is fitted with rare-earth magnets to hold it to the side of a No. 4 smoothing plane.