An infill plane from scratch

[Lons]

Well hopefully, with a bit of luck and a following wind. :eusa-pray:

It's been at the back of my mind for a while so with some scrap 3mm sheet for the sides and 6mm bar for the sole I made a start last week. A bit of back of an envelope planning it's 230 long by 65mm wide to fit an old blade I got off ebay in part of a job lot. I haven't yet files the angles in the mouth as undecided whether it should be low angle. I'd like to make a Norris type adjuster of some sort if I can manage that otherwise will keep it simple.

It hasn't been difficult so far just a hell of a lot of hacksawing, filing and bashing and I'm learning along the way and have no illusions that this will be good but you have to start somewhere. I'm enjoying the process even if my arms are complaining. :lol:

 

[Cabinetman]

So it’s sort of riveted together, looking brill up to now, as you say lots of filing, do you need to shape the mouth with a back angle where the blade rests?

 

[Deema]

Looks brilliant, following along with great interest :eusa-clap:

 

[Trevanion]

I've always wanted to make one, but just never got around to it. One day!

 

[Lons]

So it’s sort of riveted together, looking brill up to now, as you say lots of filing, do you need to shape the mouth with a back angle where the blade rests?

Dovetailed joints Ian which are peened together using a punch and ball end of the hammer to tighten and lock the joints, I got them pretty close in the end using a variety of files and I have the mouth angles to file once I've decided what angle to use, I'll need to plan that out properly though and might have a crack at an adjuster first. As the blade will be supported by timber I might insert a piece of metal plate :eusa-think:

 

[Stuart]

I don't even have a third of the skills for this sort of thing!

Respect sir, - I shall be following with interest.

 

[Woodbloke]

I don't even have a third of the skills for this sort of thing!

Respect sir, - I shall be following with interest.

Same here; nice bit of metal mangling - Rob

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Great bit of work Bob. 'Mazin' how all that peening leaves a finish like one from Rufus A. Bêre S'Arris and then as if by magic, a run through with files has it looking gorgeous!

 

[AndyT]

I'd just like to agree with all the comments already made, and salute you for doing all that work without yet having decided on little details like the presence or absence of an adjuster! I'd vote for absence, but don't let that sway you.
Do you have some special timber put by for the infill?

 

[Lons]

I appreciate the interest and comments fellas

1st lesson learned today, on the next one, if there's a next one I must file the mouth angle before attaching sole to sides, what a nightmare, well over 2 hours to get to this stage 'cos I couldn't get anything except a very thin flat file through the mouth, would have been a lot easier to cut the sole and grind the angles.
I managed the front relief to around 70deg and the blade angle at 47deg so far before I gave up for the day, still a lot to do as I need to get the blade angle sorted before i know how much clearance I need in the mouth. As I said I'm winging it. :eusa-think:

I take your point about the adjuster Andy, it might be over complicated and a bit ambitions for me as a first attempt.
I have plenty of nice wood to use for infill but if it turns out to be just an ornament I'll likely be using something less valuable.

 

[Trevanion]

Have you looked at Bill Carter's website at all Bob? He has quite a few "How-to" guides on making infill planes and from what I've seen of his work he typically makes the sole in two pieces, so he can get a very tight mouth opening, then the joint is concealed in the dovetailing process.

http://www.billcarterwoodworkingplanemaker.co.uk/making-a-7-bronze-mitre-plane/

 

[Lons]

Thanks for that Trev but now ya tell me. :eusa-doh: :lol:

I'll have a look tonight.

 

[Cabinetman]

So it’s sort of riveted together, looking brill up to now, as you say lots of filing, do you need to shape the mouth with a back angle where the blade rests?

Sorry, that was me trying to be subtle, But it would have been too late anyway.

 

[Alf]

Ooo, you do like a steep learning curve, Bob. Looking good though. :eusa-clap:

 

[Mike G]

I saw an infill plane in a local antique shop the other day, It's the first time I can ever remember laying eyes on one.

Good luck with this build. I watched someone do one or two at UKW, I think, and it was fascinating (but unappealing). By that I mean I am in no way tempted to make one myself. My only comment on yours to date is that my first instinct is that you left yourself a little too much metal to pein. Obviously it's better to have too much than too little.....

 

[Lons]

I saw an infill plane in a local antique shop the other day, It's the first time I can ever remember laying eyes on one.

Good luck with this build. I watched someone do one or two at UKW, I think, and it was fascinating (but unappealing). By that I mean I am in no way tempted to make one myself. My only comment on yours to date is that my first instinct is that you left yourself a little too much metal to pein. Obviously it's better to have too much than too little.....

Spot on with that observation Mike.
The bar I have is 75mm wide and I would have used an angle grinder with slitting disk but it was chucking it down outside and I didn't want grinding dust all over the workshop. Cutting down the length with a hacksaw didn't appeal so I just used it with the intention of shortening the tails once done but I forgot, started with the punch and remembered. I then ground them down a bit with a grinder before peening, another lesson learned.

 

[MrH]

A very noble project. Look forward to seeing it progress.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Lons]

OK quite a bit more time spent whenever I was silly enough to brave the cold and it's not far off being finished. Woodwork has had a coat of stain/wax and will get the wire wool and wax treatment over a few days and the steel polished up a bit. I've made a few mistakes with this and wasn't happy so used a chunk of mahogany rather than more figured wood and still have to flatten and sharpen the blade but tried it and it cuts so fingers crossed it will be useable.
The brass nut is a modified end off a 15mm plumbing coupling with a 10mm nut and threaded rod as I didn't have a suitable bolt.
I've enjoyed the process and hopefully learned a lot for the next one, if that happens.

 

[Cabinetman]

Wow! That looks really good Bob, even like the compression fitting. Interesting to see how it works after all your hard work.

 

[AndyP]

I like the saw handle design. We need to see some curly wurlies though

 

[Mike G]

And bingo............just like that, it was finished! Great stuff Bob. Did you make the cap iron?

 

[Dr.Al]

That's lovely. I'd love to make something like that one day, although I have a feeling I'd change my mind once I thought about all the metal filing / sanding involved!

 

[Blackswanwood]

Wow - you should rightly be pleased with that Bob.

 

[Lons]

I still haven't flatted the sole or sharpened the blade which has a slight curve but though I would give it a try anyway and am pleasantly surprised at the results as it stands. Cuts well with little effort, it's around 3 kg so pretty heavy and I'm happy the mouth is tight.

The only bit I've paid for is the blade and cap iron which stand me about 60p as part of a job lot from ebay, I have a chunk of brass I intended to use for the lever cap but not entirely happy with the plane at the time so used some scrap 8mm steel instead which was a pain to cut and file, I also managed to snap a drill bit in the side as well which took some removing and the dog ran away as she though I was swearing at her. :lol:
I felt the 8mm thickness needed beefing up to make the thread more stable so rounded and shaped a steel nut which I pinned and stuck with JB Weld.

A lot of lessons learned but I'm delighted it will be a useable plane and my son requested I put my name and date on it as he says he's having it when I pop me clogs.....NOT YET

PS
If I've used the wrong terminology Mike I think I'm safe because Caruthers is probably too soft to undertake a trip to the frozen north, unless he's procured a dragon, Games of Thrones style. :lol:

 

[AndyT]

Brilliant!

I can hear your grin from here!

:eusa-clap: :eusa-clap: :eusa-clap:

 

[Cabinetman]

That mouth is really tight, but then you probably weren’t ever planning to remove a lot with it.
What is JB weld btw?

 

[novocaine]

I sometimes wonder why the dovetails on this, is it just tradition? because to me it's completely the wrong way to work with metal and I can only assume that they were typically made by wood workers and they used the techniques they knew.

Don't get me wrong on this, it looks very good and you've done a cracking job of it.


I wonder if I've got enough scrap bits to weld one. :lol:

 

[Lons]

That mouth is really tight, but then you probably weren’t ever planning to remove a lot with it.
What is JB weld btw?

Not quite as tight as the 'photo suggest Ian but I set the front timber a fraction back in case I needed to file for clearance so always an option. JB Weld version I use is an epoxy for metal and very useful, e.g. I stick carbide inserts to the end of the back blade guides on my Startrite bandsaw. https://www.jbweld.co.uk/

I sometimes wonder why the dovetails on this, is it just tradition? because to me it's completely the wrong way to work with metal and I can only assume that they were typically made by wood workers and they used the techniques they knew.

I don't know the answer to that but think you're probably right, it would have to be dovetails to lock the metal when peened and I could have welded instead but my welding skills are non existent really. I have an ancient stick welder and I'll never be any good at welding as it's only used for the odd repair but have been thinking of getting a really cheap "no gas" MIG since I tried a mates machine and found it much easier.

 

[novocaine]

buy a real MIG unit for cheap and run it with flux core (flip the polarity). That way you aren't stuck if you need to run gas for something. Most small welders come with a role of flux core these days anyway (at least at the shallow end of the pool I swim in).

note for pedentry: flux core isn't gasless MIG as gasless MIG doesn't make any sense (Metal Inert Gas). You have to treat it differently as you are in effect self feeding a Arc welder where the shield leaves slag.

 

[D_W]

I sometimes wonder why the dovetails on this, is it just tradition? because to me it's completely the wrong way to work with metal and I can only assume that they were typically made by wood workers and they used the techniques they knew.

Don't get me wrong on this, it looks very good and you've done a cracking job of it.


I wonder if I've got enough scrap bits to weld one. :lol:

the dovetails are forgiving and relatively easy to execute. The factories that did them (spiers, norris) would have been tool factories and more like production metal/wood work than woodworkers.

combination metals like brass/gunmetal and steel were often sweated together, I guess, but if you have a milling setup in a factory to cut pins and tails, an experienced worker and pre-determined sizes (for infills) and clever shortcuts (like a spiers coffin plane, where the back infill is two pieces -one above the metal and one below), there's not that much labor in the dovetailing compared to any of us doing it.

small scale welding may not have been as common, and you have to deal with distortion on something that's curved. If the dovetailing is done properly, there's little distortion and nothing that's going to look kind of ugly (the weld) as the metal oxidizes or ages.