My last & final infill - a dovetail plane

**IanW** · 3rd February 2018, 08:33 PM

In an act of sheer self-indulgence over the last 4 months, I have made every darned plane that has ever taken my fancy & that I thought I’d like to have during the last 30 years. That is, all except one. A ‘proper’ dovetail plane has been on my list almost since I started serious woodworking, & I’ve twice had a go at making one. The first was pretty useless, while the second worked ok in a limited way. The pics have all disappeared from that thread, but this is what it looks like: 1.jpg

It is decidedly a no-frills model, intended merely to add the taper to parallel sliding dovetail pins pre-cut with a router. It fulfilled its purpose, but with no nicker, no fence, & no depth-stop, it wasn’t up to cutting tails from scratch.

Now I’ve never liked them screamin’ router thingies, but cutting the pins for sliding D/Ts using a router & a very simple jig is such a quick & efficient way to do the bulk of the work, I just kept doing it that way for rhose jobs where I’ve used sliding D/Ts. However, a few years ago, I discovered that cutting the trenches for sliding dovetails on one-off projects can be done just as quickly and far more peacefully with hand tools – especially tapered trenches, so he router got the shove for that job. The time had finally come to go completely unplugged for sliding D/Ts. Using my crude little plane, I managed to cut tails for a few jobs by clamping a fence on the board & knifing the edge of the cut to stop tear-out, but found it a cumbersome way to go about the task. It was high time to get my act together & make a proper D/T plane. This would be my grand finale to finish my plane-making spree.

I’ve considered a number of designs in my head, over the years I’ve been thinking about them, and rough-sketched a couple of ideas. I’ve got good pics of a nice old German-made model, and was going to use that as the basis for my new plane, but then I stumbled on these articles by C.R. Miller on Handplane Central (part 1 & part 2). He called his an ‘infill’, though it’s perhaps more accurately described as ‘laminated’ in the style Krenov popularised. It seems to me to be an eminently practical and functional design, so I followed the essential details, but wanted to tart mine up a little with a tote and a brass side to form a ‘skate’ for the corner which bears the brunt of the wear & tear, and a lever-cap instead of a wedge. Wedges are simple and work perfectly well, but I like lever caps because you can just undo the screw to release the blade – no whacking the back or toe to loosen a wedge. I think striking laminated planes is tempting fate too much, & I’m much more comfortable when the only hammering required is a gentle tap or two to set the blade (with lever-cap screw backed-off a touch!). I considered using brass for both sides, similar to my double-radiused compass plane, but that presented the problem of how to attach a fence. A wooden side makes that step far simpler, widening the sole enough to allow a simple fence to be screwed to it. I’ll make the fence adjustable, just in case, but I’ll probably rarely, if ever, vary the depth of the D/Ts it has to cut (about 6mm deep is usually adequate for most shelves or carcase components).

I settled on a skew angle of about 10 degrees, mostly because it ‘looked about right’, a blade bed angle of 45 deg., and a tail angle of roughly 1 in 7. In the Miller article, he advocates a trailing skew, which I first found abit counter-intuitive, but after some thought, decided it did make sense. You still get a shearing cut, and the trailing angle should serve to direct the shavings out of the escapement. I made a few rough sketches to get the general outlines, then some full-size templates, which I used to mark out the 3 main wooden parts and the brass side: 2.jpg

How to form the slot in the brass side for the nicker caused me a bit of a head-scratching; it had to be neat & accurate, so that the outer edge of the nicker is precisely co-planar with the side. So I clamped a piece of steel to act as a fence across the plate, then hacksawed against that to just above the required depth. This was repeated for the opposite side of the slot, then several more cuts made between them, to remove as much metal as possible. The remainder was chipped out with a small cold-chisel made from an annealed file, and the bottom cleaned up & flattened with files. Files don’t cut clean 90 degree corners, so I made myself a burin out of an old file, to square the corners. 3.jpg
It did a good job & I soon had a neat slot and a close-fitting nicker. If you’re wondering why the screw-holes to attach the cover plate are not centered over the slot, it’s because the drill bit wandered when I was drilling one of the holes, so I moved the hole below over to match it.

The next few steps are missing from the pictorial record, but they were mainly just cutting out an escapement from the brass side, shaping it a bit over the throat, & drilling it for screws to attach it to the woodwork. In retrospect, I regret the decision to use screws. I don’t trust a metal-wood glue joint in a stressful situation like this, so some extra mechanical fixing is desirable, but what I should have done was to use brass screws driven into tight-fitting, countersunk holes, then clipped them off & peened them down. One-sided rivets if you will. But I needed a way to accurately register the brass to the two core-pieces while the glue cured, so I clamped each in position in turn and drilled & screwed them down, then having started with screws, I just kept going. I suppose using screws to retain the infill in metal planes has a long & noble pedigree, but they do stand out a bit starkly on the finished surface. Next time!

With a sufficient number of screws placed, I pulled it apart, added a liberal dose of epoxy, and reassembled. The wooden side piece was glued on at the same time, & my plane disappeared under a festoon of clamps for the night: 4.jpg

Now it’s over to the metal-work bench to make the lever cap. This has to be a parallel-sided block so it can swivel back & forth in the throat, but the blade bed isn’t at right-angles to the sides, so it needs a compound-angle applied to the end that bears on the blade. I had one piece of brass wide & long enough to do the job & I didn’t want to botch it, so I first made a mock-up out of wood. I’m glad I did! On the first attempt, I cut the angle matching the mouth-opening back-to front. The darn thing looked correct, when it was out of the plane, but as soon as I inserted it in the plane I realised I’d stuffed-up. So the last piece of brass was safely converted into a funny-looking lever cap: 6.jpg 5.jpg

If you are wondering about the screw & washer in the thumbscrew hole, the washer is a guide for cutting & filing a neat circle around the screw hole. The LC is retained in the body by 4mm screws. On the wood side, I fitted a brass insert, which is probably unnecessary in the bone-hard She-oak I’m using, but I have my little lathe, & it needs to justify its upkeep.
Fitting lever caps can be a fraught business (especially on irregular-sided planes!) but even on simple square shapes, it can be difficult to get the pivot-holes exactly where you need them. A simple aid to this problem only occurred to me whilst I was building this last batch of planes. I took a piece of scrap and cut a slot so that it was a firm fit over the brass sides. I then cut away a chunk to form two prongs that could slide well-down the throat. With the LC cut to fit the body, but still square & un-shaped, I set it up over the blade in the right position & marked this on the side. Then I could centre the pivot hole at the right spot. 7.jpg This takes the guess-work out of a chore that I messed up on my first all-metal plane, and makes it easy to achieve a well-fitted LC. (I’ve just put the bits in loosely for the pic., the actual job was already done by the time I thought about taking a picture).

Didn’t take any pics of the next couple of steps, which were just lathe-work to make some thumb-screws for the nicker, fence & depth-stops. I made a couple of brass inserts for the sole, to take the retaining screws. These were screwed into the wood, then flushed with the sole: 9.jpg
I could have just used a pair of 6mm screws to hold the fence in place, but made a couple of thumbscrews instead – this way I won’t need to use any tools when setting the plane up. They are well out of the way & shouldn’t cause any problems in use: 8.jpg

So here we are with all the bits put together: 10.jpg

Time to clean up, grind the blade to the matching angle & take a quick test-drive:
Blow me down if it didn’t work first try! 11.jpg

The only glitch is that the very heavy shavings I was taking kept clogging the escapement. I can see that I’ll need to enlarge it a bit, to allow them to escape more easily, which is going to be difficult, but should be do-able with a bit of patience & care. That’s the problem with learning on the job……

That’s where I left it for the night; pretty happy with it, and quite hopeful that after a little bit of fettling & fussing I will have a very usable tool. So there it is, my most complex plane build to date, & a good place to retire from the business!

Cheers,

**Simplicity** · 3rd February 2018, 08:51 PM

Nothing clever to say Ian,
And I will keep my normal, sarcastic tongue in check.
But wow you really knock out a great plane again.
another fantastic write up.
And I've stored away a couple of tricks with the lever cap radius shaping.

Will there now be a un plugged, only my hand made tools,as a final rap up for what I think has been an epic, is it 12 months or more plane building session.

Cheers Matt

**Mr Brush** · 3rd February 2018, 09:11 PM

"Last one"....blah, blah....."final"....blah, blah......yeah yeah

We know you too well

Spectacular job, as always.

**IanW** · 3rd February 2018, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by Simplicity

......Will there now be a un plugged, only my hand made tools,as a final rap up for what I think has been an epic, is it 12 months or more plane building session....

Hey Matt, it's only been 5 months all-up! I started last September with the panel-plane kit. That got the juices flowing and it's been one after another since then. This was something I've had on the back-burner longer than just about any other project, and makes avery suitable place to leave off, I reckon!

Cheers,

**IanW** · 3rd February 2018, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

"Last one"....blah, blah....."final"....blah, blah......yeah yeah

...

Guilty as implied, Mr. B., but I think I can hold my hand over my heart this time, & say "last one" with some confidence. Look at the tally & you'll see there isn't much more any sane & sensible person could wish for! (In fact I intend to get rid of several of the duplicates, but that's another story...)

Here is the crop of bench planes: 1.jpg

And a few others: 2.jpg

I know it's utterly absurd, but it's been a lot of fun!

Cheers

**aussiemick01** · 4th February 2018, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by IanW

Guilty as implied, Mr. B., but I think I can hold my hand over my heart this time, & say "last one" with some confidence. Look at the tally & you'll see there isn't much more any sane & sensible person could wish for! (In fact I intend to get rid of several of the duplicates, but that's another story...)

Here is the crop of bench planes: 1.jpg

And a few others: 2.jpg

I know it's utterly absurd, but it's been a lot of fun!

Cheers

How did you come up with the design for these. They are awesome.

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**IanW** · 4th February 2018, 07:35 AM

Originally Posted by aussiemick01

How did you come up with the design for these......

There is very little in any of my planes that's original thinking, Mick. They are mostly either copies of oldies, or at least heavily inspired by them. Dovetailing & riveting metal together pre-dates the industrial revolution by a good many centuries. I'm just a copy-cat.....

Cheers,

**IanW** · 4th February 2018, 08:07 PM

Well I had a session with my new plane this morning, and I think my 'problem' of the shavings choking was due to a couple of factors, but mostly it was because I had far too much set on the blade. I tidied up a few details anyway, like the little bump I'd left in the wood where I'd shaved it away to open the mouth. I smoothed that off, then I decided the lever cap was a bit steep where it met the blade, so I took it out & filed that to a more acute angle.

Then I re-set the blade (much more carefully than I did yesterday in my eager rush to see the plane perform) & set the fence & depth stop for a typical 6mm dovetail (& discovered I needed to extend the slot a bit to allow the fence to close up enough for a 6mm deep D/T). I tried it on a piece of Camphor Laurel and it it was almost too easy! Out spewed continuous curly ribbons according to script, instead of them bunching up & jamming the throat like it did yesterday: Test 2.jpg

The only flaw in an otherwise perfect D/T was the edge of the shoulder is a little bit ragged for the first 70mm or so at the start of the cut. The rest of it is fine, so I don't think there's anything wrong with the nicker, it must be me not holding the plane properly as I start the cut. I began by planing the far end of the D/T as is usually advised, then worked back towards the beginning. A bit of practice should sort things out.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my new ~~toy~~ tool. Of the bunch of planes I've made over he last few months, there were no duds, but a couple have exceeded expectations, and this is one of them. Definitely time to quit, while I'm ahead!

Cheers,

**Bushmiller** · 4th February 2018, 09:48 PM

I'm with Simplicity on this. Individually the planes are a credit to you, but collectively are beyond words.

September start? It's been plane sailing since.

Last one? We'll see.

Regards
Paul

**aussiemick01** · 4th February 2018, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by IanW

There is very little in any of my planes that's original thinking, Mick. They are mostly either copies of oldies, or at least heavily inspired by them. Dovetailing & riveting metal together pre-dates the industrial revolution by a good many centuries. I'm just a copy-cat.....

Cheers,

Have you got some guidance for someone wanting to make planes and saws like your amazing works?

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**IanW** · 5th February 2018, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by aussiemick01

Have you got some guidance for someone wanting to make planes and saws like your amazing works?......

Indeed I have, Mick - just get stuck in & give it a go!

Seriously, making a metal-bodied plane isn't as difficult as it might seem. From my experience, it's easier than making a really good solid-bodied woody like the ones planemaker produces. For starters, you prepare the blade bed as a separate piece, which is far less awkward than trying to work to close tolerances in a confined space. The dovetailed bodies are built entirely with hand tools (jewellers' saw, ball-peen hammer, & files). The only machine used in making most of them was a drill-press, and it really helps if you have a decent vise on the DP to drill accurately for the lever-caps. But even that part can be done (very carefully) with a battery drill.

OK, so I did use a metal lathe to make the knurled knobs, and not everyone has one of those in the shed, but Derek Cohen has shown how with a little ingenuity and a some brass hose-fitting parts, you can make very convincing knurled thumbscrews.
You will need a tap to cut the thread in your lever cap, but an inexpensive carbon-steel tap does a very good job in brass, no need to spend up big on that.

The most important first step is to choose what you think is a manageable project and give it a go. If you prefer printed pages, I've just written an article on making a 3/4" shoulder plane for AWR using riveting to join the body parts. I think making a plane this way is an excellent first project and introduction to working with metal. It should be in either the next issue, or the one following. I don't want to preempt that by saying too much more, but am happy to answer any particular questions now, and try to clarify anything after the article is published.

My first attempt at a metal-bodied shoulder plane worked, and I was pretty damn pleased with it at the time. My second worked a bit better, and looked a bit better too (though I'd do it differently now). I still have it & use it regularly. With experience, it gets easier to do and the results get better, but there's only one way to get experience......

Cheers,

**aussiemick01** · 5th February 2018, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by IanW

Indeed I have, Mick - just get stuck in & give it a go!

Seriously, making a metal-bodied plane isn't as difficult as it might seem. From my experience, it's easier than making a really good solid-bodied woody like the ones planemaker produces. For starters, you prepare the blade bed as a separate piece, which is far less awkward than trying to work to close tolerances in a confined space. The dovetailed bodies are built entirely with hand tools (jewellers' saw, ball-peen hammer, & files). The only machine used in making most of them was a drill-press, and it really helps if you have a decent vise on the DP to drill accurately for the lever-caps. But even that part can be done (very carefully) with a battery drill.

OK, so I did use a metal lathe to make the knurled knobs, and not everyone has one of those in the shed, but Derek Cohen has shown how with a little ingenuity and a some brass hose-fitting parts, you can make very convincing knurled thumbscrews.
You will need a tap to cut the thread in your lever cap, but an inexpensive carbon-steel tap does a very good job in brass, no need to spend up big on that.

The most important first step is to choose what you think is a manageable project and give it a go. If you prefer printed pages, I've just written an article on making a 3/4" shoulder plane for AWR using riveting to join the body parts. I think making a plane this way is an excellent first project and introduction to working with metal. It should be in either the next issue, or the one following. I don't want to preempt that by saying too much more, but am happy to answer any particular questions now, and try to clarify anything after the article is published.

My first attempt at a metal-bodied shoulder plane worked, and I was pretty damn pleased with it at the time. My second worked a bit better, and looked a bit better too (though I'd do it differently now). I still have it & use it regularly. With experience, it gets easier to do and the results get better, but there's only one way to get experience......

Cheers,

Thanks very much mate. The one thing I'm not sure of is where to get the steel and brass for it. Also. I'm not sure what AWR is. Thanks for your help.

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**jmk89** · 5th February 2018, 02:32 PM

Originally Posted by aussiemick01

Also. I'm not sure what AWR is..

AWR = Australian Wood Review, an Australian magazine that is often in the news stands and is held by a lot of Aussie libraries.

**IanW** · 5th February 2018, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by jmk89

AWR = Australian Wood Review, an Australian magazine that is often in the news stands and is held by a lot of Aussie libraries.

Thanks Jeremy.

I'm surprised by the number of people who don't seem to subscribe to AWR, or at least buy it on a semi-regular basis. It's pretty good for a relatively small-budget/small subscription mag., & beats that other Aussie Woodie publication (the one printed on butcher's paper

) in the quality & range of its articles, imo (& I'm not thinking of the ones I've written

). I suppose anyone under 40 doesn't do magazines, but you can get the online version for the same subscription price.
And the disclaimer: Just a plug from a satisfied reader, I have no affiliation other than the occasional article I submit.....

Cheers,

**Clinton1** · 6th February 2018, 05:37 PM

Do you have a badger plane?

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