Thread: Just one more infill plane

You are probably all getting a bit bored with infills this month, but here's another one I made over the last couple of days:

MP1.jpg

MP1a.jpg

A rear 'bun' fits better than a tote on this size plane, and I have to say it's probably a lot more comfortable than a tote.

This is mainly because it's rather tiny:
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. MP2.jpg

Did I fool anyone?

This came about because I was fossicking through some stuff looking for some bits & pieces & came across a rather sad-looking attempt at making a mini plane. I made it 15 or more years ago, to do some job that I can't remember. I can tell by the quality of my workmanship that I was in a hurry, and although the plane probably did what I wanted it for, it didn't do it well, so it was tossed into a drawer & left to languish.

So when I came across it again, flushed with the success of my panel plane build, I decided to have another crack at it. I still had a left-over bit of the brass channel I used, so I got that out, plus a scrap of 3.2mm stainless steel that was just wide enough to solder onto the (slightly thinner than I would have preferred) brass channel for the sole: MP4b.jpg

After some fussing with the blade (a bit of old HSS power-hacksaw blade) and a mock-up of a cap-iron, I drew a profile for the sides and cut this out using a hacksaw for the straight runs & a jewellers' saw for the curvy bits. The tops were smoothed & sanded, and chamfers applied to the parts I wouldn't be able to get at easily once the infill was in place.Some scraps of ringed Gidgee were prepared for the infill, epoxied in place & left overnight to cure.

This morning, I riveted the rear infill, cleaned up the blade-bed, then made and fitted the lever cap from a bit of 1/4" thick brass. Some final cleaning-up of the metal and a spot of polishing, and it was done. Worked first go, taking clean 1-2 thou shavings with ease (especially when I waxed the sole)!

Out of curiosity, I decided to take another look at the original & see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. I can't remember why, but I'd made this one as a bevel-up 12* : MP3.jpg MP4.jpg

I vaguely remember having trouble with the wedge, so I tidied that up a bit, and replaced the wood screw I'd used to tighten the wedge with a 1/4" brass thumbscrew (threaded directly into the wood of the wedge). I gave the bottom a rub or two over some 180 paper to check if the sole was reasonably flat. It was fine in the critical areas: MP4a.jpg

So I sharpened up the blade, put it back together, and after a bit of adjustment tapping, pffffft: MP5.jpg

Full-width shavings along the board, & cutting just as sweetly as the more solid BD 'replacement'! Dunno what the problem was before, but I strongly suspect a good dose of ignorance & a splash of impatience had a lot to do with it.

Cheers,