First Plane: Infill Shoulder

**lewisa88** · 5th June 2012, 03:57 PM

I was planning on posting the whole construction of this plane that i have documented, but really just haven't had the time(and it would be a very long winded post). So instead I'm just posting pics of the finished product for now, and the construction may come later when I find time.

This plane is based loosely on an early model Spiers shoulder plane. All I had to go off was a couple of photos I had found around the net, so the size of it is "about 9 inches by about 3 inches" like I had read.
The attraction to this plane in particular, over the overstuffed(and in my opinion, over-adorned) infill shoulder planes is that the simplified rectangular shape of the body accentuates the nice lines around the side openings and the wedge, rather than detracting from it.

I am pretty happy with it in the end, my only real concern is that I have access to a mill, and I shouldn't have been quite so gung-ho with it, because Im not overly proficient with it. The couple of issues are the mouth ending up a bit too big and a chip out of the wood on the front top of the infill. I was milling the 30degree bed angle in the side openings and wound the mill a tiny tiny bit much and then my "shy of 1/16" turned into a 3/32 mouth. Which in reality doesnt affect the functionality as it was built to use on tennon shoulders, thus cutting endgrain. And the chip out of the front infill was due to me not paying enough attention to grain direction while passing the top in the mill, where I was of course paying attention to the metal, not the wood.
enjoy.

Regards,

Lewis Allen

**FRB Design** · 5th June 2012, 05:19 PM

Brilliant job

Would have a nice solid feel and some heft behind it.

Regards,

Frank

**planemaker** · 5th June 2012, 05:53 PM

Great job Lewis.

Regards; Stewie.

**IanW** · 5th June 2012, 07:38 PM

Looks like a real precision job, Lewis. I think I would make those sharp front & rear corners a bit friendlier to hands, though....

You're teasing us - a few details on the body would be nice - is it fabricated, or milled from the solid??

Cheers,

**lewisa88** · 5th June 2012, 08:22 PM

Dovetail construction. Dovetails cut by hand, I used the mill to face all the sides and rough out the opening in the sides, and all the faces were linished before hand lapping, everything else was done by hand.However, I really have no idea how anyone would make a plane entirely by hand , I can totally understand filing the mushroomed dovetails instead of milling them, that makes sense, but I couldn't imagine lapping the sides entirely without a linisher, it took far longer than expected even with 80 grit on the linisher.

Oh and infill is Jarrah as far as I know. It was part of an old staircase I acquired from a yet to be demolished warehouse.

Regards,

Lewis Allen

**Berlin** · 6th June 2012, 12:04 AM

Wo. Way to up the ante Lewis!

I've always liked those Jedi laser planes but i could never build the flux capacitor.

Brilliant work.

Matt

**lightwood** · 6th June 2012, 10:15 AM

Lewis,
good work!
I would love to see your some pictures of the making?
It is interesting to see how each planemaker uses different techniques to get the system to work.
I don't have a mill, but just got a little band-saw for metal. ( I've had a real problem with tennis elbow over the last 2 years). I understand that Wayne Anderson has a mill but doesn't use it, preferring the hand-saw for nibbling away dovetail waste, and files for final fitting the dovetails. Also files and a linisher for sides etc. My first play with the band-saw is really promising.
As each plane gets made we find those things that can escape, or run away....and the fun is watching out for, and controlling them in the next ones.

Have you seen Konrad's blog? Here is a link where he shows how he does his chamfers, decorates the termination, and rounds over the backs....
Sauer & Steiner: Filing lamb
Seems to me you have the metal work under control...What plane...or other tool, is next on the list?
It certainly is a treat to use a set of tools made by your own hands.
Great fun!!

Regards,
Peter
Plane making and restoring

**Andy Mac** · 6th June 2012, 10:19 AM

Hi Lewis,
Lovely job on the plane, thanks for posting

Cheers,

**lightwood** · 6th June 2012, 10:20 AM

Lewis,
just noticed you are in Melbourne.
If you fancy a look and a measure of some examples by Mathieson, Spiers, Buck, Norris, Bayfield, Towell etc. send a PM
Regards,
Peter

**Ball Peen** · 6th June 2012, 11:40 AM

Congrats Lewis, very nice job !

Hats off to all the infill builders! I've owned two, long gone now. I'm now at an age that Blackwood is the hardest material I want to work.

**lewisa88** · 7th June 2012, 11:30 PM

Thanks guys.

Peter, I think Wayne Anderson is entirely right about cutting doves by hand, in my opinion it would be far quicker cutting and filing by hand, and accurate enough at that stage of the plane. In the time it would take to set the work up properly in a mill and do all of those repetitive passes you would have well and truly finished and moved onto peening had you done it by hand.
The only time that it would be faster to use a mill for doves would be if you are doing runs of the same plane like I have seen on a blog, that escapes my mind(marcou maybe?), where there are ten plane sides lined up and the mill is passing through all of them at once, which would take a mill the same time to do one plane as five.

As for the next plane on my list.... Im not sure at this stage. I made this plane because I needed a shoulder plane to start a sculpture Ive been thinking about for ages, so I made one. and at this stage I dont "need" another plane...
...but that's not to say I don't want another, or many others. I think the next will be a mitre plane, then a panel plane or jointer. and maybe a handled smoother because I sometimes feel on large boards I need to lean across that my unhandled Spiers no8 is gunna drop right outta my hand when I get to the end of my reach.

If you would like to see my process, including notes...

L1030350.jpg picture by lewisblankallen - Photobucket

I hope that link works...for some reason the order is backwards, so it starts at photo 53 and click "previous" to see the next photo. no idea why

Regards,

Lewis Allen

**lightwood** · 8th June 2012, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by lewisa88

Thanks guys.

Peter, I think Wayne Anderson is entirely right about cutting doves by hand,...........................
If you would like to see my process, including notes...

L1030350.jpg picture by lewisblankallen - Photobucket

I hope that link works...for some reason the order is backwards, so it starts at photo 53 and click "previous" to see the next photo. no idea why

Regards,

Lewis Allen

Lewis,
I'm the victim of the spell-chequer...

Wayne uses a Bandsaw to remove the waste.

I was interested to see that concave curved front on your work bench....I thought it looked familiar.
Many, many, hand working operation, in almost any medium, are well suited to the jeweller's work bench.

Thanks for taking all those pictures.
The variety of ways different people make planes, both in the past, and more recently, has interested me for years now. It is great to see how the available tools, and skill-set of the maker guides the process.

Looking forward to catching up for a chat about tools, and the other interests we share.
Regards,
Peter

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