A plane journey

No, nothing to do with flying - I was searching for some information on the thread pitch of Norris adjusters & one of the things my search turned up was this old (2008) thread.

At the time, I had started on my first infill plane, but was still 2 years away from making shavings with it . I was totally unaware of the giant rabbit-warren I had entered!

I was hugely inspired by the work of people like Peter McBride (“Lightwood”) and all I wanted was to make a couple of planes I “needed”. If they looked half as good as Peter’s, and worked well enough to be useful I reckoned I would be quite content. I certainly had no inkling that I was on the cusp of a plane-building odyssey. “Odyssey” is a good metaphor, it took Odysseus 20 years to get home from Troy & although I haven’t been waylaid by any nymphs or sea-monsters yet, it’s been almost as long a trip. A few days ago I counted up the number of infills that have “happened” since and it comes to at least 46 since 2010!! Half of them are only small, so maybe it’s not quite as bad as it sounds…
So what have I learned during those years apart from the fact I should’ve quit years ago? I’ve certainly gained a fair bit of experience in banging bits of metal together and improved my aim with a ball-pein hammer! And I think I’ve learnt a bit about what makes a plane work & am now reasonably confident I can build a plane that will do what it's meant to do. I couldn’t claim to be a Holtey, I would describe myself as a journeyman rather than a master.

I don’t fully understand why I have kept on making planes for 14 years; it was part curiosity, part obsession, each time trying to do better than last time, that has driven me. “Just using up leftovers” has been a useful excuse too, but a minor reason. Initially, I made the planes I really wanted for “normal” woodworking and by & large succeeded in that aim, I now have a pretty good selection of planes that are all a pleasure to use & do a pretty good job. Another goal has been to prove to myself & anyone else interested that it’s possible for mug amateurs like (most of) us to make a decent working plane using only hand tools. By which I mean, the sort of ordinary, everyday hand-tools you might find in most backyard sheds (with maybe a couple of extras). So I’ve eschewed machinery, although I will confess there have been numerous times I wished I had a decent linisher, at least. The only powered tools used to build my planes have been a drill-press and a 100mm angle grinder for cutting out some parts. Neither tool is essential, but they do make life a lot easier & most people have them, so I reckon that wasn’t cheating. Somewhere along the way I did acquire a mini metal lathe, which has been handy for making thumb-screws and some adjuster wheels, but before it came along I’d worked out ways to do these things without a lathe.

Filing out mouth openings & cleaning up peined dovetails is a lot of work, and so is lapping soles - I don’t think my shoulders would stand up to lapping a jointer! The largest infills I’ve made were a couple of 14 inch panel planes, which were enough of a workout to satisfy me, shown here with one of the smallest, a mini “smoother”, just 70mm long:
Attachment 511522

Though I think this mini-chariot plane is a little smaller still:
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Miniature planes are way less physical work but no less challenging because of their small size – it’s harder to hit tiny dovetails continually & accurately.

Curiosity has led to exploring different styles & types:
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And I’ve also made a few “specialty” planes that are not strictly “infills” along the way, like my somewhat totally over-the-top dovetail plane:
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My very first successful metal-bodied plane was a shoulder plane I made in the early 1980s around a Record 1 ¼” blade.
Attachment 511518

It worked OK, and with a few rounds of fettling as I learnt more, it became quite a decent performer. I was never entirely happy with its looks though, and a few years ago I made it a smaller brother, copying the side profile used by the London maker G. Miller.
Attachment 511517

The new plane made the original look very dowdy, so pretty soon I was off down a side-tunnel in the rabbit warren, exploring different sizes & blade types & infill woods in shoulder planes:

Attachment 511516

..... more to come in next post

Another side-tunnel led to a bunch of scale-model miniatures, like this model of one of my panel-planes:

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These are functioning planes & work nicely, but are a bit too small for everyday work!

Last year I made a “thumb plane”, based on, but not meant to be an exact copy of the Norris A28. I really was just using up some scraps of metal that were too small for much else. It turned out to be one of the sweetest planes I’ve made and quickly became a favourite.
Attachment 511528

Then I wondered if a slightly larger example might be a better fit in my hand so I made another. That turned out as good a performer, but perhaps just a tad too big, so I found two more pieces of brass I could squeeze two more sides from (just!), & made the size in-between.
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There was a small excuse for this excess, I was trying to work out a way to consistently achieve the small mouth-gap these planes are meant to have. I think I have managed to sort that out, at last.

The last plane I’ve made (& it will be the last for a long time), was another mini smoother (number 11 in the series, if you believe it!). I made the first one out of sheer curiosity, but it turned out to be a very useful bit of kit & I preferred it to my Veritas ‘apron plane’ for one-handed jobs. While it is dwarfed by a #4, it is only about 15mm shorter and a couple off mm narrower than a Bailey #1, going by the measurements in Patrick Leach’s treatise.
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The first couple I built had single-iron blades of HSS cut & ground from machine tool blanks, but this one got a double-iron because I wanted to see if I could successfully make a very small cap-iron work. It turned out well enough that it has immediately been accepted into the “keep” category. I’ve found that getting a really fine mouth on these tiddlers is tricky, there is very little room to work, but managed to get this one pretty close to what I was aiming for (~0.5mm).
Attachment 511525

For general use I find anything much smaller has too much of a tendency to clog with our hard, short-fibred hardwoods. The cap-iron is expected to do the real work in controlling tear-out, anyway, & so far it has proved equal to the task:
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So to sum up, I think I am finally recovering from this severe case of planeitis. There may be a relapse or two if I’m not careful & forget to take my medicine, but I am pretty sure I’m on the mend at last. I am definitely fed-up with metal dust and the paraphernalia associated with metal work cluttering up my woodworking bench and would like to just enjoy using the planes for their intended purposes.

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I’ve put my experiences into print in the form of my “manual” in which I've tried to include the sort of information that I would have found helpful when I started out. It might help others to avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made. Learning by your mistakes drives the lesson home, but it can be discouraging if you make too many blunders in the early stages (not to mention the expense; brass prices have more than tripled in the last decade or so!)

Or should I simply advise you all “don’t go there!” ??
:U
Cheers,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IanW

Or should I simply advise you all “don’t go there!” ??
:U
Cheers,

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Then you shouldn't tempt us with all these pictures.

I guess too late anyway. But at least I know I have at least 14 years to build up a similar collection of my own [emoji3]

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cklett

......Then you shouldn't tempt us with all these pictures......I guess too late anyway.......

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:U I know it's already too late for some, Ck. I guess I was having a bet each way, warning of the "dangers", but for those determined to proceed, I offer full encouragement..

I wouldn't genuinely try to dissuade anyone from making a plane or two (or as many as you like). There are a few harmless pleasures in life & one is definitely a plane that works really well. If it's one you've made yourself, that adds a bit extra. A lot of folks tell me they would love to make a plane, but so many other commitments hold them back. I fully understand, been there too, it's only since full retirement that I've been able to give in to obsessions....
:)
Cheers,

Ive enjoyed reading your plane making adventures and have learnt a lot from them. I appreciate the time and effort you have taken to to present your builds and mistakes.
There are a couple of planes on my list that I would like to have a go at some day but even in retirement I struggle for time. Too many interests maybe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tony_A

....... even in retirement I struggle for time. Too many interests maybe.....

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Yes, I didn't mean to imply I have unlimited time to spend in the shed, living on a couple of acres makes certain of that! But compared with my pre-retirement life when Monday to Friday was a totally shed-free zone, things have improved. :U

What's really ag'in us old blokes is time inflation, it just isn't worth anything these days. When I was 8 or 9, the time it took to get from one Christmas to the next was 10 times what it is now....
:C
Cheers,

And in his spare time he makes hand saws as well, very good handsaws I might add. Ian, you are a gifted self taught tool maker and I for one have benefited from your skills over the years, Thank You.

Part of my problem is a multitude of part finished projects started over the last 40 years.

Chris - thankyou for the compliments, but I would describe myself as persistent rather than gifted. "Gifted" is a term more appropriate to the likes of Konrad Sauer, imo. Not only does he have a far better design aesthetic than I, his execution is flawless. I could probably match his build quality in about another 50 years, but a sense of design & proportion is something innate more than acquired.... :)

Tony - Unfinished Objects (UFOs) are just an indication that your breadth of interests exceeds the length of your days. :U

I think I might have a few of those too.... :B

Cheers,
Ian