New and Improved Mitre Plane

[Ben Knebel]

For years---more than one hundred and fifty---woodworkers have been complaining about the ergonomics of the mitre plane.
Whether your talking about the older square box style mitre or the Spiers improved pattern they were both uncomfortable and awkward to use.

We decided to do something about that and have added a handle to the mitre===a tall handle with plenty of room for our larger , modern hands.

I've included a couple of shots of the new plane.

A couple of folks have had this in their hands and find it very comfortable---so do we.

So now we have a NEW & IMPROVED Improved Pattern Mitre that retains all it's functionallity as a mitre plane but adds comfort and the ability to use the plane as a low angle smoother.

While we were prototyping this one we thougth we would play with the bed angle and will shortly be coming out with a version with a 12 degree bed turning this into a true low angle jack/smoother.

Regards
Ben

[Louis Bois]

...and I'll be able to build one of these WHEN exactly?!? What's next?!? A low-angle infill jointer?!?

sheesh...give a guy a break, will ya?

[Jerry Palmer]

Well, I think you need to put some of those out into real shops for some beta testing and I would like to volunteer my shop to assist in that testing. Just to make sure it holds up to real world situations and such, you know?


Nice looking hunk of wood and metal there.

[Dan Moening]

What timing!

I've been kicking around the idea of making a woodie miter plane on another forum. Naturally, concerns over bedding angles pointed out by others have driven my mental design to an infill design for blade support.

Very nice look. I'm not much of a metalsmith (yet).

Will this be available as a kit? ;):D

I like the idea of a snecked iron, but it seems that the blade is a little short to get to it. Is the handle supported underneath by the brass bottom?

Lots of questions to follow.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I'm trying to picture the plane on it's side with a shooting board and it looks like it will be awkward to grab. How about making the tote and knob tiltable to 45 degrees

[Joel Moskowitz]

While it's good to see a verion of the mitre plane that's more useable - it isn't exactly a new wrinkle. Mitre planes with user added handles were available in the early part of the 19th century. Mostly we can surmise for the same reason Ben is adding the handle to the mitre plane now.
The first generation of professioanly built infill bench planes were built like mitre planes (c. 1830-1840) and certainly one of the main reasons for flipping the blade over was to be able to move the handle forward and improve the balance of the plane.

[Ben Knebel]

What timing!

Will this be available as a kit? ;):D

I like the idea of a snecked iron, but it seems that the blade is a little short to get to it. Is the handle supported underneath by the brass bottom?

Lots of questions to follow.

Hi Dan;
Yes it will/is available as a kit. The new plane and the pricing will be posted on my site shortly. It --like the regular mitre---will be/is available in both brass and steel side versions.

The handle is held in place by the rivets you see on the sides--nothing from the bottom---and by poly glue.

The iron you see there is shorter than the final version will be---the production version will have an iron that comes to the top of the infill just before it begins to curve down at the back.

Regards
Ben
www.shepherdtool.com

[Ben Knebel]

While it's good to see a verion of the mitre plane that's more useable - it isn't exactly a new wrinkle. Mitre planes with user added handles were available in the early part of the 19th century. Mostly we can surmise for the same reason Ben is adding the handle to the mitre plane now.
The first generation of professioanly built infill bench planes were built like mitre planes (c. 1830-1840) and certainly one of the main reasons for flipping the blade over was to be able to move the handle forward and improve the balance of the plane.

Hi Joel;
You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of an early mitre with a handle from a commercial maker would you? or a refrence site I might go to.

I haven't heard of a commercial maker making a handled mitre so would be very interested to see one.

Regards
Ben
www.shepherdtool.com

[Joel Moskowitz]

A commerically made mitre plane with a handle I am not aware of. but craftsman modified mitre planes with handles are not at all rare. I will see if I can dig up a picture.
The earliest dovetailed bench planes - (bevel down) by commercial makers (Towell, spiers) are all built like mitre planes with wrap around steel, T+G mouths, and beveled mouths with tiny openings.
The towell plane has a plane bed built of two wedges of wood, as if he started to build a mitre but changed his mind.

One thing you should be aware of is that the very first generation of Spiers bench planes - (13-14" panel planes) that were made like mitres (later than the towell plane but still built the same way) happened to have open handles. Very very few of these planes survived with the open handle. Most were converted to closed handle fairly early on. To my mind with all that weight forward on the plane - consider either a closed handle or reinforcing the open handle as it might split over time after being constantly picked up off a surface after each stroke.

[Dan Moening]

Thank you, Ben.

That's good news about the iron....and the kit :)

While I really like the idea of being able to use this plane as a LA Jack in addition to being a miter; I think truthfully I would like a dedicated miter plane with all the comforts and features for a shooting application. To me, this means a handle perpendicular to the sole...or at least canted 45°. I'm not an engineer so I haven't a clue how this could be accomplished (and still be attractive).

Sheesh, yet another thing to add to my wishlist.
Did I tell you my birthday is tomorrow? :D

[Tom LaRussa]

Very nice! -- But then all of your stuff is beautiful. Someday, when I have more money... <<<sigh>>>

In the meantime, here are a couple newbie questions:

How exactly is an "infill" plane defined?

I have read that infill smoothers generally give a better cut. Why is that?

TIA,

Tom

[Alan Turner]

I use the LN Mitre plane. It has a handle that is mounted on either side, by simply screwing it inot a threaded hole in the side(s). On cross grain shooting, I have the plane on its right side, and the handle on the left. On long grain shooting, I have theh plane on the left sidde, and the handle on the right, of course. I have found it comfortable in both positions. On Ben's, I can't quite envision how it would be held to be comfortable. That is not a criticism, but really more in the way of a question.
Alan

[Ben Knebel]

Very nice! -- But then all of your stuff is beautiful. Someday, when I have more money... <<<sigh>>>

In the meantime, here are a couple newbie questions:

How exactly is an "infill" plane defined?

I have read that infill smoothers generally give a better cut. Why is that?

TIA,
Tom

An infill style plane is one in which a metal shell--either dovetailed or cast---is "filled" with wood.I.E. --different from a Stanley/Bailey style plane where the wood is merely attached to the shell.. Except for Erlandson and Popping( the only known American makers) and Lie Neilson( who makes a small infilled shoulder) this is a uniquely British product from the Victorian era where beauty and function were married to create what I believe to be the finest planes ever made.

There is no one factor that gives the infill its superior performance but rather a combination of wooden bed( dampens vibration to prevent chatter), a thick iron( again preventing chatter), a lever cap which holds the iron more securely than the Stanley type lever can taking advantage of the wooden bed and a very tight throat( typically for 3 to 10 thou only.

Infills are an absolute joy to use.
Regards
Ben
www.shepherdtool.com

[Steve Evans]

Hey Ben

I'm trying to get a hold of you re my shoulder plane. No answer at the shop, and I'm not sure if you got my e-mail. I thought maybe you were off fishing :)

[Ben Knebel]

Hey Ben

I'm trying to get a hold of you re my shoulder plane. No answer at the shop, and I'm not sure if you got my e-mail. I thought maybe you were off fishing :)

Hi Steve;
We spoke this morning and all will be well.

I do wish I was off fishing though---my second most favorite pastime--I'll let you guess what my favorite might be.
Regards
Ben

[Louis Bois]

Gee Ben,

You like watching "Little House On The Prairie" reruns too?!?

[Ben Knebel]

Gee Ben,

You like watching "Little House On The Prairie" reruns too?!?

Actually it's "The Road to Avonlea"

Regards
Ben

[Mark Bergman]

You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of an early mitre with a handle from a commercial maker would you? or a refrence site I might go to.


Ben, don't know if you're interested or have seen it, but in Jim Kingshott's Special Planes video, he shows and demonstrates a mitre plane he built that has an offset handle.

[Dan Moening]

Mark,

I was rummaging around Russ Allens webpages this morning and found this:

http://home.xnet.com/~rcallen/pattern.html

They cast a plane from a pattern of the Stanley #51 ... side mounted handle. Interesting design.

Wonder why these never appear on Ebay? I've seen a couple #9s, but they fetch a pretty price.

Are the 51s fragile in design?
Or didn't they work well?
Parts scarce due to non-interchangeability?

[Joel Moskowitz]

I have the 51/52 - I use it all the time. comfortable plane. only downside is the chute board itself - not long enough but the plane can be use on any wooden shooting board which is great.
other problem - with a skew blade the plane can only be used right handed.

[Ben Knebel]

I'm trying to picture the plane on it's side with a shooting board and it looks like it will be awkward to grab. How about making the tote and knob tiltable to 45 degrees

Hi Dennis;
Just to let you know we are looking at making the handle rotate through a full 180 degrees and lockable at any angle that the user finds comfortable.
Also the prototype for the low angle plane is just about ready--it will have a bed at 12.5 degrees.
Regards
Ben