How to align lever cap on Infill Plane

[Larry Slotylak]

I recently purchased a Mathieson Infill plane on ebay. I started cleaning up the plane and I noticed the front edge of the level cap is not parrallel to the bed. What is the best way to align the edge of the level cap to the bed? Should I file the front edge of the lever cap so it is parrallel to the bed or can the lever cap be aligned by tapping it with a hammer? If I use a hammer where do I tap - at the pin or on the high side of the front edge? It looks like when the level cap was originally installed the pin was not aligned properly to the bed so I think this is the reason for the misalignment. I can slip a 10 thou feeler gauge under the front of the level cap on one side.
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[James Taglienti]

maybe you could try shimming one side of the lever cap. or, use a file on the underside of the side that's touching. 10 thousandths should come off pretty quickly.

i'd just be afraid to take a hammer to it.

[Leigh Betsch]

I would make a wood slat the same thickness as the space under the lever cap, glue on some sandpaper and sand the bottom of the lever cap parallel to the bed.

[David Keller NC]

Larry - Before you make modifications to the lever cap, I would carefully examine the blade. Even if it has a Mathieson stamp on it, you may not have the original, fitted blade, and if it isn't exactly parallel (i.e., the same thickness on either side), that may be the cause of the ill fit.

If that's so, I would strongly recommend that you purchase a replacement blade (you can get ones specifically made for british infills from The Best Things). Not only will this be considerably easier than modifying the lever cap, it means that subsequent blades will fit correctly.

One other thing to check is to see if the wood of the blade bed has moved - it's not uncommon in these 100+ year old planes for the rosewood to have differentially expanded/contracted so that the blade bed isn't precisely paralell with the sides.

Finally, if none of those other things are amiss and the lever cap is indeed imprecisely mounted, I would suggest simply shimming the underside of the blade with brass shim stock from the hardware store - it's thin enough that it won't introduce chatter into the blade, and it's a heck of a lot easier than trying get at the underside of the lever cap edge.

[Terry Beadle]

The lever cap does not need to be critically square to the blade to do it's job.

Is the out of square issue cosmetic or does the blade have chatter?

By the way, Great looking Plane !

[David Weaver]

Lever cap is completely captive on this plane, right?

the last step for me in doing an infill is working on the front edge of the lever cap until I get even pressure across the iron to not only make the plane work well, but to make it adjust predictably with a hammer (i.e, it doesn't can't to one side or another when you adjust depth only).

If it's captive, I would follow the advice given to use the iron and chipbreaker to sand the thing until it's flush all the way across. PSA paper backed roll probably the best way to go about it, and something not too fine. That's going to be a major pain, but you don't have to do it all in one sitting, you just have to do it right. if it doesn't seem to be working, then maybe come back around for a second idea. Definitely use the iron and chipbreaker, though, as mentioned above, because they may not be uniform thickness and using something that's uniform will leave you still wanting better.

I don't have a drill press, so when I put the lever cap in a plane (or rather locate and drill the holes), it never gets in perfectly straight/square. Mine aren't captive (they're either held by screws or by a design like philip marcou has), so it's a lot less of a pain to do.

The squareness of the lever cap will have no bearing on the plane's performance as long as the fit along the front is flush. Once it's flush, you'll be surprised how little pressure you need from the lever cap screw to get the thing to lock down very tight.

[george wilson]

Those old plane irons were hand forged,and freehand ground at the business end. I agree that you should make sure it isn't just that the iron is a bit out of parallel before you modify the plane. Those planes were VERY expensive when new,and I've never seen one that had a crooked cap. Personally,I have 2 of those same make planes,one with and one without a handle.

The cap iron also could be a bit off. Check everything about the iron,cap iron,and the wooden stuffing before modifying the plane.

[Larry Slotylak]

Thanks for all the help. I replaced the iron with a Mathieson tapered iron that I had from an wooden plane I purchased. I sharpened this iron and the infill takes pretty good shavings now. I also cleaned up the infill bed and now the lever cap fit is better. I may end up purchasing a Hock replacement iron form the Best of Things. I'll see how the Hock iron fits before I file. I think only a slight adjustment is necessary.


Another question:
What is the best way to lighten up the cut (shaving thicknesss) on an infill without an adjuster. I know on a wooden plane you tap the back of the plane with a hammer to lighten the cut and you tap the iron down to advance the iron.

Here is picture with the tapered iron;

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[george wilson]

I just use a very small brass hammer to tap the top of the iron. Some use a wooden mallet,but I feel that a harder hammer gives more exacting taps. These little brass hammers are available from various places. They have a head about 1/2" or so x 2" long,round brass.

You don't want to be striking the infill on this type plane to retract the blade. If you must,use a SMOOTH faced wooden mallet made of softer wood than the infill. Be aware that you may disturb steel dowels holding the infill in,so that you will see them ,whereas they were formerly invisible. Some infills were just glued in,and you may pop the infill loose. I just wouldn't do it if I were you. You could also jar the dovetails so that they become visible along the bottom edges of the body.I would just retract it and start over. What I do is set the plane on a flat,true piece of wood. Set the iron into the plane,and gently feel that its edge is resting on the wood surface. Tighten the cap screw not real tight. Push the plane over the wood,and give small taps to advance,or tilt the iron.

I actually like adjusting planes with a hammer as much as using mechanical mechanisms to do it. It isn't hard to do when you practice a bit,and gives more satisfaction when you get the blade set just right.