Miter plane advise please

[Leigh Betsch]

I think I'd like to build a miter plane but I'd like a little input before I get started. I could build out of metal or wood, my preference is wood because it goes much faster and I like the look of a wood plane much better, however if the weight of a metal plane is better I could go either way. So what do you consider to be important features that I should incorporate?
Metal or wood? Metal infill maybe?
How heavy should I target?
What size? I'm thinking someplace around 15" x 3" x 3" for a wood plane.
2" blade?
Bed angle? I'm thinking 20 degrees with a bevel up iron sharpened at 25 degrees, or maybe bevel down bedded at 38 degrees.
Should I put a tote and a front knob on it, or just go without either?
Anyone have a good pic of a favorite design?
Recommended woods? I leaning towards mesquite with a lignum sole because I have a piece of mesquite left over from my jack build, or maybe solid lignum because it is heavy, but it really ain't much to look at!

[David Weaver]

BU at 50 degrees works fine, and if you do a good job of getting the iron bedded right at the edge the mouth, it cuts nicer than you'd expect a plane 45 or 50 degrees to cut.

I can't speak much to the outside dimensions of the body, I'd have to go dig up a plane downstairs, an infill. If you're going to build the plane bevel up, a 2 1/4 inch iron would be nice. 15 inches might be a bit long for an infill, but maybe at least that long for a woody, and choose really dense wood.

If you're going to build it bevel down, I guess the same would be nice.

No tote. a plain design with something on it (hotdog, knob, whatever) somewhere near the plane iron in terms of reference from the front of the plane, but up closer to the top of the cheek to force you to push in on the plane is nice.

Definitely a metal plane or an infill plane, mass is a very nice thing to have shooting miters. I like the BU infill miters the most, but they are a bigger challenge to build and get the iron bedded "just so" than one that's bevel down, which is a fairly simple operation if you have the means to square it.

A miter plane is two builds away for me (in terms of infills). I already have the brass to do it, but I"m not totally sure I want to use brass. Since I have no mill, my intention is to use brass so that I can more easily lap it square against a reference. I would like to do BU, but i might chicken out. I don't know how you'd do that stuff on a mill, but like a lot of things HT wise, the trick with a BU plane would be to make the test infill slightly shallower to file the mouth, and then make the final infill slightly steeper, forcing the iron to bed all the way down at the mouth.

[Mark Baldwin III]

I've found that my Hock kit works great on my shooting board. So much so, that I've bumped my miter plane build back a little. First up is a jointer, then a high angle smoother, then the miter. I look forward to seeing what you do, and what you find that works. I was thinking about bevel up, 1.75-2" iron, and about a 20 degree bed. On my plan for the miter is a knob up front, so that I can hold on there, and then rest my forearm against the body.

[george wilson]

Lapping the sole on a low angle miter plane will open the throat a lot quicker than on a regular plane. It would be expedient if you want to assure a tight mouth,to make the plane with an adjustable throat. That can be done in a wooden plane by making the sole ahead of the throat out of 1/4" thick metal,and having a screw coming down from the top of the plane,threading into it for adjustment by tapping on it. You could silver solder a nut on the top of the metal insert to receive the tightening screw.

[Leigh Betsch]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. The more I think about it I think I'll go with a woodie for my first attempt at a miter plane. Metal work takes so much longer that I want to make sure that I really know what I want before I take all the time required for a good infill. So I've decided on wood. I'll use mesquite and lignum to match the rest of the herd. I normally insert the mouth so I think I'll stay with that, I have used brass and lignum, I've had lignum chip so I think I'll go back to a brass slide on the sole for a mouth insert. I've been doing some Internet research, looks like a heavy miter plane is desirable. I've even seen where a guy added lead shot to increase the weight. I don't know if I go that far but maybe a brass cap iron and brass sole might be good options. A knob close to the iron and high on the cheek sounds good. I don't know about the bed angle I see every thing from 33 degrees to 55 degrees. If I go 45 degrees or higher I think I use my transitional frog trick to get an adjuster. If I go to a low angle bevel up design I might spring for a Norris style adjuster. I'll buy this because my lathe isn't tight enough to single point real fine tight threads. Or maybe I'll use the adjuster design that I build for my beech/purple heart jointer plane. The more I think about this last option the more I like it. Cheap because I can make it, utilizes the 3/16" A2 blades that I have already made, will work well with a brass cap iron, doesn't need a chip breaker. Bevel up sounds kinda interesting. If I don't like the cutting angle I can just change the primary bevel on the iron to change it.
Thanks guys I think I'm getting the vision........

[Russell Sansom]

I use shooting boards and shooting planes every day. Hard to beat a #8 for mass and jointing. But the LN miter plane is the bees knees. The most important thing for me is adjustability. The iron goes up and down all day for every board. Miters are another matter if the wood species is held constant. One setting will take you all the way around a picture frame without having to reset.

[Pam Niedermayer]

My favorite miter planes are both woodies. One, the HNT Gordon, is billed as a try plane, but it does great shooting. The other, Mosaku shooting plane, is even better. It's made of Hon Red Oak, very heavy, tough wood, and with a quality blade (I'd bet you could get such a blade separately). With the heavy dai and heavy blade it's heavy enough, but not too heavy for shooting. The HNT Gordon Trying Plane (http://www.hntgordon.com.au/prodcattry.htm) I have is made of desert ironwood, also fairly heavy, but the blade (available separately) is much smaller than the Mosaku (means "work of Mo"). They're both bevel down.

Pam

[David Weaver]

I should clarify my comment above about BU being 50 degrees means total bed plus iron bevel. I know nobody who has posted so far would guess I meant a 50 degree bed, but someone might come along and think it.

Good point on the mouth and the lapping, george. How did the old makers true the bottoms and sides of the dovetail planes and avoid opening the mouths?

[Leigh Betsch]

Pam I assume those are pullers rather than pushers. Do you see an advantage to that?
Dave, I understood that to be 50 degrees total but I did have to do the math in my head!

[David Keller NC]

Leigh - One comment about the bed angle - one sees antique infills with bed angles less than 45 degrees, but almost never in professionally-made wooden planes intended for a shooting board. The brass insert you're planning on may take care of the problem, but I think the reason you don't see low-angle woodies is that the bed just behind the blade where it ends in a point is quite fragile at low bed angles.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Pam I assume those are pullers rather than pushers. Do you see an advantage to that?

Not really, one way or the other the majority of force in a shooting plane is diagonal. The sole is flat, unlike Japanese smoothers. I both push and pull it. Additionally, if you really want to get fancy, the Mosaku comes in left and right hand versions, which differ in the blade height offset from the sides. My wallet rules, though, so I only got the one available for half price on ebay. Note that the blade is only 54mm, because dai movement for larger planes is a bit dicey for shooters. This can also be used as a joiner. Great plane.

Pam

[Leigh Betsch]

Good point David. I think another reason low angle woodies are scarce is that the sole gets pretty thin in a low angle plane and it is very easy to deform with clamp presure. I ran into this problem with my wooded block plane. I made the clamp iron screw bottom out when the plane was fully torqued so the deformation would always be the same and then jsut lapped the sole flat when it was torqued. This took out the deformation, although it may change with humidity and need re-lapping, but hey it's just a block plane anyway! This may be more of an issue with a miter plane where accuracy may be more important.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

It seems like if you were going to use a brass sole as you mention, you could easily peen or screw a smallish brass block onto the brass sole under end of the blade, with an appropriate angle ground. This would mean making a small mortise to fit the brass to the wood, (and it becomes almost a "reverse infill"!) but I think it would give you a stiffer support under the end of the blade, allowing you to use a more traditional, lower angle for a bevel-up configuration that may be helpful for shooting end grain, without worrying about such a small piece of wood trying to support the blade. This would allow a low bed angle bevel up plane with considerably less metal work than making an infill type plane. I don't know, it's something I've been considering for a while now. You could probably secure this brass block to the plane body through the sides or back as well with a little jiggery if necessary. Just thinking out loud, I guess. I feel like this would add a little more stability than just a brass sole, which I'm assuming is a little on the thin side.

[george wilson]

I certainly would recommend two things: A plane with tall enough sides that it is easy to hold without it tipping,and that the sides be very square with the blade.

[Aaron Rappaport]

Pam, was your half price Mosaku purchase on ebay just a one-time opportunity, or was it from a dealer who regularly offers such savings? And if so, who is it?! Thanks, Aaron

[Pam Niedermayer]

Pam, was your half price Mosaku purchase on ebay just a one-time opportunity, or was it from a dealer who regularly offers such savings? And if so, who is it?! Thanks, Aaron

Alas, just a one time thing from an individual; and it took a lot of staying power until it got down to about half, months of watching it go unsold.

Pam