Infill Shoulder Plane I made

[Jeff Wittrock]

I am close to finishing this Infill Shoulder Plane so I thought I would post some pictures. I still need to make an iron for it as the one I have in it right now was just a temporary one that I hacked from a 1/16" thick plane iron I had laying around.

This is made from mild steel using 3/16" thickness for the sides, and 1/4" for the sole, ramp, bridge, and lever cap. The infill is Honduran Rosewood. The sides are riveted to the sole, ramp, and bridge using 1/8" mild steel pins that pass through from one side to the other and were peened then ground flush. I didn't have the confidence to try dovetailing the sides to the sole.

No precision machining here. I just rough cut the parts with a hacksaw, then shaped on a belt sander strapped upside down to my bench. To flatten mating surfaces, I used sandpaper on a granite tile.

I tried to take quite a few pictures while I made this one, but didn't want to choke the forum with a bunch of photos, but I can post if anyone is interested.

-Jeff

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[Ron Conlon]

Holy smokes! That is gorgeous. Nice job!

[Casey Gooding]

That's beautiful. Way to go!!

[Harlan Barnhart]

I tried to take quite a few pictures while I made this one, but didn't want to choke the forum with a bunch of photos, but I can post if anyone is interested.

-Jeff

I'm interested.

[Jon Toebbe]

Stuff this forum like a goose chosen for foie gras, Jeff. Those teaser photos look great. We want all the details!

[Pam Niedermayer]

That's a gorgeous plane, love it.

Pam

[Jim Neeley]

Please post them as a step-by-step, Jeff... Ideally with narrative!! <g>

Beautiful job!!

[Jim Koepke]

Put lots of pictures all over the walls of this cave.

What is the bed angle?

It looks like you are going bevel down.

Show us some shavings when you get them.

jtk

[Chris Gilly]

More pics please!

[Stephen Pereira]

Very nice job..beautiful finish. More details please!!

Did you sand off the scale on the hot rolled steel? A tip..soak the steel in muriatic acid to remove the scale

[george wilson]

Yes,do post more pictures. This forum needs to be livened up!!! Very nice work!!! How did you knurl the screw?

[john brenton]

That is really handsome. I don't know what else to call it. Tasteful, stylish? Very cool.

[Brian Kent]

Two things:

I also want to see the pics and the process.

Does it work?

Brian

[Leigh Betsch]

I like it. Is it your own design: Looks like a 21 century design! Must be shoulder plane season, I just finished up my infill also.

[Dale Sautter]

+100 for more pics with accompanying info! That is one knarly-knurl on that puppy... :) We wanna see shavings!!!

[Mark Baldwin III]

Awesome...now show the build pics :)

[Matt Bickford]

That looks fantastic.

At what angle is it bedded? what angle is that iron ground? It may just be the perspective, but it looks too close. You may want to back the angle off the iron.

[Brian Ashton]

When I first opened the thread and look at the thumbnails I went wow! I like the shape. It's very AC Cobra ish

[Pedder Petersen]

Hi Jeff,

this is the most beautiful shoulderplane design I've seen. These lines let me thin of Ford Mustang. I like, that the screw doesn't stand out over the shoulder tomuch. I never thought about making planes but this plane could change my mind!

Please more pictures!

Cheers
Pedder

[Derek Cohen]

Jeff, that is beautiful. Just beautiful.

Details please.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Matt Ranum]

I would say to post a tutorial as well! Lots of interest here with things like this.

How long did it take you to make this? Was there a particular reason you went this route rather than using brass?

[David Weaver]

Looks excellent, Jeff. Very automotive or boat like.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Thanks all for the kind comments. I'll start posting the pictures I have with some description. It might get drawn out over a couple days.

Maybe it would be a good idea to just show are describe some of the tools I use up front. I am no machinist by any stretch. I have never operated a mill or metal lathe. I have always thought I would enjoy using these types of tools, but I just try to get by with what I have right now.


As you see the tools I use, you may get the idea that I advocate using cheep tools. I don't. I simply had to make the decision to either be pragmatic and buy/make what I needed, or do without. I love fine tools, but sadly, I also love (need) a low price. These two loves are, unfortunately, often mutually exclusive.


I only have one workbench, so it has to do duty as both a woodworking and metalworking bench. For holding parts being worked, I use a small metal vice mounted to a wooden base that I can clamp in the leg vise. Not the most secure, but it works well enough and is quick for me to change over. I don’t have any kind of anvil, so the metal vise is also used when I peen the rivets.

For rough shaping I use a bench grinder.

For de-scaling and finer shaping, I use a pretty cheesy setup with a run down belt sander mounted in a very undignified position on my bench top. 100 grit works fine for most things, as long as I don’t let it get too dull. Once it starts getting dull, I just end up generating a lot of heat. A courser grit may work better for general shaping, but sometimes I find things just move too fast then as I cannot control the speed of the belt sander. With the 100 grit belts, material is removed slowly enough that I usually won’t make too big a mistake unless I’m really clumsy.

I have a cheap harbor freight drill press that I bought on sale for $39. I have to say this drill is probably worth about what I paid for it. It has a bit of runout, but is good enough for my needs. I have no doubt that a hand drill could be substituted by someone with a better sense of level than I have.

I have a mishmash of needle files and mill files.


For cutting interior lines, I resorted to just chain drilling holes and cutting between the holes with a coping say. I need to invest in a fret saw and some decent metal cutting blades.


Lots of wet/dry sand paper and a granite tile I used as a flat plate.
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[george wilson]

Don't forget,the original infill makers also worked with simple hand tools. The 2 steel infills Zahid posted in the FAQ section,were made by me when I had no machines except a lathe to make the cap screw. The dovetails were completely hand filed. Contours were roughed out with hacksaw and further refined by filing. You can make out with minimal equipment,as you have already shown.

I'd like to compliment your truly flat, flat surfaces,not sluffed over by excessive buffing. Also,your little bevels are very nicely done,and are also nice and crisp,not rounded over. Your surfaces are NOT what I have called certain silversmith's work as "high polish with deep scratches!!"

[Niels Cosman]

Hi Jeff,

Really really sharp looking plane!
I love the shape and appreciate the originality of the design!
It seems like you took some automotive cues and ported them over to the tool world. The profile reminds me of a 50's 250MM ferrari spyder.
nice work- MORE PICTURES! :)

Cheers,
Niels

[Jeff Wittrock]

Well, here is where it started…. a rough sketch. When you look at the pictures of the finished plane, you will see the shape is quite a bit different from my original sketch. I have never been very good at using 2d drawings to visualize a 3d object. Until I have something in my hands, I just don’t know if I will like the shape. That’s one of the reasons that much of the shaping was left until after the plane was assembled. Doing most of the rough cutting before assembly would certainly be easier, but when I am working on something where I have little experience to draw from (I have not owned or operated a shoulder plane before this), then I just find it safer to do most of the shaping after the fact.


I thought quite a bit about the shape. I tend to like shapes on small tools that are rounded to be easy on the hands. I wanted to try and make the level cap screw small enough and tuck it in low enough that it wouldn't be jabbing my hand but also make it reasonably easy to get at. That's where the lower "saddle" shape comes in where the lever cap screw is located. The other shapes kind of followed from this. The area around the bridge had to be high enough so I would have plenty of room to rivet the bridge to the sides so this area is higher. Likewise the area behind the iron is a little high er to give the hand a place to push while staying away from the iron and cap lever and screw.



Sometimes I feel a bit arrogant straying to far away from a "classic" shape for tools like these. I have no doubt that toolmakers of the past knew what they were doing, and to ignore the lessons they learned over many years is foolish. At the same time, there has to be some room to have a little fun with a shape that feels right in my hand.



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[Jeff Wittrock]

...What is the bed angle?
It looks like you are going bevel down..
jtk

Jim, I used a 45 degree bed angle and it is bevel down as you said. I was originally thinking of making a bevel up, and I may yet try one. The one thing I liked about the bevel down is that the blade could be extracted from the bottom of the plane (out the mouth) instead of making enough room to allow turning the blade on its side and removing from the top as has to be done with a bevel up plane.



Did you sand off the scale on the hot rolled steel? A tip..soak the steel in muriatic acid to remove the scale

Thanks for the tip Stephen. I did sand the scale off. I'll have to give the muriatic acid a try.



At what angle is it bedded? what angle is that iron ground? It may just be the perspective, but it looks too close. You may want to back the angle off the iron.

Matt, From the pictures it does look like there isn't much clearance angle, but the blade is ground at ~35 degrees, and the bed angle is 45. I still need to make a decent blade as the one that is in place right now is one that I just hacked together.



How long did it take you to make this? Was there a particular reason you went this route rather than using brass?

Matt, It's always hard for me to say how much time I spent on a project, but I would guess I spent the better part of four weekends. Probably about 40-50 hours. The actual construction is very quick. The thing that is most time consuming (for me anyway) is the fine detailed shaping and trying to get all of the scratches out. I guess the decision to use steel instead of brass is just a personal preference. I just like the look of the steel. I also find the mild steel easy to work with. I don't have much experience with different brass alloys.



I'd like to compliment your truly flat, flat surfaces,not sluffed over by excessive buffing. Also,your little bevels are very nicely done,and are also nice and crisp,not rounded over."

Thanks George. Considering the work I have seen of yours, I consider this very high praise coming from you.
Trying to keep the edges crisp while removing scratches is to me one of the more tedious parts. You see a scratch and become tempted to just rub on it a bit with your thumb and some sandpaper, but have to fight the urge and keep working at it on a flat plate instead.

-Jeff

[Tim Put]

Lovely work. Certainly better than what I produce.

The only criticism (intended to be constructive) I can give is to avoid feather-edged transitions, i.e. just above the mouth in the escapement.

[Johnny Kleso]

I like the design of it a lot..
Can you buy a store bought blade yo use?

[Jeff Wittrock]

Here is the material I started with. 3/16" hot rolled mild steel for the sides and 1/4" for the sole, ramp, bridge, and lever cap.

The parts are roughed out with a hacksaw.

When I started, I thought that this would be a lot of cutting with a hacksaw since I needed to cut the entire length of the sole from the 1/4" stock, but actually, rough cutting the parts took a very short time. The mild steel cuts very easily with a decent hacksaw blade.

After I rough sawed the parts, I used a belt sander to bring the sole, ramp, and bridge pieces down to the proper width (3/8"). Once these three pieces were close, I used a granite tile and 100 grit sandpaper to flatten and square one edge of each of these pieces that would mate to one side of the plane. Getting a good 90 degree angle and a flat edge using the granite plate and sandpaper is not terribly difficult. It just takes some patience and frequent checks with a good square.

As I'll describe in a bit, the other edges of the sole and bridge will be flattened and squared after they are temporarily mounted to one side of the plane.

The inside faces of the sides were then descaled and flattened using first the belt sander, then the granite tile and sandpaper. I didn't bother descaling the outward facing side or edges as these will need a lot of work later anyhow.


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[Jeff Wittrock]

The only criticism (intended to be constructive) I can give is to avoid feather-edged transitions, i.e. just above the mouth in the escapement.

I agree. I tried to avoid having any acute angles where the infill material would chip, but this is an area where I ended up with just that problem. In hind site I wonder whether it would have been better to clip the infill back a bit at a 90 degree angle to the sole. I had a similar situation where the infill meets the bridge at the top of the escapement.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Next, I cut the 45 degree angle where the ramp meets the sole. This was just rough cut with the hacksaw. The surface that mates with the sole was then flattened with the belt sander and finally sandpaper and the granite plate.

I also rounded over the surface of the bridge that will eventually serve as the bearing surface for the lever cap.

I then drilled a hole through both sides of the plane that is within the bounds of what will eventually be the escapement cutout. This hole will later be used to allow a bolt to hold the sides and sandwitched sole, ramp, and bridge together while drilling.

I temporarily mounted the sole, ramp and bridge to one side using super glue. I used the thin type (not the gel) to avoid a buildup of glue between these pieces and the side plate. I left the sole back from the bottom edge of the side by ~1/32" to allow the side to later be ground down to meet the sole.

Next I used the the granite tile and sandpaper to flatten the faces of the sole, ramp, and bridge that will mate with the other side of the plane. By flatting these surfaces after mounting to one side, it helps ensure they are the same width and will mate accurately with the other side of the plane. This assumes that the thickness of the glue used to temporarily mount the parts is very thin, or at least the same thickness for all parts.

Finally I used a block of wood as a base with a 5/16" bolt countersunk on the bottom. The second side was now temporarily mounted using super glue as was done on the first side. The whole was then clamped together using a washer and nut on the through bolt. Enough torque was used to hold the pieces together without warping the sides.
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[David Keller NC]

"Sometimes I feel a bit arrogant straying to far away from a "classic" shape for tools like these. I have no doubt that toolmakers of the past knew what they were doing, and to ignore the lessons they learned over many years is foolish. At the same time, there has to be some room to have a little fun with a shape that feels right in my hand."

Jeff - A bit of perspective that might lessen your feelings of arrogance - I'm a tool collector as well as a woodworker, and most of my interest lies in the finer work the British put out in the 19th century rather than the more work-a-day mass produced American stuff that's the focus of much of the American tool collecting community. As such, I've seen a lot of British infill shoulder planes. The "classic" shape that you refer to is primarily a result of the efficiency of production and success in marketing that Spiers, Norris and Mathieson pulled off in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

But there's a heck of a lot more variation than Norris #7 shoulder planes - and they all work, and work well. The shoulder planes of G. Miller, for example, are unique, eclectic, and highly collected (and they don't really look like Norris #7s at all).

[Steve Branam]

I tried to take quite a few pictures while I made this one, but didn't want to choke the forum with a bunch of photos, but I can post if anyone is interested.

That's a gorgeous hunk of metal! I think you need to go ahead and choke the forum, especially since you were able to produce such spectacular results with such primitive techniques! Also, where did you get the materials?

[Jeff Wittrock]

First, I scribe some lines on the sides to indicate the center line of the sole, ramp, and bridge. I should mention that it is probably easier to scribe these lines before the second side is placed while you have easy access to the interior parts. When I made this one I forgot to do so, so I scribe the lines after the fact, but it's not really a problem either way.

The location of the rivets is not terribly critical as long as they are fairly well centered on the parts that are being pinned in place. You just need to remember where the mouth will be and keep the rivets away from this area.

I didn't even bother center punching locations for the holes. I was more worried about the super glue letting go if I used a center punch than I was about the bit wandering. As long as I started the bit nice and slow, I had no problems with the bit wandering within the degree of accuracy needed to keep the hole close to the center of the sole, ramp, and bridge. I also drilled the holes nice and slow to keep from putting much torque on the parts held in place with super glue. Not much chance of them moving, but I was a bit nervous.
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Now that the holes are drilled, I removed the nut, bolt and wooden base. To separate the sides, I used a wedge shaped piece of wood driven between the sides down the face of the ramp. Keeping the wedge close to the ramp helped prevent warping the side plates. I was amazed at just how well the super glue held.
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Next, I separated the sole, ramp, and bridge from the side by just giving them a good rap with a piece of wood. Again, I was surprised at just how well the glue held. I then cleaned the glue from the mating surfaces using the granite tile and sandpaper.
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Now I cut the pins from 1/8" diameter mild steel stock. I cut the pins to a length ~1/4" longer than the width of the plane. This left ~1/8" protruding from either side of the plane for peening. I am sure there is a general rule for how far the pins should protrude for easy peening. I have just found that about one pin diameter works well. Too short and you won't have enough material to peen. Too long and you will have difficulty getting the pins to mushroom close to the surface.

After cutting, I relieved the cut ends of the pins on the belt sander to make test fitting easier.
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[Jeff Wittrock]

Next came one of the fun parts... peening the pins.

I have no sage advice. I have messed this part up on a previous plane. Now I just take things nice and slow and I have no problems.

I start by centering the pin with equal parts protruding from either side. I lay the pin against the flat surface of my vice and give the pin a couple of nice raps on one side. I then flip the plane over, recenter the pin, place the other side of the pin against the vice and apply a couple more nice raps. Repeat until the metal fills the hole and is well expanded up against the surface. One pin at a time.

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[Jeff Wittrock]

This is also a fun part for me because up till now I have been looking at a scaly lumpy exterior that doesn't look much like a shoulder plane.

I ground the rivets off and de-scaled the sides at the same time using the belt sander.

Next I cut off the extended parts of the ramp and bridge, and ground this surface relatively flat.

Finally I ground the sides flush with the sole on the bottom using the belt sander.

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[Niels Cosman]

Awesome! Keep 'em coming!

[Jeff Wittrock]

Next I cut the escapement hole. I didn't have a fret saw at the timer, but I did have a coping saw with some fine toothed blades. To make things a bit easier, I drilled a string of holes inside the escapement cutout perimeter. From here I used the coping saw to connect the dots.
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So about 20 holes, two broken coping saw blades, and 45 minutes later, here is what I ended up with.
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The next step was one of the more tedious parts... filing the escapement to shape. I just used a course round file to remove most of the material left by the drilling/sawing.

I then rough cut the opening for the mouth with a hacksaw, and performed most of the shaping with various needle file.
I cut the sides down to the surface of the ramp with a mill file.
Finally I cleaned up the inside surfaces with 100 and 220 grit paper wrapped around various round and flat forms.
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[Jeff Wittrock]

Next I shaped the outside contour of the plane.

By now, I had already started having different ideas about what I wanted for the shape of the plane. The final shaping of the plane wasn't done in one shot. Instead I started by rough cutting parts of the shape that I was fairly sure of using a hacksaw, and then began finer shaping using the bench grinder and then the belt sander.

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[Jeff Wittrock]

I hope that some of this is of use. Tomorrow I should have time to post some pictures showing the lever cap and cap screw.

[Niels Cosman]

useful and interesting!
cheers,
niels

[Peter Pedisich]

Jeff,

This is just brilliant, thanks for sharing. Are you an Industrial Designer?

Pete

[Zahid Naqvi]

I have added this to the FAQs section, great stuff Jeff. Thanks for taking the time to take pictures and educating us on the process. Seems doable just a lot of work that's all.

[Bill White]

VERY well done.
How did ya attach the infill?
Bill

[Bill White]

Never mind the question. Just saw the updated pics. Great job there.
Bill

[Jeff Wittrock]

The lever cap was rough cut from the same 1/4" stock as the sole using a hacksaw and as with the other parts a brought it down to final dimension using the belt sander.

The width of the lever cap is just slightly less than the sole. The sole was 3/8", so I made the lever cap ~25/64" wide.

The round over on the nose was just done freehand on the belt sander.

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I created a recess where the lever cap meets the bridge. This was just done freehand with a 3/8" diameter file. The recess was then cleaned up using sandpaper wrapped on a 3/8" rod.

I'm not sure how apparent it is from the photos, but the recess does not have a uniform depth across its width. It is actually slightly shallower in the center than at the sides. This creates a single contact point in the center of the bridge allowing the lever cap to pivot very slightly from side to side. The thought here was that this would allow the contact point at the nose to set the side to side angle of the lever cap. In other words, it is supposed to allow the nose of the lever cap to rest on the iron across its entire width (provided the nose of the lever cap is flat). How well does this really work? The lever cap is so narrow anyway that I cannot say for sure that it really offers an advantage. It seemed like a good idea at the time though, and it is actually easier to cut the recess slightly shallower in the center rather than struggle to make the recess perfectly flat across the width of the lever cap.

At this point, I drilled and tapped for a 1/4"-28 lever cap screw.

I shaped the top of the lever cap to match the general shape of the top of the plane.
I also added a bit of taper from the top down towards the nose just for aesthetics.
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[Salem Ganzhorn]

I really enjoyed the read. Thanks for posting your process!
Salem

[Jeff Wittrock]

I will say before hand that I'm not sure that this is a very good way to make a lever cap screw. I'm sure if I had looked around a bit, I could have found a screw with a large enough head to use as a starting point, but in the interest of keeping with the "buy it at the hardware store" theme, I decided to try to make the screw using what I had on hand.

I started out with a stainless steel 1/4-28 x 3/4" hex head bolt. I didn't have to use stainless, but I didn't want to use a zinc plated bolt. I simply cut the head from this bolt with a hacksaw.

To make the screw head, I started out by drilling and tapping for 1/4-28 in a piece of 1/4" mild steel.
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Next I used the hacksaw to cut out a square somewhat over the final diameter of the head. I then used the bench grinder to form the square into an octagon close to the final diameter of the head, and finally I used the grinder to and belt sander to form the octagon into a circle.
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Next a threaded the stainless steel bolt into the head with a small amount of super glue on the threads towards the cut end. I left a small amount of bolt protruding from the head which I then ground flush with the belt sander.

I now drilled a 1/8" diameter cross pin hole through the head and bolt. I cut a pin from the same 1/8" mild steel rod used to make the rivets for the rest of the plane. This was then peened in place, and then ground flush on the belt sander.
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Next I chucked the screw in the drill press and used 100 grit emery cloth to to clean up the sides of the head and to give the head a slight convex shape. I then used 220, 400, and finally 1000 grit paper to polish the head.

To cut the knurling, I just used a small triangle file. There are probably some good tutorials on doing this far better than I can describe. I simply cut at 45 degrees to the screw axis one direction, the reversed and cut at 45 degrees in the other direction. I didn't attempt to do any kind of layout but just "eyeballed" the distance from one cut to the next.

I started out make fairly shallow cuts, then after the first pass in both directions, I came back and cut do the final depth.
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I made the knurling fairly course since the screw head diameter is not very large and is tucked in kind of low on the plane. I wanted to make sure it would provide a nice easy purchase for my fingers when tightening.

I think cutting knurling by hand is something of a skill in and of itself, and it is a skill I have yet to acquire, but this lever cap screw is certainly serviceable.

[Pedder Petersen]

Hi Jeff, I really enjoy this thread! Would you mind, if I copy that design? Cheers Pedder

[Jeff Wittrock]

I used Honduran Rosewood for the infill.

I started out with a slab a little over the 3/8" thickness I needed.

To make the front infill, I first trued one edge that would seat on the sole using my small infill smoother. Not necessarily the job for a smoother, but I'm still filling out my plane inventory, and this is the only plane I currently have the does a descent job on reversing grain.

Next I cut the angled surface that will mate with the front face of the bridge, and also a reverse angle below this that will allow the infill to clear the ramp. This doesn't need to be precise at this point. I cut these angles first so that as I plane the infill down to thickness, I can slide it all the way into the plane body up to the bridge and identify the areas that need to be relieved.

I now slowly planed the infill down to thickness. It pays to go slow during this step. I just took my time and after every few swipes with my smoother, I test fit the infill in the plane body.

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Once the infill was planed down to the proper thickness, I started fitting the surface that contacts the bridge. I found it easiest to just clamp the infill in my leg vice, and work the mating surface with my smother and test fit the plane body often.
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Once the I had a good fit at the bridge, I rough cut the infill where it extends into the escapement. Final shaping of the infill inside the escapement will be done once the infill is mounted.
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The rear infill is done in essentially the same manner.

Normally I would pin the infill in place. As I worked on this plane, I debated whether or not to have the infill slightly overstuffed. Eventually I decided to just have it flush with the plane body, but couldn't bear to commit myself, so instead of pinning the infill in place, I used a small amount of epoxy to glue the infill in place. The thought here was that if I eventually change my mind, I could heat the body up a bit to soften the epoxy and dig the infill out. Hopefully it will never come to this, and I may yet pin the infill although I suspect the epoxy will still be holding the infill long after I'm gone.

[Salem Ganzhorn]

I want to see the smoother next!!
Salem

[Jeff Wittrock]

Next, I shaped the infill flush with the side plates.

Before I mounted the infills, I had already rough cut them to within about 1/8" of their final size, so there wasn't much material to remove.

For the outside surfaces, I used a spoke shave to bring the final dimension as close to the metal as I dare. I then finished up with the belt sander and lastly used sandpaper on the granite tile.

For the inside surfaces (escapement), I used a small knife to remove most of the material, then a round file, and finally several grits of sandpaper wrapped on a round form.

I try to sand rosewood as little as possible. I have something of an allergy to to it, so I try to generate as little dust as possible. The shavings have never been a problem, but I probably need to be more careful than I am. I would hate to develop a full fledged allergic reaction and never be able to use this beautiful wood again.

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[Jeff Wittrock]

I have showed things out of order a bit as I actually did some of the metal finishing before the infill was fitted. If I had pinned the infills in place I would probably have waited with most of the metal finishing until after these were fitted as I would have had to sand the rivets flush.

Finishing of the metal can be one of the more tedious parts of the job. Now is the point where all of those nasty scratches I have put into the metal up till now had to come out.
This just involved various grits of wet/dry paper, a flat surface, and some elbow grease.

Since I used 100 grit belts on the belt sander, I started with 150 grit paper on the granite plate. I then worked through 220.

After working all the surfaces over with 220 grit, I added a chamfer to the sides of the plane. This was done with a small triangle file at 45 degrees. Once I had an even chamfer on the front, top, and back sides, I polished the chamfer using 220 grit paper on an oak backer. I would not recommend trying to polish the chamfer or any of the surfaces without a solid backing or flat plate. This may just be personal preference, but I really love to have a nice sharp edge, and rubbing the surfaces with sandpaper using a soft backer or your finger will quickly round things over.

From here I repeated the polishing with 320, and finally 500 grit paper. After each grit, I would alternate the direction to clearly show up scratches from the previous. I don't really like a high polish on tools. To my eye it just shows finger prints to easily, so I see no reason to go beyond 500 grit.

On the final sanding, I tried to have all of the scratches in a direction parallel to the sole or, for the edges, following the chamfer. This is probably just personal preference, but it just looks good to my eye.

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[Jeff Wittrock]

Well, not quite done yet.

I just used several coats of BLO on the rosewood followed by some wax.

I have not done the final flattening of the sole as I still need to make and fit a good iron.

Sorry my posts are scattered around this thread a bit, but I honestly don't know how to keep them grouped together, so I just numbered them.

I hope some of this post is useful. If nothing else, I hope that it provides some encouragement to others who think they might enjoy making their own tools. Honestly, If I can make something useful then I am certain a trained Gorilla (or an untrained one) could do the same.

Please post any critique. If you see that I did something that just ain't right, then sing out. I just learn as I go, and honest critique is an excellent teacher.

Thanks,
-Jeff

[Peter Pedisich]

Jeff,

I don't know your profession, but you certainly have an eye for design. Your plane in profile has a classic look, yet originality. Inspiring to say the least, thanks again for sharing. And your resourcefulness is equally inspiring.
How to make this plane would be an ideal high school shop class for our young kids today who sometimes go through school without ever learning the satisfaction of making something with their own hands.

Pete

[Peter Pedisich]

...I just learn as I go, and honest critique is an excellent teacher.

Thanks,
-Jeff

Our best teacher is our last mistake. I have too many best teachers.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Hi Jeff, I really enjoy this thread! Would you minf, if I copy that design? Cheers Pedder
Help yourself Pedder. I hope it is useful to you.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Jeff,
What a great looking plane!!! I have been toying with the idea of building something similar since I read your original posts. First, how difficult would it be to modify it to a BU plane?
Also, any leads on good suppliers of smaller pieces of steel?

[Nick Falzone]

This thread is truly inspiring. I am toying with the idea of making a similar set of these planes instead of buying the LV shoulder planes but I am not sure if I have the patience.

@Andrew: Onlinemetals-dot-com has a good selection of steels, brass and such.

[Jerome Hanby]

Have you made any curlies with it yet? Have pics of that? Thanks for posting all the great info and pics!

[Jeff Wittrock]

Jeff,
What a great looking plane!!! I have been toying with the idea of building something similar since I read your original posts. First, how difficult would it be to modify it to a BU plane?
Also, any leads on good suppliers of smaller pieces of steel?
Andrew, I just used hot rolled mild steel from a local Menards. I have been thinking of buying some 3/16" or 1/4" O1 for making blades. Emco (http://www.use-enco.com) looked like they have pretty good prices. I suspect McMaster-Carr is close in pricing, though I haven't looked to much.

I originally considered making a bevel up shoulder plane. The one thing I liked about a bevel down was that the wedge (or lever cap in this case) is farther forward away from the back. This let the back of the plane be shaped into the curve I wanted. The other thing with a bevel up design is that you have to make plenty of room to turn the blade on its side to be withdrawn from the rear. With the bevel down design, there is enough room to extract the blade through the mouth. I don't think there is anything about the general way the plane is put together that would prevent making it bevel up though. Lowering the ramp angle and moving the bridge such that it would work with a wedge from behind.

[Jeff Wittrock]

This thread is truly inspiring. I am toying with the idea of making a similar set of these planes instead of buying the LV shoulder planes but I am not sure if I have the patience.

@Andrew: Onlinemetals-dot-com has a good selection of steels, brass and such.
For myself, I just like fiddling around and trying to make tools just as something that is enjoyable in and of itself. If it ends up being something useful, than all the better, but if not, I still enjoyed working on an idea. I'm not sure I can compare what I made to something of the quality of the LV shoulder plane, but I say jump in and give it a try.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Have you made any curlies with it yet? Have pics of that? Thanks for posting all the great info and pics!
You know I forgot the whole purpose of this thing is to make some shavings. I'll try and post some pics later.

[Niels Cosman]

Hey Jeff,

I just want to reiterate and chime in with all the other folks and say that I really appreciate sharing of this process with us.
It's been both informative and inspirational. I definitely have one more project on my list now! uggh thanks :)
It's this kind of generosity that makes this cave by the creek one of my favorite places on the internet! Keep it up!

Cheers,
Niels

ps. the same gratitude goes out to ALL the other fellas out there who are willing to share their personal experiences, techniques, and pair of pennies from time to time! :)

[Johnny Kleso]

Few tips I would like to offer..

You can buy pre ground low carbon flat stock at MSC
http://www1.mscdirect.com/eCommerce/NavigationServlet/Raw-Materials/Flat-Stock/Low-Carbon-Flat-Stock/_/N-77dskZ1z07hqd?refinement=4293452298&searchandizedOk=Y

This might save a lot of lapping on hot rolled steel..

Scribing a Layout on inside and Center Punching and Pre drilling one side plate might help from drill waking off locations..
For those using a drill press you want to check that your table is extra square to the spindle as well..

I always pre drill rivet holes 1/32-1/16 under size then drill them on size for a tighter fit..
If you use a reamer for sizing the less you leave for reaming the tighter the hole

IE: Say you leave 1/16" to remove with reamer, hole may be .0005 over size.. If you leave 1/64 it may be .0003 under size
It kind of also workes with using another drill..

For rivet holes use a tapered reamer with a .015 deep chamfer to lock in heads of your rivet stock..
You can use a tool much like this
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=tapered+reamer&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14591419320174238710&sa=X&ei=XN17TZfeFY6B0QGKjqSBDg&ved=0CEYQ8wIwBA#

[Jeff Wittrock]

Few tips I would like to offer..

You can buy pre ground low carbon flat stock at MSC
http://www1.mscdirect.com/eCommerce/NavigationServlet/Raw-Materials/Flat-Stock/Low-Carbon-Flat-Stock/_/N-77dskZ1z07hqd?refinement=4293452298&searchandizedOk=Y

This might save a lot of lapping on hot rolled steel..

Scribing a Layout on inside and Center Punching and Pre drilling one side plate might help from drill waking off locations..
For those using a drill press you want to check that your table is extra square to the spindle as well..

I always pre drill rivet holes 1/32-1/16 under size then drill them on size for a tighter fit..
If you use a reamer for sizing the less you leave for reaming the tighter the hole

IE: Say you leave 1/16" to remove with reamer, hole may be .0005 over size.. If you leave 1/64 it may be .0003 under size
It kind of also workes with using another drill..

For rivet holes use a tapered reamer with a .015 deep chamfer to lock in heads of your rivet stock..
You can use a tool much like this
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=tapered+reamer&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14591419320174238710&sa=X&ei=XN17TZfeFY6B0QGKjqSBDg&ved=0CEYQ8wIwBA#


Thanks a lot for the tips Johnny! Things that may seem obvious to someone with metal working experience may easily escape me. This is just the kind of feedback I love to see.

Thanks again,
-Jeff

[Jeff Wittrock]

187798187799

Finally got around to sharpening the blade a bit and giving it a try. I still need to make a decent iron, but now I also need to come up with project that needs a shoulder plane. Necessity is suposed to be the mother of invention, but sometimes it works the other way around. I need to come up with a project to justify the tool.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Jeff,

Very nice plane and a great and inspiring tutorial.

Thank you,

[Mark Baldwin III]

I need to come up with a project to justify the tool.

I think that plane justifies itself :) thanks for sharing.

[Matt Day]

Wow - well done! I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread.

[Chris M Pyle]

Jeff,

I greatly appreciate you posting this tutorial, this is so wonderful looking and so well executed. I can't wait to try something like this. I'm sure I am repeating others but you have helped give me confidence to attempt making some of my tools out of metal!

[Chris M Pyle]

I'd like to ask any of you who have metalworking experience, and I will likely post a new thread in that forum as well, does anyone have a suggestion for a small mill/lathe to produce screws and various parts for planes?

I know that is very open ended but I was hoping someone could suggest a mill/lathe that is known to be reliable. I've seen the unimat sl-1000 and it looks nice if you can find parts etc

[george wilson]

DON'T buy a Unimat!!!!!! An Atlas 10" is BAD enough,so you can spend MANY extra hours making parts that could be done a great deal faster on a better lathe. My first metal lathe was a 12" Atlas(Sears) lathe. My next lathe was a Jet 10" belt drive bench lathe. It was infinitely better than the Atlas. You could spend nearly as much on a Unimat as on a 10" Jet. There are many hobbiests out there with limited space,and a fear of any machine with a little weight to it. So,little,lightweight machines always bring more than they are worth,considering the work they are able to barely do.

I advise staying away from those 9" lathes that are also popular. You have to change the gear train often to cut different threads,though they SEEM to have quick change gear boxes. One I tried,that a friend owned,had a TERRIBLY coarse "fine" feed rate. Poorly engineered.

[Matthew Dworman]

Jeff - truly stunning and a great write up as well.
This is one of the best posts I have read in a long time....
Thank you for sharing, and please show more - I'm interested in your smoother too!!

Matthew

[Jeff Wittrock]

I'm interested in your smoother too!!
Matthew
Thanks Matthew. Following is the thread for the smoother.
My-first-infill (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?144984-My-first-infill&highlight=)

I didn't take so many pictures, or go into much detail, but the construction was a lot like the shoulder plane except the rivets don't pass all the way through the sole.

Thanks,
-Jeff

[jason thigpen]

how has the steel held up to rust and tarnish over the past few months? did you finish it with any type of corrosion inhibitor? or maybe just some paste wax or a nice coat of T9? i'm curious how well the steel holds up over time.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Actually, I'm surprised at how little tarnish has show up in the last year. I often use some paste wax on my planes just for ease of use and not so much for corrosion prevention, but it does seem to help. I will sometimes wipe them down with a little wd40 to remove wax buildup, but other than that, nothing special.

-Jeff

[Bill White]

That is one EXCELLENT piece of workmanship my man. Can I try it out?
Bill