Cost of infill plane kits?

[Cory Gilmer]

Hi all,

A fellow I know has some Shepherd infill planes he made from kits. I know the company is now defunct (unfortuanely for us), but I am curious as to what these kits were worth in their day. He has a jointer (looks around 22"-23"), a jack he said was about 14", a 9" smoother as well as what looks like a scraper plane (?).

Thanks for any insight.

Cory

[Jack Curtis]

Well, it doesn't really matter what the kits were worth, more what they're worth to a buyer today; however, IIRC, they were on the order of $300 and up, don't know about a scraper plane.

[David Weaver]

I paid $600 for a cocbolo brass and steel infill kit (an 18" panel plane) a while ago, a couple of years after they closed shop.

I would scratch build the plane knowing what I know now, but I don't feel like I was taken on it as the plane has turned out to be at least a $600 performer now that I know how to use a cap iron correctly. At least in terms of dimensioning hardwoods by hand, a power planer user wouldn't have much use for such a thing.

I don't know what I would do with an infill jointer, though.

The quality of my kit was decent, but it was not overwhelming and if I hadn't scratch built two infill planes right before it, I might've had a few questions (I had to fix a few things on it). I could practically guarantee that the result in terms of performance is better than 99.9% of the vintage planes around.

If you haven't built an infill plane yet, I would scratch build a 1 1/2 inch wide plane that's similar to the brese J (or whatever the small one is) or holtey's small plane (that style, you don't have to do as good of a job to learn though). You learn a whole lot on your first plane, in terms of working the metal and fitting everything.

[David Weaver]

The jack you're talking about is probably the 14" version of the panel plane, btw.

[Terry Beadle]

I paid less than $100 for the thumb plane kit from them. It has a really good A2 blade and works great. I agree with Mr. Weaver, you will learn a lot by doing an infill from scratch. My memory is not what it used to be but the $300 range for the Jack sounds right. The jointer was in the $400 to $500 range I think but it's been too long. I may have an old price list in the box my thumb plane came in and I'll look for it.

[Cory Gilmer]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the input. I'd love to make my own plane but am surprised to hear you guys suggest building one from scratch before (or rather than) using a kit. I thought a kit would be a nice stepping stone to making one from scratch. Anyhow, I'm quite new to woodworking, and have absolutely no background working metal. Is it realistic to even try at this point? I really love infill planes and would relish the chance to build one. I've done some searching here on the net but have found very little information on how to build them. Can't even seem to find kit instructions to give me an idea. Do you guys have a good starting point for me? I assume building from scratch involves sourcing the metal in rough form and cutting it to shape and carry on from there?

I do appreciate the feedback you've already given and any more you could send along.

Cory

[David Weaver]

build a couple of krenov type planes first, I guess, so you understand the working parts and bedding an iron.

It'll probably cost about $100 for the materials to build a small plane if you're going to source dry tropical woods and purchase a good quality iron, and some brass. It seems ridiculous, but the bottom line is if you're building infill planes, it's because you want an infill plane, not because you want a plane for $15.

If you use materials from home depot (mild steel) and just some plain hardwood, and an old woody iron or make your own iron, and find a scrap piece of brass and a steel knurled screw, then you can do it a lot cheaper. But for the time you'll have involved even in a small one, if you're working only with handtools, I'd personally get O1 for the sides and bottom in a dimension that will be the finished dimensions and go at it (it works nicely with hand tools and doesn't clog files).

If you don't feel confident, by all means build a few planes that are of a type that it doesn't take 25 hours just to make a small one, and go to handplane.com and other places that have bits and pieces on construction to read.

[Jack Curtis]

Why not buy one of the kits available, not a bad way to start, not all that hard to do. However, remember you won't have anyone at Shepherd to call on if you get stuck. Or it could be just as easy to pick up an old Stanley and fill it with wood, much cheaper. I think Derek has a thread on this. Not being a great metal worker, I can't imagine successfully making an infill from scratch.

[wayne Jepson]

Hi Corey , pm me if you seriously want to build one. I can help you locate materials and I'm more than willing to share my experiences I have so far in making them. I believe im located close to you.
Wayne
Infillplanemaker.blogspot.ca