George Wilson's lever cap screws

[Juan Hovey]

Friends, woodworkers, countrymen - I come before you to praise George Wilson, maker of the lever cap screws in this photo. I am in process of making four, maybe six infill planes to take to the Pasadena woodworkers' show in October, and I asked George to make the lever cap screws for me. Are they lovely, or what? Many thanks to George from me.

The wood you see in the photo is spalted pasyhaco amarillo. My friend Kevin Manville here in Santa Maria, CA, who makes very fine furniture, gave me several large blanks of this gorgeous wood in exchange for a promise to make him a plane. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. As you can see, I've drawn the outline of the plane and iron and am preparing to rough out the rear infill.
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[Ole Anderson]

OK, I give, what is a lever cap screw and how are they used? Keep in mind, I know nothing about making planes. Are you saying that these are custom made? Wow. The one with the head facing the camera is just enough out of focus that I can't make it out. And I will have to admit I have never heard of spalted pasyhaco amarillo.

[Larry Browning]

I'm with you Ole! I have no idea what a lever cap screw is and even though I used to live in Amarillo, I have never heard of that wood either. When he said he had to promise to make George a plane, I was thinking airplane.
Hey, after all, this IS the power tools forum. All of our middle names are "Tim Taylor":D

[Ronald Blue]

The lever cap screw is just a fancy thumb screw. Google has never heard of spalted pasyhaco amarillo either. Just saying.

[David Posey]

Juan, could you post a picture of the head? I'm sure there's some detail there that I can't make out in that photo.

Ronald is correct that they are a fancy thumb screw, although these are a bit fancier than most. In an infill plane (one with metal on the outside and wood on the inside) they put tension on the plane iron by screwing against the blade on one end of the lever cap, which is on or against a pivot point so that the far end of the lever cap is also pressing against the blade. I'm sure other configurations are possible, but this is the one that I am most familiar with.

[Juan Hovey]

David, et al: Here's a better photo of the top of one screw, shown with two lever caps I made some time ago and never used. Also, the wood I mentioned is pashaco amarillo, not pasyhaco amarillo.

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[Ole Anderson]

Probably not the tree that pistachio nuts come from? Ah, and the lever cap screw screws into the lever which pushes the blade. I was expecting to see some kind of lever on the head of the screw. Thanks for the lesson! Nice work with the brass by the way.